More Correctly Titled: X-Men:The Ruin That Ratner Made

Rating: 5/10 (26 May 2006)

After seeing this farce of an X-Men movie one can only hope that there is a second version that is more competently made. I also understand why studio executives had to trumpet the comments of a studio cafeteria waitress in Entertainment Weekly to extol its virtues. I only hope the poor girl gets to keep her job.
The special effects in the movie are impressive as are the fight scenes. Technically the movie is well made. That is unfortunately the best praise that it can be given. The movie lacks any of Bryan Singers subtlety or artistry.
The characters are mere shadows of themselves in the first two movies. Storm, who we see becoming fiercely devoted to Mutant Rights in X2 is merely cranky in this movie. This Storm in a X-Man on the rag. Magneto is saved from caricature only by the sheer talent of Sir Ian McKellan. It seems that is his role in film this summer.
As for the key emotional points in the film, they are given almost no attention. The deaths of Scott Summers, Professor Xavier, and Jean Grey (again) are almost only incidental to the film. The emotional an mental struggles that the Dark Phoenix character are going through are not explored at all outside of a cliché "Kill Me to Save Me" plea. The ethical struggles of Professor Xavier as he strains to contain Phoenix are completely unexplored except for a tame outburst at Wolverine.
As for the new characters, the Archangel character has less screen time than James Marsden's crotch. Ben Foster is nothing more than an Abercrombie-esquire marketing campaign. The same is true of Colossus, Iceman, Pyro, and Rogue - except we do see more of them than Cyclops' inseam. I will give Kelsey Grammar credit for doing an excellent job of breathing life into Beast. As with Magneto it couldn't have happened without an extremely talented character actor.
I saw the movie once and will wait until HBO to watch it again. I know the temptation to run out and see it is huge, If i could give one word of advice it would be WAIT. There is no reason to suffer through Holiday crowds for this waste of a great franchise.