I saw the third X-Men movie on Saturday, and while I don’t think it’s as good as the previous two movies, I rather liked it. It won’t classify as a great movie, but it was certainly enjoyable.

So what follows is my review… although it’s less of a “review” than just a general geeking-out about things. And there are definitely Spoilers ahead so be warned.

Right off the bat, as the movie started and it went to the “not too distant future,” I saw the devastated futurescape and the X-Men running from a Sentinel and I thought, “Holy crap! They’re doing a Days of Future Past movie!” which I totally didn’t see coming. Alas, it turned into a danger room simulation… but that was a cool nod to the comics. I particularly liked the Sentinel’s head, and the “fastball special”—i.e., Colossus throwing Wolverine. Another nod.

And who would’ve thought that Kelsey Grammer would be the ideal person to play Beast? I have to say, I think he was cast perfectly… he even pulled off the “Oh my stars and garters” line believably, which I wouldn’t have thought possible outside a word balloon in a comic book.

The whole Phoenix storyline—I’m a little torn here. I rather like how they incorporated the Phoenix “power” and personality into Jean, all very tidy, with no alien force/essence… but it smells a bit like a retcon to the first two movies. Although, they were amping up her power without (apparent) explanation in the last one…

But, it seemed a little second-fiddle to the main storyline, while being a storyline in and of itself that could have been its own movie. At least they wrapped it up appropriately.

The effects were very good, with a few exceptions. Every now and again they incorporate a shot that’s too Matrix-y… not a bad thing generally, but they usually seem fake when they do, overly contrived or something. And, I wasn’t too impressed with the Multiple Man effects.

Halle Berry has finally convinced me she can play Storm. (I actually stole this thought from my friend Paul, but he’s right.) It was also nice to see Wolverine have a little more action than the previous movies, but jeez, just how many people did he kill? Plus, why aren’t his blades ever bloody?

One big negative: Rogue actually got the cure? WTF? Are you kidding me? That pretty much invalidates her role in the first two films…

…although with the Magneto hint at the end that the cure might not be permanent, there’s hope, I guess.

Totally didn’t see two of the (big) deaths coming. One I should have, it was foreshadowed and actually appropriate to the story… the other was a waste, someone was just being lazy and gave the character the short shrift. Feh.

One final thought… If Magneto was powerful enough to rip the Golden Gate Bridge from its foundations and fly it across the bay to Alcatraz Island, why wouldn’t he just drop the thing on the island, killing everyone there? That’s all they were there to do, anyway.

I’ll tell you why: so Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry could get their big paychecks and screentime. :)