A Debate:

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2011)

Who in the HELL paid all these decent critics to review X-Men?
Alex: I've hated every X-Men movie so far, so I'm definitely not surprised if this one is terrible too.
Max: Let me clear this up though. Fassbender and McAvoy were great together. However their relationship couldn't save this trainwreck.
Thomas: I think the praise is higher because of the audience putting up with X3 and Wolverine, two pieces of sh*t. So it was way better then what was expected, plus the trailer made it seem just OK and the movie was better then the trailer made it seem as well. There were plenty of story issues that I had but as a movie itself, it was good.
Daniel Krone: I have my problems with the film, but they have nothing to do with the source material because sitting down to watch the film I threw all that completely out the window. I knew they were just going to take characters from the comics and do with them what they pleased. I accepted that they were trying to create their own mythology. The things that bothered me where the things that they put in the movie that probably shouldn't have been in their, and the blatant tone issues. Some scenes (Magneto killing those guys) and (the children drinking and showing off) seemed like they were from 2 different films entirely.
Max: The story bore the hell out of me, it was laughable at times. There was not one memorable joke / line / scene in the film. It wasn't dark enough. January Jones is just plain terrible. Every single shot of CG took me out of the film completely. Jennifer Lawrence ruined Mystic, she was a terrible choice. Her relationship with Beast was so forced and useless. There's some great themes that they had to play with that they just threw out the window. Fassbender and McAvoy didn't belong in the movie, they were 1000% above everyone in every aspect. Matthew Vaughn wasn't a great choice for this. The training montage was... eh. What were they doing? The story structure was all over the place, I couldn't tell where on act started and the other began. It was just a string of crap happening.
Max: The biggest problem for me? The X-men (comic) were created so people could connect with them. They are different. The have problems. They're like you and me so we should immediately connect with them... but in this... abosutley not. The scenes when the "first class" was just hanging out, drinking soda, naming each other? Come on. That was a pivotal moment in who Banshee, Mystic, Beast, Darwin, etc are... But they blew it right there.
Daniel Krone Wasn't dark enough ? What movie did you hope this was going to be. Ever since 'The Dark Knight' people have been complaining that comic films aren't dark enough. Spiderman 2 isn't a murder fest. It's fun and strikes the right tone. Spiderman 2 was less dark than this. (Yeah the visual effects looked 10 years old) and emotions, you mean outside of Fassbender and McAvoy and you said previously they were the only good parts of the film. Matthew Vaughn I think was a right choice. I only think the films lopsided because producers and other people were interfering with what he could have made this film out to be. I agree the structure was horrible. Editing was poor. There were maybe 3 great scenes (And yes I think great, that ending was amazing. And I agree kind of silly but it's a comic book film so I don't mind ridiculous submarines.) And yes they spent too much teasing the audience with great themes than using them. I guess I liked it because I saw what great potential the film had and of course the 3 good performances. Bacon, Fassbender, & McAvoy. They were leagues above the other actors in talent. And the rest of the film should have taken the kind of care they took with there performances. But I expected far less and got slightly more than the last films had given me. It wasn't epic, it should have been. (And that one scene was horrible because it was poorly written and I bet rushed in the shooting so the actors seemed forced. That scene was one notch away from being the right tone, and you're right. The direction of that scene blew it...thank god bacon showed up and killed some people.) It's not a great movie, but maybe for me it's a guilty pleasure.
Daniel Krone: I saw an interview with Bryan Singer where he said he wanted to pander to the fans (in so many words it wasn't that blatant) and I have a feeling why sequences, and other things felt really out of place is too many of the writers and producers trying to get their own visions in. And Matt Vaughn not stepping up the the plate and saying...hey this is my damn movie let me do it. That's how I feel. He was too blinded by the fact that he was directing a large important property that he lost sight of what was going to make this franchise important.
Daniel Krone: But I still think "Batman Begins" has a lot of ridiculous flaws. So hopefully the next time around the producers shut up and let Matt Vaughn get a clear, focused (key words) vision down and perhaps we could indeed have a great second follow up.