Not Terrible, but nowhere near spectacular

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2006)

Bryan Singer's X2 may have raised the bar a little too high to reach again, but even so, I definitely expected more than what Brett Ratner had to offer.
The movies starts out well enough in the first 10 minutes but when the plot starts to move, it stumbles clumsily for the next hour and then finally limps across the finish line with a whimper instead of a bang. None of the major plot points in this film are explored or used to its fullest potential, with the possible exception of Hank McCoy aka Beast and you wind up feeling just a little emptier than when you began. The deaths of two main characters are underwhelming, much of the discourse of the remaining characters is forced, Angel's involvement is meek and predictable, the social implications of using the cure as a weapon are brushed up against only lightly, and the problems that Magneto creates are eliminated with the dramatic intensity of flipping a light switch.
There are some decent scenes in the film that helped make up for a lack of great scenes and other scenes were not as good in the eyes of the comic fans, but were understandably reduced for a mainstream audience. For example, the cosmic origins of the Phoenix and the Juggernaut were re-written from the comics to help ease their translation into the film. Rogue's re-write from the first film also played a part in the decisions the character ultimately, and unsurprisingly, made in the film. Unfortunately the emotional and social impacts of her decision were yet more additions to the list of items that were never really explored.
As a stand alone movie, the film doesn't do much better than a standard 90's action flick with lots of special effects and a very basic level of drama. Its not terrible, but its not nearly as spectacular as it could or should have been for a final chapter.