Now X3 TLS has officially had the largest Memorial Day Weekend opening to date, as well as the fourth highest all time opening.
Just a few things to point out. The "M'Kraan Crystal" (pronounced "emcron") storyline would have taken a staggering amount of effort to work into the plot. The easier path for the writers to take was simply to present it as the next evolutionary stage of Jean Grey's powers. As far as being "cheesy" goes with Wolverine and Jean at the end, it was far from my interpretation of it as rather touching. With Jean as the last of the three major heroes aced in this movie, the fact that she fell to the claws of Wolverine was moving. Jean was essentially Wolverine's impetus to stay with the X-Men initially, having awoken to see a beautiful redhead instead of the Canadian wilderness he last saw. Jean was the object of Wolverine's affection from Day 1 with his association with the X-Men. To see Wolverine gradually morph from a loner to a leader came full circle when in order to save everyone he had to cut down the one most beloved to him.
The Juggernaught in this movie is also an alteration from what the fandom is familiar with. Yes, he is Xavier's brother, but why really bother go into the explanation about how this mountain of brawn is actually the sibling of one of the greatest intellects known to the world? It would be a bit much for the audience to come to terms with. That aside, many don't know that Juggernaught isn't even mutant, he's a human who obtained what is known as the Ruby of Cytorak which rendered him practically invulnerable with boundless strength. One scene I was hoping to see was a clash between Colossus and Juggernaught, as they are really more on the same level than Wolverine and Juggernaught. It just seems to be a running trend that in order to test a villain in terms of brute strength in the X-Men films, the character must go up against the Wolverine who we were introduced to as "The King of the Cage" in the first X-Men, conveyed as the toughest of the tough from the instant the character stepped onto the screen. Going back to Juggernaught, though, I think it was a wise decision to conceive of the film version as a mutant with the inherent strength that the Ruby of Cytorak would have granted the human Cain Marko. His character wouldn't have been on the mobile mutant prison facility, and Magneto would not have accepted him into the Brotherhood were he not a mutant; case in point, look at how quick Magnus was to cast aside Mystique like a broken blade when she turned to a **** Sapiens.
This brings me to Magneto in all his glory in this movie. I'll admit immediately that Magneto is my favorite character in all Marvel, just to get it out of the way that I have a bias. His interaction with Xavier in the movie was quite good, as always. One interesting tool used by the writers was how the movie began with Magneto and Xavier meeting with Jean in her suburban home, and a later scene in the movie paralleled that instance when the good Professor and Magneto confront the Phoenix in the very same setting. What happened to the Greys, one can't say for certain. Perhaps they were out for the day, or perhaps their little daughter rendered them to ash and cast them to a swift wind, as was the fate of Cyclops, Xavier, and so many others in the movie. I loved the dialogue where Xavier was nervous and very apparently afraid before the Phoenix. Capitalizing on the situation, Magneto plays to the Phoenix's insecurity and hatred of Xavier, convincing her that the Professor wants to cage the most powerful being, rather than allow her to spread his wings. Informing Jean that her power is a manifestation of mutant perfection, that there is "absolutely nothing" wrong with her, Magneto shows his cards at last in turning the Phoenix's aggressions fully against Charles. That said, he could only sit in fear and awe, pinned against a cupboard while Xavier was ripped from earthly existence.
For me, Magneto's portrayal in this movie showed his ruthless desire to attain mutant superiority in its entirety. There was subtle inuendo between the characters Magneto and Mystique from the very first movie that got snickers from fans (and even carried on into the Ultimate X-Men comics, I might add). When the two meet in X3, we see the comfortable relationship between the two again, but when Mystique sacrifices her mutant status to save Magneto from such a fate, Magneto is moved but horrified. His only comment when he turns his back on the pitiful, naked, human Mystique is that "she was so beautiful."
We glimpsed it again in X2 when Magneto was prepared to kill Charles in Stryker's Cerebro at Alkali Lake in order to wipe **** Sapiens off the map. Here, we see Xavier killed and with Magneto actively involved in the provocation of his murder. However, the lingering regret of this action, and inaction, stays with Magneto until the close of the film, as Magneto sits alone at a chess set, recognizing that with the removal of the other player from the board there is little point for him to stay in the game, so to speak. Even though the two were enemies, Xavier and Magneto were first and foremost friends.
Also, I should note here that the "source of the cure" was the mutant known as Leech who, in the comics, had the eventual voluntary ability to suppress the powers of other mutants in his company; I use this wording because in his youth he couldn't control it and deprived all near mutants of their powers. Looking to Beast's wording at the beginning of the film, he says the cure is the ability to "suppress the Mutant X gene, permanently." Suppression on a permanent basis I can understand for the average mutant, but perhaps the boundaries were not to sturdy against Magneto, who in the comics is by and large viewed as arguably the most powerful mutant. People forget that it's not just the manipulation of metals, but the manipulation of natural or artificial magnetic fields in magnetokinesis. This grants him the ability to lift, alter, or move objects, even capable of manipulating bloodflow to an individual's brain to cause aneurysms or unconsciousness. He can absorb and redirect electricity, control ferrous particles in the air, alter the Earth's magnetic field which extends into space as the Magnetosphere, increase his own strength to the extent of being able to exchange blows with Colossus, fly in or beyond the Earth's atmosphere, and achieve an indefinite range of other effects. Ergo, even four doses of the cure couldn't fully suppress the power within the Master of Magnetism. Seeing him at the end of the movie slowly tipping the chess piece with what is now a shadow of his former power leaves one curious as to how well the dam built by the cure can hold back the flood.
I believe I've ranted enough now, but in short I left the movie thoroughly delighted. Though it could have stood to be longer, who knows? Perhaps we will have an extended DVD. Anyone see the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven? There's an additional 50 minutes of film time, and though it's a long shot, one can only imagine all that was left on the cutting room floor with X3 TLS.