A Bomb

Rating: 4/10 (27 May 2006)

When it comes to big Hollywood blockbusters, I've learned that it's often best to keep my expectations low. The X-men franchise, to this point, had been different. The first film pleasantly surprised me; the second film outpaced the first.
I couldn't help but feel like something was missing from the third film. Maybe it was the former director, a remote sense of character development, or even an engaging plot. Whereas some films are destroyed during production or in the editing process, the failures of x-men 3 seem to reach back to the pre-production period. Besides losing its director, the X-men franchise had problems with its major stars. James Marsden had a limited schedule so his part was smaller than it should have been. Halle Berry demanded a bigger role. Alan Cummings wasn't invited back to play Nightcrawler.
As a result, Cyclops is killed off quickly and Storm is shoved down our throat.Other x-men characters are simply lost in the shuffle. Kitty Pride and Collossus have maybe one paragraph of dialog. The Angel, with all of his appearances in the commercials, is really only in a few scenes. Even Professor X, Rogue and Mystique have their roles massively reduced.
X-men 3 is a skeleton of a concept, thrown together by a second-rate filmmaker and a heavily compromised cast. As time passes, I will probably mention this film alongside the 2nd and 3rd Matrix films and all of the new Star Wars. Avoid at all costs!