X3 aka Xmen: The Last Stand -- saw it and definitely recommend it

I saw X3 last night and I have to say it was fantastic in so many different ways. This statement from a diehard sci-fi fan who has followed every trek series, including the animated series of the 70's, and was even a fan of the tv shows, Logan's Run and The man from Atlantis (not the best sci-fi, but then, as now, there wasn't a whole lot on).

X3 is not a perfect movie...but it served as a good continuation of the movie series, added some character development (magneto, Storm, Dr. Xavier, Rogue, Cyclops, even mystique), and certainly achieved what all summer blockbusters need: a mix of action, emotion, and story sufficient enough to propel moviegoer "word of mouth".

There's a reason this movie is succeeding: it's got action, special effects, nice looking women (Halle Berry) in skin tight suits (Halle Berry), and a decent story. Oh, it's also not boring. And as we all know, a movie can seem to come up with all the right ingredients and, yet, fail to achieve viewer delight and corresponding word of mouth PR due to a high boredom quotient. Star Wars Episode I and Star Wars Episode II were prime examples of this though, thankfully, Episode III redemmed itself and, by extension, the prequel series.

Downers about the movie: mystique is "cured" and becomes human, Professor X is killed, Cylcops is killed (wayyyy toooo early in the film), Jean Grey is killed, The Angel's role is barely developed, Colossus isn't given a more prominent role, Nightcrawler is almost not even seen (I think I saw him in one frame), Wolverine gets his ass kicked far too often.

Uppers about the movie: Juggernaut appears, we finally get to see Storm do some real fighting, we get a nice partially nude shot of Rebecca Romijn aka mystique, we see the sliced-off head of a sentinel (though, sadly, 99% of all moviegoers won't have a clue as to what it was), we see a nice flashback of magneto and Professor X (and the clear intimation is that magneto assisted X in the creation of his school), we get to see a bit of wolverine's adamantium skeleton when he goes toe-to-toe with phoenix (jean grey), and we get to see some activity in the danger room (where wolverine takes off the head of a sentinel). Oh, the too-long-delayed introduction of "Beast", played, amazingly well by Kelsey Grammar.

Those are my thoughts on this movie. Which apparently are in direct opposition to many of the denizens of Aintitcoolnews.com (now known, I believe, as simply aintitcool). Really, reading over some of the reviews at that site, I almost didn't go see this movie, which REALLY makes me question those guys. IE, the've got crappy taste. I've also read that Harry Knowles actually liked Star Wars Episode I and dislikes Battlestar Galactica, so, obviously, there's no accounting for taste.

My recommendation: see the movie, you'll love it, or bare minimum, like it.