I’ve been busy as hell editing video for the site (stay tuned) and needed to get the hell out of the house.  I found some free time and walked over to Premiere Cinemas (only took about 8 minutes) to see a matinee showing of X3 and it was actually pretty good, although kind of short in length.  I’m just disappointed that it’s truly all over.  It was the end all, be all X movie.  Or was it?  Just remember to stick around after the credits.  There’s a short yet very important scene.

I thought Magneto displacing a suspension bridge was the best scene in the movie.  Great special effects going on there.  But right after that, I had a problem.  It was daytime when he moved the bridge.  When he settled it in place, all of a sudden it was dark.  I totally understand time constraints and shooting schedules, but either Brett Ratner or the script supervisor gave the go ahead for the continuation of that scene and for those with a good eye, continuity suffers because of it.

Lots of familiar names and mutants were introduced.  Psylocke, The Juggernaut, Angel, Bolivar Trask (simply named Trask in the movie), and Morph to name a few.  Since they made Morph out to be a bank robber, I like the appropriate smug attitude they gave him.  For the 2 scenes he was in, he made the best of them.  A welcome face in Bill Duke played Trask who didn’t have anywhere near the importance here as he did in the comic.  He did create the Sentinels after all.

Speaking of them, one made a short-lived appearance in a Danger Room sequence that was introduced as taking place in the not too distant future.  It was a scene right out of the classic Days of Future Past storyline which I critiqued in a book review posted on the site.  Not my best work, but I’m getting better at it.  Was this whole scene a tease by the director or simply put there for comic fans’ delight?  Hmmmmm…

Stan Lee made his usual appearance in Marvel movies.  When he did, some clueless moron in front of me was pointing at the screen like he/she just saw god and another dummy a few rows behind me just had to say his name out loud.  The theater was about half full (I was expecting no one to be there since it was a matinee and church day) and it was a fairly quiet moviegoing experience but there were a few minor and forgivable mumbles and grumbles.  Mainly a little girl behind me who kept asking her mom who was who and what was what in the movie.  Mom told her to be quiet and watch the movie to get her answers.  I didn’t hear a peep out of the little brat again.  Way to go, mom.

There was a Ghost Rider preview and it looked like it might be pretty good.  I just kept wondering if they’d make it some comic booky bullshit and if the character was marketable considering that he’s not a mainstream name.  Then I realized that Nicholas Cage was playing the title character and he’s pretty consistent with his acting and movie choices.  So I’m not too concerned anymore about if the acting will be good or not.  I have complete confidence that it will be.  But the plot is another story.  And the movie rating.  It hasn’t been rated yet.  But if it wants to stay true to the original origins of the character and comic, it needs to be and should be rated R.

The whole basis of the movie is that there is a ‘cure’ available to permanently suppress the x gene.  Some want it, some don’t.  Some consider the x gene to be evolution, some consider it a disease.  Good v. evil, right v. wrong, etc…is an underlying theme of the movie.  If you have the power, what are you going to do with it and can you control it is the question.  Just keep that in mind when you go see it if you already haven’t.  My interpretation is that there are the just and the unjust.  Power or no power, anything and everything is game for exploitation.

I’ve mentioned how there have been little snippets throughout the movie leaning towards the next sequel that takes place strictly in our imagination.  One who we thought died didn’t.  Another who was mentioned as dead never got a death scene.  A mutant whose power was taken away by the ‘cure’ tried to use his power that supposedly shouldn’t be there anymore.  So is this really the end?  For the X movie universe, yeah probably.  And it was a fitting send off.

The last image in part 2 was of the Phoenix firebird.  She never took that form in this last part.  Comic fans know how powerful Dark Phoenix was.  You won’t see that level of power here.  Many references in the movie were made about how powerful Phoenix is but the director never used her to her full potential.  At the end, she gave a good display of what she could do, but I think she was vastly underused here.  She did some damage but not nearly enough for may taste.  She didn’t live up to the hype that she was given.

The hot debate from the last part was whether they were gonna go the Claremont/Byrne route and involve the Shi’ar empire and the M’Kraan crystal.  Many of us thought such a movie would cost too much and could never happen since she had the power to devour whole galaxies.  Well, it didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, the special effects were superb and I wondered how much some scenes cost as I was watching it.  You won’t be disappointed.  They gave Phoenix an acceptable, convincing origin for the movie universe.  Some of Dark Phoenix’s personality traits even came through.  Putting her misuse (or underuse) to the side, they got the character right.

They did a little side story with Rogue, Kitty Pryde, and Iceman.  For comic book fans who know Rogue’s history, all I’ll say is like mother, like daughter.  If you don’t know her history, then that statement will mean absolutely nothing to you.

Brett Ratner got almost everything right here.  The acting was a lot better than I expected for a comic book movie so I guess directors are starting to get a clue as to what we want.  Batman Begins might deserve the props for that trend but we’ll see what happens with Superman Returns. 

There were 2 things that really bothered me though.  When it came time to stand up to Magneto and the Brotherhood, only six X-men were available.  So what happened to everyone else at the school when it came time to fight the good fight?  Did they go home for their own reasons (and there were plenty that are explained in the movie) or did they leave to get the cure?  And when the Brotherhood attacked the lab that created the cure, lots of mutants were jumping or flying around that normally couldn’t do that.  Was it Phoenix’s doing?  That was a scene where they could’ve shown more of her powers but they dropped the ball and left a hole in the script.

I knocked 2 points off because of the inconsistencies and non-explanations.  I should’ve knocked off another for the cheesy Fox News placement that was so blatantly prominent.  Yeah, Rupert, I caught that.  Overall, I highly recommend this for completeness sake.  Money well spent, good plot, good acting, lots of foreshadowing, a few twists here and there, and best of all, plenty of action and great special effects.  I would’ve preferred a stronger ending, but keep in mind how I feel about how they used Phoenix.  It’s just my opinion.  All 3 movies have stood on their own feet.  Knowledge of the comics helps but isn’t necessary to enjoy these flicks.  Shit, keeping the comic in mind while watching this could actually lessen the enjoyment so keep an open mind, okay comic book fans?