When Brett Ratner was first announced to take the helm of the third instalment of the X-Men franchise, a roar of disapproval was heard from fans across the globe. Brett has had an inconsistent history in the directors chair with Rush Hour and Red Dragon, to illustrate my point, so it was with low expectations I went to see the third, and possibly last, X-Men film. I so wanted this movie to work, I wanted Brett to prove the critics wrong by delivering a breathtaking finale that would live up to the apocalyptic title. To a point it delivers, but for the most part I was left wanting.
Predictably the story picks up right where X2 left off, and uses the Pheonix storyline from the comic books (this is a non-spoiler review). Although the plot focuses on a cure to eradicate the mutant gene its at this basic level where the movie fails, as it simply tries to cram in too much into a movie a little over 100 minutes long. As a result character development (for both old and new faces) is very poor, so we care little about what happens to them� and A LOT happens! Brett has tried his hardest to stick with the style and world that Bryan Singer created for the first two movies and add his own influence, so much so that everything else falls by the wayside.
X3 reaks of behind the scenes politics, Halle Berry has been given a major leap in terms of screen time and billing, but in no way does she take advantage of it. The overloaded script suffers from glaring continuity errors; note the Bridge scene towards the end, one second we are bathed in a slow-setting sunlight, then in a split second we are looking at ink-black nightime� huh? Casting has obviously been influenced; while Kelsey Grammar is brilliant as Beast, Vinnie Jones is woeful as Juggernaut, prancing around in a very fake muscle suit, uttering his lines as the only character he knows how to play � himself. On the bright side the special effects are excellent and the opening flashback scene with Xavier and Magneto is jawdroppingly impressive to watch. As always, Patrick and Sir Ian bring a touch of class to the film. Famke Janssen shines as the resurrected Jean Grey, although the true star of the movie is of course Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, stealing every scene and kicking ass. I truly hope that the Wolverine spin-off movie is a vast improvement on this wasted opportunity.
Oh, and watch out for a very important scene at the end of the credits � worth the wait if you want to know how the series might progress if it makes enough dough. |
