"There is a war coming. Are you sure you're on the right side?"

--X-Men

X-Men 3 has happened. The teaser trailer hit this week, and it's chock-full of goodies, including our first look at Kelsey Grammar as The Beast, possibly the only actor who has the right voice and acting chops to give Beast the gravitas he needs to be believable. Also in the trailer is a peek at Ben Foster as Angel, the return of Jean Grey as the Dark Phoenix, Vinnie Jones (from "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels") as the Juggernaut, Pyro, Iceman, and Colossus throwing Wolverine into battle, claws out, a maneuver known to comic book geeks as the Fastball Special (something they go nuts over, and I admit it is quite badass).

From the looks of it, the war that Magneto has alluded to in the past two films has begun. Magneto has grown his army, the Brotherhood of Mutants, and they're going to do their part in fighting back against the oppressive homo sapiens that fear and hate them. Of course, the X-Men will be there to fight back and defend those that despise them because, well, that's just the right thing to do.

I have reservations about the film, however. The director of the first two, Bryan Singer, left the project to make the new "Superman Returns" film, and Fox, in a fit of vengeful fury, decided to rush X-Men 3 into production just to spite him and to prove they could make a good X-Men film without him (and they hope to have it compete with Supes next summer).

Unfortunately, the script was rushed, and the rumor is that it pales in comparison to the first two movies (it was written by Simon Kinsberg, known for "Charlies Angels 2: Full Throttle", "XXX2: State of the Union", and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", a mediocre movie saved by it's cast and backboned by a script I think even I could have written). Also, the director is Brett Ratner, someone who somehow got famous enough for making "Rush Hour" that studios can now say "A Brett Ratner Film" in his previews, as if his name is going to sell the film. Sorry guys, but he's not Spielberg, and many consider him to be a hack.

That said, the teaser has some very cool imagery, so I'm hoping for the best. I hear the subtitle for this one is called "X3: Last Stand", and it sounds like Fox is planning for this to be a closure to the X-Men trilogy (they will do stand-alone Wolverine and Magneto films in the future, however). Because this is the "last" one, there's always a chance some major characters may meet their demise... War is Hell, they say.

Here it is folks. Enjoy!

--Cbake