daveberta on x-men: III the last stand.

If you have yet to see X-Men III: The Last Stand and are planning to see it DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS POST...

I'm a fairly huge X-Men fan, having collected about 300ish X-Men related comic books when I was a kid and having watched X-Men and X2 films close to eighty-seven times.

Overall, I enjoyed the film - and there were some really cool parts. The Golden Gate Bridge/Alcatraz Island battle scene was really cool - as was the Xavier/Jean Grey showdown. Colossus was cool, and Iceman taking on Pyro was a great follow up from Pyro's defection to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants in X2. Mystique losing her mutant powers was a cool scene. ;-)

Hugh Jackman was still great as Wolverine, and Halle Berry as Storm was actually able to show off her powers more in this film.

As well, I thought Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast was a good casting.

One the things I enjoy the most about the X-Men storylines are the political, ethical, and moral issues. X3's premise that a "cure" could be found for mutants causes a moral dilemma for many of the mutants in the film. As societal outcasts, they would now have the chance to become a normal human - but they would also be abandoning their natural selves to satisfy an intolerant society. What to do? Abandon who you are or prevail in the face of adversity?

Though I did enjoy X-Men III, there are some aspects of the film that bothered me - like the part when nearly all the main characters died. Cyclops dying wasn't even a big deal as it's implied and not even shown. Jean Grey dying played a bit into the Pheonix story, though it largely differed from the comic book storyline, but Professor Xavier's death was a little unexpected.

As well, Magneto losing his powers and then regaining them at the end in the lame "after-credit" sequence left a lot to be desired.

Overall, I blame Brett Ratner, who clearly did a sub-par job in directing compared to X-Men I and X2 which were directed by Bryan Singer. Ratner's directorship was clearly salvaged by the fact that it was an X-Men film, and the X-Men rock.

But, criticisms aside, it was a fun film and I would recommend it be seen far and wide.