Third and judging by the title possibly final film in the xmen series continues the theme from the previous two films, that of a building hostility between mutants and humans. The possibility of outright war always simmering under the surface with parties on both sides of the divide ready to leap at the others throat and equally mediators trying to prevent the inevitable conflict.

Patrick Stewart reprises his role as Professor Xavier the leader of the Xmen and voice of peace and unity on the mutant side, and Sir Ian McKellen returns as his old friend and now enemy Eric Lensherr / Magneto who is on the kill all humans side of the fence.

A Cure for mutation has been found and it has divided the mutant community. Some desperately want the normality the cure would bring, others are insulted that they are regarded as a disease and see this as a mechanism to oppress and control them.

The more militant mutants (the brotherhood of mutants lead by magneto) see this "cure" as a clear indication that they will soon be rounded up and forcibly cured to protect normal humans.

Also Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) who seemed to die at the end of the second film has returned though a little the worse for the experience and unpredictable. Both sides of the mutant forces want to have her on their team with explosive results. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has his usual "am I a team player" part in this his desire to go persue his own agenda or to help Storm (Halle Berry) with the school for mutants.

New additions include Beast/Dr Hank McCoy (Kelsey Grammer) as the presidents advisor on mutant affairs, Juggernaught/Cain Marko (Vinnie Jones) big bloke who once he gets enough momentum up can’t be stopped so spends a lot of the film smashing through walls, Angel/Warren Worthington III (Ben Foster) as the winged mutant son of the man who developed the mutant cure to make him normal again, also Cameron Bright as leach the young boy who’s mutation is the origin of the cure in that he suppresses any mutant with range.

There is the usual supporting cast of Iceman/Bobby Drake (Shawn Ashmore), Rogue/Marie (Anna Paquin), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) on the xmen side and John Allerdyce/Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) on the brother hood of mutants side.

This has most of the things we have come to expect from the xmen series a good story elements plenty of action and special effects.

In some instances I think the interactions were less well developed than in previous films there is some element of tension between Kitty Bobbie and Rogue with Rogue considering the cure just so she can touch people without killing them. There is the element of story with Angel and his father who is the reason for the cure existing, but it is more of a very brief justification lacking anything more than brief introduction.

It seems like the writers tried to have too many separate threads running at once and as a result they only have the briefest time with each leaving them lacking any substance. They could have done with pruning some of the threads down and focusing on fleshing out some others.

Still it’s a good action adventure film with some great moments and strong performances.

I liked the way they handled the cure and its creation having the people behind it as having the best of intentions and believing however misguided that they were helping people and are confused when the people they are trying to help are angry at their presumption. I think it’s a pity they didn’t develop that story line more. The gradual militarization of the project was interesting more of the reaction from those who made the cure to help and increasingly seeing the whole "road to hell is paved with good intentions" aspect of that situation come together.

It could well be the end of the series though they seemed to leave themselves an opening for another it would be hard, for reasons I won’t go into so as not to spoil things.

The (theoretically) final film of the X-Men trilogy, this one brings the whole mutant issue to a head.

While in previous films Magneto and his Brotherhood have been relatively few in number, trying to stop anti-mutant legislation in violent ways, withe Xavier's X-Men attempting to foil then, the majority of the mutant population remained fairly neutral, with only a few extremists and vigilaties out there.

The discovery of a cure forces mutants in general to think about the issue. Magneto's Bortherhood start cranking out the "how long before they make it copulsory" propoganda which is enough to draw a lot of others to their cause. This makes for a bit of a greater range of mutants on the opposing side than there generally were in the other films.

While there is an air of angsty brooding to some of the film as well as agonised soul-searching on the part of several characters, the whole is carried well by the simple method of letting Wolverine get into a big fight on a regular basis. Most of these are even required by the plot.

overall, like the others a good action film with some memorable sequences ("grow those back"). A suitable final film for this series... I'd be surprised if they did any direct sequels.

As an aside I spotted an entry on IMDB for an upcoming film at the moment titled Magneto. It looks to be an exploration of Magneto's childhood with him seeking revenge on the Nazi's that killed his family and how he met Charles Xavier.

It is still a pre production so could change dramatically before its made or even disapear entirely but it gives an idea where they are taking the Xmen franchise next.