one of the most disappointing films of the decade

Rating: 4/10 (11 November 2011)

I actually registered to IMDb now, just to let people know how bad a movie this is. As I am a big fan of X-men and quite liked the previous movies (although the third one not as much as the first two, and completely excluding wolverine origins), I was eagerly awaiting this prequel. I was seriously disappointed.
First of all, the plot is slow, boring, and weak. It doesn't even make sense if you have watched the other three. As some other reviewers have mentioned, there is a scene in the third movie when Charles and Erik visit the young Jean. People have mentioned that Charles is walking when, according to this new movie, he should be in a wheelchair. however, have no one thought about the fact that Charles and Erik are still friends? Why else would they go together? Furthermore, since when were Charles and Raven step-siblings? I think she should have been excluded from the movie altogether. I love the character of Raven/Mystique in the previous movies, but she doesn't fit into the plot of this one. They have many other interesting characters (although poorly developed) that they could have explored instead. Some of the characters included, were just silly. Why would they possibly want Darwin-guy and butterfly-girl for a team of highly trained fighters? Surely there are better powers to think of. I also know that all powers in x-men requires a stretch of your sense of logic, but as a zoologist I must say that there is no way she would be able to fly with those wings. Give me Angel any day!
Second of all, the plot is so extremely slow, boring, and weak. Should it even be referred to as action if you are struggling to keep awake? It seems as though there is now an action recipe that you have to follow in Hollywood. The problem with that is that it makes it boring and predictable. Also, has no one else noticed that it is basically the same story as the first movie (remember when Magneto uses Rogue to channel a weapon that will mutate the heads of state attending a world summit), with a bit of the third? They seem to think that if they take the plots of a couple of other movies, mix them together, and place them in a different decade, no one will notice.
Third, the cast was weak. McAvoy and Fassbender, I believe, do the best with what they were given in terms of plot and script. January Jones has never managed to impress me with her acting, and yet again she failed to do so. She would be better acting out a statue! I will only give one comment on Jennifer Lawrence, and that is that it is tough to play a character that is so well liked and has been expressed so beautifully by Rebecca Romijn. Kevin Bacon.... no words can begin to describe the horrible mess he made out of the villain. Maybe it was the plot, maybe the script, but you would think that an actor with that many years in the trade would be able to add more dimensions to a character, or even play that one dimension well. Magneto as a villain works so well because there are so many aspects of his personality. Shaw was a caricature of a villain, completely one-sided and uninteresting.
The last thing that I will comment on, because writing down everything that bothered me about this film would result in an essay, is the cgi and makeup. Why is the cgi worse in this movie (2011) than in X-men (2000)? Are we suddenly moving backwards in time in technological advancement? Raven's transformations into mystique were bad. The battle-scenes were bad. The execution of the "powers" were bad. As for Beast, they should have stuck to the makeup they used on Kelsey Grammar. His lips didn't even move when he was talking, making the close-ups of him cringe-worthy to watch.
I'm going to stop there, although there are many more things that needs to be said. Watch it if you are in bed with the flu and bored to death already. If you can find better things to do, don't watch it!