Just because it's a final film doesn't mean you destroy everything the others have built!

Rating: 1/10 (6 June 2006)

Months ahead of this film's release I heard a lot of negative information about it's production. I was told it was being butchered due to being rushed through production to beat Superman Returns and probably smite Brian Singer as well. Being the X-Men fan that I have been since I was a child, I decided to let these warnings fly by with no notice. Let me tell you; they were right. This film is an insult to fans of the comic, cartoons and even of the other films.
(spoilers within) The character development is so poor here. I've heard defenses that you don't need development in a closing movie but that's BS in my opinion. There needs to be something learned in every film for established characters. Some struggle, some goal accomplished. This kind of thing doesn't happen here, really. At least not for the positive. Wolverine, Storm and Magneto seemed to regress as characters since X2. Logan ends X2 telling Scott that Jean chose said she returned Scott's love the whole time. In this film we're treated to Logan seemingly not caring that Scott is missing and possibly dead, instead he dry humps his wife first chance he gets. (At the same time ignoring Xavier's warnings) Storm went from being a timid mouse in X1 and 2 to a loudmouth in this film. Here's what we lost because of Halle Berry's demands for more pay and higher screen time in this film: 15-20 minutes of the movie that could have been used to develop a new characters, and a loss of maybe 10million from the budget. Here's what we gained: compromised story lines that contradict past films. I'm supposed to believe that Xavier chooses Storm as his heir to the school over Scott? His first student and field leader of the team? All because Scott was depressed and having mental attacks from Jean? Which leads me to my next point.
Xavier knew Scott was having mental attacks from Jean according to Zack Penn, the writer. This being the case, why was Xavier shocked when he discovered she was alive? Why was he portrayed as scheming and a bit reckless in this film when in others he was a kind hearted gentleman? To give Wolverine someone to yell at, that's why.
Wolverine above all others in this film. Once again, only Wolverine can save the day. We don't need 3 of the 4 ninja turtles. As long as we have Leonardo we can't lose! This movie was all regression from what we had in X2. We're introduced to characters that we don't learn anything about. Actually, to say they're introduced is misleading. The character will do their bit and move on with no mention of their names or motives for actions. We're given characters who we know and love from old films and comics and have them unjustly done away with (Psylocke, Cyclops, Mystique). In fact, this film regressed from the advertisements of it. At least in those Angel suited up and fought alongside the team.
I strongly recommend any fans of the X-Men comics stay away from this, as it will make you weep for what could have been. If you know nothing about X-Men I guess it's okay. However, it will still insult your intelligence to an insane degree. You'll see what I mean.