Killed off the wrong characters. Killed off the movie.

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2006)

Why oh why do Prof X, Cyclops, and Jean Grey die and yet the egotistical Halle Berry's Storm remains???
I was pleased to see that Storm at least had her abilities portrayed much more effectively but I was the opposite of pleased to see her spit out cliché and uninspired motivational speeches that stank of pure cheese. This movie attempted to pack twice the amount of characters and story of the first two movies into the shortest of the three. Perhaps if the movie were another thirty minutes than this film could have been one of the greatest comic turned film of all time. The story and the characters and incredibly compelling but are jammed into a movie that's nothing more than a showcase of visual effects. Multiple Man, Colossuss, Juggernaut, Angel, Callisto, Beast--- Do we even care????? What are their motives, personalities, and backgrounds? In short, who are these characters? Where is Nightcrawler???? Generally the first two movies found impressively original and creative ways that each mutant used his/her power. This movie seems to look for the most overblown and visually spectacular uses for their powers while ignoring whether or not it actually makes any sense. Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Hugh Jackman all manage to remain impressive in this film despite some completely predictable cheesy lines. In short, a brilliant concept is neutered by Ratner's big bang film-making and I shall have to sit and pray for a continuation into a fourth film by Singer. The X-Men cannot end like this.