Very disappointed

Rating: 3/10 (30 May 2014)

Let me first say I'm not a comic book fan, so I can't approach my review from that direction. But I did like the X Men movies (except for First Class), mostly because I loved the Wolverine. My favorite was The Wolverine, which I considered to be an excellent character study that made mutants feel believable in the real world- something which the X Men films lacked with their funny suits and spaceships. This movie, however, disappointed me greatly. I left the theater in a state of uncertainty and confusion, and with time to think about it, I realized why I didn't like it.
First, Wolverine was a plot device and as a result seemed very out of character here. He barely did anything Wolvy would really do in most situations. There was no fight scene, no memorable lines- and assaulting men with a cast iron skillet? Really? His emotions were short changed at the end upon seeing Jean gray alive- but then all the characters emotional reactions seemed to resolve themselves at a rapid rate, so much so that their internal struggles felt unreal and unsympathetic.
The beginning of the movie was a traditional X Men opening, which excited me at first. But I couldn't feel anything for some of the mutants fighting for their lives like Blink and Sunspot and Bishop, when I didn't even know who they were personally- character development is not simply a display of power. The movie went south once Trask was introduced as experimenting on mutants. Wasn't that done before? And Stryker's reasons for experimentation were much more compelling. There was material reused from previous X Men films. I couldn't believe the scene with Mystique in Trask's office looking through files with a secretary coming up the stairs. This was along the same lines as the scene in X2 when she finds the files on cerebro- then quickly shape shifts before being discovered. However, the scene in X2 was much more suspenseful. And Magneto lifts a sports stadium and drops in around the White House. Not sure what that was for but a big CGI display. And folks railed against the Golden Gate Bridge destruction in the Last Stand, but at least that was to get to the island on the other side. And the sentinels- they looked liked big Iron Men...
There is so much more I could address- like the use of Mystique's blood- that did not make sense. The acting was terrible among the younger cast, but J Lawrence took the cake. Every time she said a line it was painful- I thought the original Mystique was so much better. James McAvoy was OK, but every time Xavier had a conflict, he just as quickly recovered so the story could continue on. The drama oftentimes felt rushed.
The director couldn't seem to settle on where to put the camera on the action scenes, which made the stories execution and terrible script seem worse. The best part of the movie was Wolvy,s fight with Beast, and a couple of ideas that could have been so awesome- like the older Magneto reaching out to Charles in the future setting near the end. Once again, the emotions were rushed and improperly shot. It felt as if the entire film was over shot and then sloppily edited. The script was awful and there were no memorable lines.
The screenwriter did say the script was intended as a goodbye to the original cast. But what an awful way to say goodbye to all of them- especially Wolvy, who looked like a sissy in this film.
The teen film seems to reign in theaters today. The younger you are, the better. It used to be that middle aged stars could carry films for years- think Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood. But now being in one's forties is just to old, so you have to be recast and written out. The only reason I went to see this movie was Wolvy and the original cast. It's sad to see X Men so mistreated and wiped aside for a younger cast that just can't deliver the emotions or the setting half as good.