It was okay! Not as bad as they say!

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2006)

** MINOR spoilers **
No, it's not nearly as bad as people claim.
I saw this opening night (well, Friday). The theater was packed. There weren't many ooh's and ahhh's as one would hope on opening night. The theater was a bit quiet, marked by only a few chuckles. But I still felt entertained.
Mind you, I despised the 2nd X-Men movie. So my expectations were lowered here.
I understand the complaints about the introduction of so many new mutants and the number of previous characters who were dismissed. But I really thought they were merely responding to so many fans' complaints from the first 2 movies. All I ever heard was, "Aww, where's this character?" and "What about so-and-so?!" Well, here in the 3rd movie, you certainly cannot say that! And for me, having never read the comic, I liked the new (new to me anyways) characters.
True, the Phoenix didn't have much to do. But there was plenty of other action on the screen to keep me happy. And the characters were not developed at all. True. But that's the price you pay, folks, for having all your precious mutants in one movie! I seriously doubt this is the last X-Men movie. With the way they've introduced so many new characters -- particularly young kids -- and removed older characters, this franchise can live on for a long time. And if you stay until the very end of the credits, you'll see they have certainly left themselves room for a sequel.
I was disappointed in some scenes where the special FX lacked. But there were other scenes that truly delivered, so I quickly forgave the shortcomings. My only real complaint -- with all the movies, not just this one -- is that every human is a bad-guy. I suspect, in the real world, people would be hoping-to-God for a mutant child, because everyone want's their child to be special, to stand out, to be unique. And oftentimes the mutants (the X-Men) help the humans. They've talked to the President (X-Men 2) and have protected humans with their powers. Stories like these X-Men movies have plenty of room for interesting dialogue about human nature: prejudice, social class, etc. But they're all about action.
Don't expect character development. Enjoy some good fight scenes. Have a chuckle or two. Overall, it's a so-so movie.
So for you X-Men super-fans, maybe it sucked. For a guy who loved the first X-Men movie and likes to see action and special effects, it wasn't bad.
Hope you enjoy it.