X3

I never grew up with X-Men. My trinity of superheroes were Spiderman, Batman and Superman. Luckily all three have been successfully brought to the big screen in these last few years with upcoming sequels to keep me salivating. It’s not that I don’t like the X-Men it’s just that I don’t know that much about them. I don’t know how old Angel is supposed to be or how blue The Beast’s skin is or how Juggernaut is supposed to act. I have nothing to compare them to, and I haven’t given the time to researching the original comics, although I’m sure they would be an entertaining read. I have enjoyed the X-Men series, they haven’t been spectacular in my opinion, but I have had a fun time watching their adventures on the screen. I was a little worried when I heard that Bryan Singer was leaving the series to direct Superman Returns and they went with the hot-and-cold Brett Ratner to replace him. I was even more worried when the studio wanted to teach Singer a lesson by pushing up X3’s release date to get the jump on Superman. But all in all, the film turned out fine; again, nothing spectacular, but fitting nicely within the X-Men trilogy.

And that’s my biggest complain about X3, is this the end of a trilogy or are they going on because the movie was left very unresolved. I’ve heard that Wolverine is getting his spin-off franchise, but what about the others? I heard rumblings that a junior X-Men movie featuring Iceman, Rogue, Kitty Pryde and the others might be a possibility. I kind of hope this is the case, otherwise whoever storyboarded X3 should be shot for its dangling plotlines. Angel’s storyline is rather weak, Rogue is pushed into the background and Cyclops is given no respect (but maybe that’s because he jumped ship to Singer’s Superman). I think my biggest problem with the X-Men franchise is that there are way too many superheroes to keep track of. Each movie introduces five more heroes, which means a lot of plot juggling needs to take place. Look what happened when Batman added, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Bane, and Mr. Freeze to its already bloated cast. Well that, and Joel Schumacher doesn’t know how to say to no to studio cross-marketing. In any case, I think X-Men is a darn fun movie. Wolverine gets some time to have fun, there are some thematic elements that can garner discussion and there are some surprising fates for some of our most beloved X-Men. I would recommend seeing the other two films before watching this one, however, as there are some continuations from the second movie. Just wait for the DVD and watch them back-to-back and see if Wolverine’s hair gets bigger with each passing movie. Oh yeah, also watch to the very end of the credits on X3, there’s another scene. I didn’t do it the first time, and that’s why I’m waiting for the DVD.