Nice mood, but so many plot threads that half are forgotten

Rating: 5/10 (27 May 2006)

I liked the movie, but I left the theater feeling slightly cheated. The mutants are cool (all the time - the actors hardly have the chance to breathe for the script's demands on them acting cool from start to end), the design and setting is nice and the acting is good (except for Hale Berry who is just cool. Iceman is rather stuffy too).
What irks me is that they start off a lot of plots, and just forgets about them. Another problem is that despite a theme of "are we really fighting for or against ourselves" there is virtually no time for uncertainty or doubt - everyone knows what has to be done, and off they go.
There are also several slips where wolverine and rouge in particular could be used to great effect to demonstrate conflicting ideals and emotions. I feel that the film could have been used to portray really good in-depth characterization and great moral conflict while still retaining's glitz and tempo, if the director had just dared to do it. And the "final solution" to defeat the evil mutants could have been used in wolverine's final moment of truth, couldn't it not?
Despite failing to take advantage of the possibilities in the script the film is a good movie, but hardly a masterpiece. The ones before it are better, both of them.