Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin...
Dir: Brett Ratner
Still suffering a tense, nervous headache from last week’s migraine-inducing Da Vinci code? Then I prescribe a healthy dose of X-Men. It may not be a miracle cure but it’s guaranteed pure popcorn pain relief that’ll go a long way to restoring your faith in this year’s summer blockbusters.
Yes, Stan Lee’s marvellous mutants Wolverine, Storm, Captain Jean-Luc Picard aka Charles Xavier and Ian McKellen’s magnificent Magneto are re-united for a third action-packed bout of whizz-bangery. The discovery of an injectible mutant-cure spells big trouble. And the rebirth of Jean Grey as corrupted cosmic temptress Phoenix spells even bigger trouble for everyone. She returns froma watery grave and she’s not happy. She switches with schizophrenic intensity from gentle soul into a ferocious vamp who tries to seduce Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
No code-breaking skills are required to enjoy this full-on feast of flaming cars, levitating houses and X-travagant superhero-dom.The credit list of eye-popping visual effects goes on for ever, and it’s not surprising. The stunts are non-stop and you’ll marvel at them all. Yet the heart of this movie is overtaken by splashy effects.
Scratch beneath the surface of the film and you find obvious metaphors for the menace of Aids, racism and world political events. But the film is, I guess, just what it says on the tin; extravagant action, fantasy and a lot of spandex. There’s also a lingering sadness about how these mutants deal with their condition.
That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy director Brett Ratner’s showy-visual style. But emotionally I felt a little like Anna Paquin’s Rogue, unable to touch the comic characters I love. In the beautiful body stakes, Hugh Jackman impresses again as Wolverine, and Halle Berry is mysteriously exotic as the weather-controlling Storm. Ellen Page as Kitty, a rookie mutant who can walk through walls, is a welcome addition, and her explosive scene with Vinnie Jones’ massive Jaggernaut, crashing through walls is a wonderful comic touch.
Kelsey Grammer, of Frazier fame, is the most high-profile new recruit and clearly revels in his role as the blue furball known to his friends as The Beast. You only have to look at The Godfather Part 3, The Return Of The Jedi and Jaws 3-D to see the pitfalls taking a money-spinning franchise too far. But Mr T’s heart-pounding turn as Clubber Lang in Rocky 3 is proof enough that occasionally a third movie can work. This ain;t no Rocky 3 or even a patch on the fabulous X-Men 2, but that said it’s well worth the price of admission. So put your brain in neutral, sit back and enjoy the ride.
The film should create a storm at the box-office this weekend and it’ll be interesting to see if it can topple The Da Vinci Code from its perch. At least Sir Ian McKellen wins either way because he’s in both.