What a crap fest

Rating: 1/10 (26 May 2006)

You might enjoy this movie if all you've ever seen of the X-men has been in the movies. As for anyone who has ever followed it in any other format, you will be disappointed and perhaps angry. They have taken your favorite characters and destroyed any level of humanity they had. Many people die in this movie, good and bad alike, without any regard to consequences. Some old characters are unrecognizable, some are gone without any explanation, and some are so changed (Callisto anyone?) that you can't tell who they're supposed to be. They use profanity and odd moments to draw laughs that aren't needed and the vulgarity of it is unexpected - how many other movies feature villains that repeatedly call women and teenage girls "bitch" for laughs? Famke Janssen was wonderful as Phoenix; it's easy to pass off her "personality" changes as special effects until you realize the acting that went on underneath all those pixels. The final battlefield scene was intriguing, but not right somehow - it seemed odd to see the "cannon fodder" factor in a series that has especially concentrated on individuals. Hugh Jackman does a good job as well as the "old" cast; they just aren't given much to work with script-wise. Kelsey Grammar was stately, but didn't get to play up the charm and educated qualities of Beast. Angel...well, he was barely in the movie, unlike the trailer would have you believe. Rogue's transformation shows a misunderstanding of the tragicness of her character, and also leaves her with nothing to do in the movie. Overall, the script reeks of too many treatments, and the direction is just not up to the bar that Singer set for the series. If you're a fan, don't see this movie and encourage this type of degradation of your favorite heroes.