First off, X-Men: The Last Stand was by no means "drivel." In combination with the previous ventures, moviegoers and fans will receive a decent whole. The plot itself is not convoluted, but there are numerous mini-plots for just about every other character in the film. The huge number of plot lines Ratner chose to cast wound up limiting the film, removing key emotional elements. The film just was not long enough to adequately cover everyone's story. The music did not add anything to the movie either, it seemed tacky and amateur. Through length, plot numbers and music, X3 failed to properly and satisfyingly tie up the trilogy.
Problems aside, X-Men did succeed in creating a fabulous action-driven film. Ratner and Fox worked magic on the special effects side of things. I was particularly impressed with the opening scene, which found a 20 year younger Xavier and Eric (Stewart and McKellan) at the house of Jean Grey.
Despite being somewhat of a letdown, the film does bring in some interesting parallelism to the first two films. Speaking of the first films, I recommend viewing them right before or soon after seeing the third, as viewing them reminds you that you do care about the characters (being underdeveloped in X3). Most should find the third entry reasonably enjoyable and miles ahead of poorer entries into the superhero genre (Fantastic Four, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Ultraviolet, and the extraordinarily bad Batman Forever and Batman and Robin).
