Just saw X-Men 3 with Grasshopper, Adventure Boy, and Rocky.

God, Hugh Jackman is hot as Wolverine.  What’s up with that?  I don’t even care for Hugh Jackman that much, and that much hair isn’t normally my sort of thing.  Still…oh well.  What is, is.

But back to the story.

It was pretty good.  The theme was a visitation of an old theme:  The positive, active, creative dynamic light force of the Yang versus the dark, passive, negative, destructive, brooding force of the Yin.

The story illustrates that you cannot have good without bad, light without dark, and Superego without ID.

We see Jean Gray, the previously “sensitive” flat-line embodiment of benign non-personality, resurrected from the depths and transformed into Phoenix…the part of Jean Gray that wants…anything other than what Scott and Xavier want her to want.

The duality of Jean Gray goes all flippy-floppy and bad stuff ensues.  Oh, yeah, and along with getting in touch with her darkside, Jean also gets all touchy-feely with her full power.

I realize she’s evil now and all, but I have to admit, I like her better than I ever had before.  That, and the ending, are about the only points that truly meet between this movie, and what happened in the comic series.  They add a lot of stuff, subtract a lot of stuff, and stir it around with a liberal application of cool special effects, and that does manage to keep it fresh.

But when I talk about the Yin and Yang of goodness and badness, I am also talking about my reaction to them casting Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy.  I love Beast soooo much (Really, it isn’t the hair thing.  Lots of hair is a serious turn-off for me.  Honest)

He contends with Nightcrawler as my favorite X-man.  And yet I hate Kelsey Grammer.  I hated him as the fussy, whiney, blubbering Fraiser in Cheers, and as the fussy, whiney, blubbering Fraiser in … Fraiser (no, I wasn’t fooled into thinking he was less fussy, whiney and blubbering just because they gave him a brother who was more so.  Cheap trick…wouldn’t fall for it.)

I didn’t even like him as the fussy, whining blubbery Fraiser that he played in numerous commercials.

To be sure, he wasn’t Fraiser in this movie…(For one thing, Fraiser would have a mental melt-down being that blue and hairy)…but he wasn’t Beast either.

Yes, yes, he had the collegiate professor bit down, and yes, they made it clear he could kick ass (THANK YOU GOD for stunt doubles) and turn cars into ash trays with his bare hands…and hang from his prehensile toes…but what was missing was something that was so essentially BEAST and so essentially NOT KELSEY GRAMMER that I’m amazed it eluded the casting director.

Warmth.  Tenderness, Compassion, Depth.  OK, that’s four things and counting, as I intend to continue…

Yes, they implied his brilliance…but failed totally to convey even a glimmer of the sheer virtuosity of thought that makes Beast the character that he is.  The Classically trained mind, the devotion to Enlightenment Philosophy, the musical acumen.  Grrrr.

And what about his great, thick, black-rimmed glasses?  Nowhere to be seen.

I’m sure they could have found a half-dozen decent actors who could have done it.  Anthony Stewart Head comes to mind.

But once again, back to the story.

The ending was totally worth it…and no, I’m not going to spoil you.  It just was.  Hugh Jackman gets to be all intense and noble and suffering and ruthless and let rage war with love and grief through every fiber of his being.  Very comic book ending.

Have I mentioned that Hugh Jackman is really hot as Woverine?

Ian McClellan and Patrick Stewart are complete masters, as usual, and their presence in the film make it better than it really has a right to be.

I had fun watching this movie.  It wasn’t a work of art, but it clearly wasn’t meant to be.