They "Matrix 2ed" it

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2006)

OK let me preface my dissertation by stating that I may not be as knowledgeable a fan of the series as some individuals, but I do know a bit about the X-Men and more importantly the prior movies. This is my first post to IMDb and this is moreso an act of catharsis than it is complaining although there is a hint of complaining too.
To sum up my feelings after viewing that movie I have the flattened affect of an indidvidual who just got dumped after spending a good two long years in a relationship and here is why.
Total number of characters that were either killed off or permanantly altered in some way; Cyclops, Mystique, Magneto, Professor X, Rogue, and depending how you look at it Jean Grey. Now as far as I was aware when making a sequel the goal is to perhaps change a few things and add a few things.
Lets imagine you are a fan of the comics and you begin to read the start of the phoenix saga. You have grown accustomed to a certain character dynamic for the last several years and not only their dynamic but the characters themselves. I think Marvel would have been hard pressed to simultaneously introduce this more evil side of Jean Grey while simultaneously killing of cyclops (right on the first page mind you), killing professor X, and depriving Rouge, Magneto, and Mystique of their powers (I think intimating that these mutants may get their powers back is as well a cop out).
I liken it to a friend telling you they have cancer and then you struggle with this life altering change only to find out at the end of the day that it was all a ruse. That entire day you thought your friend went through a life changing event, you emapthized with their situation and now that it turned out not to be true you feel betrayed albeit relieved.
Where was nightcrawler? Like most fans I thought his opening scnene in the first movie really set the tone for the movie and they just decided to completely not include him? Also lets be careful on introducing too many mutants you don't have a time to fully develop. I thought The Beast was a great addition and well developed, however, he was probably the only one. Lets not go through the whole Mortal Kombat 2 syndrome of trying to jam pack the movie with as many characters as possible.
Magneto and Charles Xavier's personality seemed a bit off to me too. Charles Xavier was the picturesque representation of a man of infinite tolerance and wisdom, but his child like reactions to Wolverine's badgering seemed a bit out of place. Magneto as well was always the intellectual who was thoroughly calculating and more imporatantly a loyal leader to his mutants. This I also felt was not really represented as well in this movie with him just abandoning mystique (who had a huge role in the previous movies).
Granted taking the entire bridge over to Alcatraz was real cool I really thought the fight scene was lackluster. I mean its magneto how about instead of throwing cars at random he uses bits of metal as weapons. He did manipulate an entire police squadron's arsenal in the second movie. Oh I know we will light those cars on fire. Yeah... thats redeeming.
Its a tough bill to take over someone elses work and knowing that I would even play it real conservative because you know your interpretation is going to be different and that alone is enough to alter the movie. But to add to that this removal of main characters prevalent in the series is downright arrogant and far beyond "poetic license"