Ah, yes!  Brett Ratner, the unanimously loathed choice to take over the reins on the rushed-into-production-out-of-spite X3 (that’s X-Men 3 for those of you who probably need not read further), was rumored to be in over his head and a sure bet to be fired, then to be locked out of the editing room, then to be stuffed in a suitcase and shipped to Poland where he’ll spend the next year penniless but determinedly plotting revenge on Tom Rothman for having set him up to fail.  I swiped that last bit from Kieslowski’s White, but it’s so happening.

As is very often the case with summer tentpole projects, the director is almost completely irrelevant in terms of potential success.  No one could find a good word for Tim Story’s work on Fantastic Four prior or subsequent to its release, but that didn’t stop the damn thing from running up a worldwide gross of $330 million, which was good enough to land the Taxi-helmer’s butt back in the director’s chair for the in-development sequel.  So long as there’s a proficient second unit director corralling a major action set-piece or two, and the script doesn’t climax abruptly with everyone getting run over by a truck, it’s entirely possible that the film could deliver what audiences want out of a summer event movie.

Judging from this trailer that premiered last night during a phenomenal two-hour run of 24… well, it at least promises to be the most strikingly shot X-Men film thus far (thanks, Dante Spinotti!).  There’s lots of foreboding, lots of action, and lots of Ian McKellen – all good stuff.  Given my low expectations, I’ve got to admit that this trailer has gone a long way toward rekindling my interest in this movie (though I was going to see it regardless). 

X3: The Last Stand opens May 26^th, 2006, and has Memorial Day weekend all to itself.