X-3: X-Men - The Last Stand [Blu-ray] [US Import]

Let's face it, this film, was GOING to get trashed. Whenever a writer leaves, the next installment is irrevocably slated - case in point with Blade Trinity where the director left and the writer was forced to take over all duties. But if you're analysing this film as an X-Men fan as so many reviewers seem to be claiming to be, then I fail to see what people are complaining about. This is THE film that stuck close to the comic book; there being a number of sequences that are quite literally panel-for-frame reproduction of the end of the franchise in comic book format. Sure, there may be a bit of stilted dialogue and hammy acting here and there, but what do you expect from a film where the main characters include a woman who controls the weather, a man with titanium protuding from any selected orifice, and a telekinetic in a wheelchair?

Judge this film if you must, I personally found it to be a valuable contribution to the saga, but don't use your own bias to mope about it being unfaithful to a franchise you claim to love.

Now, we must all wait in turn for the unofficial "X Men 4" aka Wolverine's Origins...

Having enjoyed the first two films immensely - and I consider them brilliant examples of converting comic heroes onto the big screen - I was excited at the prospect of the third being released at the cinema.

However, I will not forget my disappointment in this film when I first saw it. I was amazed at the absence (for most of the movie) of many central characters, for example, Rogue, Xavier, and Scott. Also, the storyline implied that it was unlikely that the X-men would continue. Personally, I felt it was a wasted opportunity - it didn't bring more recognisable characters to life, for instance, Gambit; other characters like Beast and Juggernaut were introduced but not fully developed. Further films could have really explored these mutants.

For a long time, therefore, I was put off from viewing the film again. In fact, I have never made any effort to buy it, which would complete my collection of the trilogy. However, last night I watched it for the second time. I actually found that now that I know what happened, I found myself enjoying the movie and many of the qualities that I liked in the first two films became visible in this one.

Although I wouldn't buy this DVD at full price, in all, this second viewing has encouraged me to complete my trilogy (at the lower cost)!

X-Men 2 was everything an X-Men film should be. Bold, exciting, challenging, and occasionally slightly cerebral. Bryan Singer had keyed into the mutant's universe and gave us a movie that fans of the comic books could be proud of. God only knows how good this film could have been if he had remained attached- unfortunately he didn't and we got this unmitigated nonsense.

Foolishly combining elements of the classic Dark Phoenix Saga with elements of Joss Whedon's Gifted storyline from the more recent series- and chucking Magneto back into the mix for good measure- this is a movie pulling in too many directions at once. It is hampered further by the insultingly done elimination of several key characters for much of the movie (the removal of Cyclops, a character with 40+ years of history, in such an offhand manner as we have here is particularly crass) and the introduction of a whole new bunch of X-Men and villains who are given next-to-nothing to do except fight in the climactic scenes. The project went through several writers and directors before being rush produced to a deadline and it shows with a total lack of, well, direction. If an overdone story, faceless characters, and several slaps in the face to fans of the source material were not enough the movie has one other crippling flaw... Halle Berry.

I've never watched Monster's Ball so cannot comment on how much Berry deserves her Oscar. However in any other film I've seen her in she has stank, and the previous X-films only got away with it because her role was limited. However post-Oscar and with an invigorated star status this is "her" movie and her poorly delivered dialogue, missed timing, wooden acting and blank expressions are painful. Hugh Jackman is a decent enough workmanlike actor but gets saddled with trying to feed lines to her and accept them from her and his performance suffers for it. Poor Ian McKellan is given a shorter straw too as the witty and complex Magneto of the previous two movies is not the one featured here. As for the other characters? One dimensional and pointless.

If the film has one slight saving grace its that its action sequences are as good as the average summer blockbuster requires. There's nothing in them that's particularly interesting but they distract well enough from the tripe that surrounds them. The X-Men franchise is not dead yet, the Wolverine film is due in 2009, but this film is a fairly serious blow. I'm hoping that Jackman- once free of Halle Berry and with a new creative team- will be able to recapture the heights of the first two films. I'm not holding my breath though.