X-Men 3

X-Men did a decent job for a comic book movie. It wasn't fantastic, but it didn't betray the quality of the comics. X-Men 2 roared into theaters just ahead of Matrix: Reloaded, kicking its ass and showing audiences that sequels could far surpass the originals. Now comes the 3rd film. Rumors have abounded on the 'net for the last two years that the franchise's latest entry may be the series' first weak point. A bad script, Halle Berry's reluctance to appear in the film if she can't be the star, a producer burning all his bridges with his egomaniacal behavior, and a rotating door of directors. Now that the smoke has cleared a little, a few details have been locked down. Halle Berry signed on. Brett Ratner is directing.

If the script is a bad one, I will say that the trailer does not show it. In fact, for all the hurdles that seemed destined to make this movie fall flat, the trailer looks damn good. The plot incorporates aspects of the comics' Dark Pheonix storyline, but is also about an all-out war between Mutants and Man. The trailer is just a teaser, but several lengthy and empressive effects shots are shown. Jean Grey/Pheonix walks down a hallway as all the doors in front of her tear off their hinges as she nears them. Magneto rips away a section of the Golden Gate bridge. James Marsden emotes. Even Kelsey Grammer as Beast didn't look half as bad as I had feared.

If the script turns out to be horrible, the teaser trailer has at least brought me a couple months of hope.