I just saw X-Men 3...

[arib]

I went to see X-Men 3 today with chaiya. It was my first viewing and her second.

For the most part, I liked it. The characterization and character interactions were usually done well.

Now, the breakdown:

X-Men

Prof. X- Let me get this straight. Within the first half-hour, Chuck acts like an idiot, we find out he's been meddling in Jean's head, then Jeanix turns him into confetti? Bugger that. Stewart's good for more than an extended cameo, and this was a waste of his talents. For those of you that missed it, he turns up in a post-credits sequence. Meh.

Scott Summers- Scott broods for a bit, rides off on a motorcycle, eyebeams a lake, then gets "killed" offscreen. Ordinarily I'd complain, but Cyclops is a very one-dimensional character, and getting him out of the way made room for the various new characters. By one-dimensional, I mean that Scott usually has two states of being: pining over Jean but being too scared to do anything about it, or moaning over Jean because she's dead.

Jean Grey- Meh. The whole Phoenix thing's been overdone in the comics, so I see this as just another variation on it. Ditto the "manipulated by Xavier" bit. I didn't get too bent out of shape with her getting snikked by Wolverine, since Jean dies in the comics more often than Kenny does on South Park.

Wolverine- His sideburns just get bigger and bigger every movie. Played rather well as always, though I question the choice of having him cry when Xavier got confettied, given how pissed off he was when they last spoke. I loves me the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Loved the use of the "fastball special" in the Days of Futures Past nod and in the last fight scene. By the by, the Days of Futures Past thing? Wonderful.

Storm- Hallie Berry's Oscar earned her more face-time, and she was given much better stuff to work with than the "Do you know what happens when you hit a toad with lightning?" shtick from the first film. Full marks, and kudos to the SFX team for handling her powers well.

Rogue- Anna Paquin does it again, though I would've liked to see more of her. If she got de-powered, why'd she go back to Xavier's at the end? Dunno.

Iceman- Bobby got iced up! Dude! Now all we need to see is him fly around on ice slides and we're set. Also, stay away from Kitty Pryde, Drake. She's supposed to be cozying up with Colossus (in the mainstream 616-verse) or Peter Parker/Spider-Man (in the Ultimate line). Besides, you and Rogue have a good thing going, even with the enforced negiah.

Kitty Pryde- Not bad. Could've used a bit more fleshing out. loved her confrontation with Juggernaut. As much as I groused earlier, the scenes with her and Bobby when ice skating and at the funeral (when he held her hand and Rogue's) were very sweet and could have been platonic, given the immediate circumstances.

Peter Rasputin/Colossus- Too one-dimensional, just another slugfest guy for the brawl at the end. Also, he's supposed to be Russian!

Hank McCoy/Beast- Kelsey Grammar surprised me with this one. He played a very dignified Hank McCoy, and Beast totally mixed it up in the big fight scene.

Angel- Hi, I'm Warren Worthington III. I'm a rich kid with wings. How did I know to come save my father? Dunno!

The Brotherhood

Magneto- Sir Ian does another creditable job as Magneto, but with more scene chewing than the first two films. For those who pay attention to such things, the numbers on his arm add up to 22. Did the chess piece wiggle at the end? I think so.

Pyro- Whiny little prat. I'm glad Bobby iced up and beat his ass.

Random Spiky Faced Guy- he was a random spiky faced guy. Meh.

Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox- Jamie's supposed to be a good guy, not a special effect without much of a personality.

Superpowered girl- So, she's got superspeed, strength and random mutant detecting powers. You mean an amalgam of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Monet and Rachel Summers? Okay.

Mystique- They got rid of her too quickly. She did well with what she was given, though.

Juggernaut- Slightly more fleshed out than Colossus was. His head-to-head with Kitty was fun, but yelling "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" at a teenaged girl was a bit disturbing.

Overall, they needed more time for character development.

Now, my main beef with the film:

So, the main thrust of the movie is reactions to the "cure" for mutation that Angel's father's company invented. Initially, the X-Men seem to say "we're not happy about it, but we'll leave it to the individual to decide," while the Brotherhood says "grr, argh! This sucks! We're going to kill you all."

Then, Hank McCoy discovers that the government's managed to weaponize the cure, and have used it against Brotherhood members. This causes them to all say "Whoa, that's not cool..."

...and then Hank goes and uses the cure on Magneto to take him down! Dude, Doubleyew Tee Eff! We saw how Wolverine and Beast weren't afraid to kill people, given all the slashing they did. Why didn't Beast just disembowel him or beat him insensate or something?

I liked this movie a lot. My last quibble actually added to my enjoyment of the film, since it gave me something to mull over for a bit.