Ian McKellen has spoken out in defence of Brett Ratner and his X-Men: The Last Stand, and he's saying some incredibly positive things.

From Sci Fi Wire:

"Bryan Singer left the project rather late in the day, and Brett Ratner didn't replace him until eight weeks before they started shooting," McKellen said in an interview. "Well, you normally need eight months to set up a movie, not eight weeks. So it's no wonder I did my last bit of Magneto [the first week of May], and the film is going to be released in three weeks' time. I mean, poor Brett Ratner was up against it and was running against the wind the whole time. Well, that's a happy ending, because everyone is extremely pleased with X-Men 3. So that's worked out."

"Brett couldn't be further from Bryan, really. Brett is a party animal. And that's a compliment, because I think a director who can't hold a decent party probably won't be a good director...He's always full of energy. He's always enthusiastic and he will not let go—and he's got this in common with Bryan Singer—until he's got what he wants. And when he's got what he wants, you can all heave a sigh of relief, because he really will have it. Then it will be a question of cutting it all together. So, no complaints."

Praise indeed, and much of it. Amusingly McKellen voices slight disappointment with Singer, he thought he might get a nice juicy part in Superman Returns, but he doesn't worry about that having worked with him three times already.

It's strange because a lot of the early reports suggested that this was going to be a poor film, but the more footage I see and the more we hear from those involved, it sounds like it might be a stonker of a film and a suitable ending to the trilogy, even if it is far too many films early.