Logan and Storm: The New Adventures of the X-Men

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2006)

I'm really trying not to be "That Guy". You know, the guy who always mouths off about adaptations of his beloved book/comic/video game/etc. Who rails against any movie that breaks even slightly with the preexisting work. Regardless of how reasonable or interesting the change might be. That guy dislikes the movie for things that aren't its fault, for not living up to his personal expectations of remaining true to the original.
I don't like that guy. However, I find it difficult to approach X-Men 3 without becoming "That Guy". I hate this movie for things that are outside the realm of the movie. I see it, and I have to compare it to the original: the Marvel Comic series known as the Dark Phoenix Saga.
However, I'm clear-minded enough to be able to provide a more objective opinion: on its own merits, this movie is weak.
Characters are introduced with expectations of development; you expect a character from the prologue to have some point in the story. The previous 2 X-Men movies do this with Rogue and Nightcrawler. So you expect Angel to be integral to the movie. He is in precisely 4 scenes, and you could cut all of them without sacrificing anything of value.
There are two plots in this movie. One of them is about a company that has discovered a way to "cure" mutations and strip mutants of their powers, permanently. Magneto, quite wisely, understands that this is merely the first step towards the humans attacking mutants and forcing the cure on them. So he gathers a mutant army to deal with the cure.
The other is about Jean Gray, fresh from her death in X-Men 2, and Godly powerful. Jean essentially goes insane from her powers and becomes a threat to everyone, friend and foe alike.
These plot lines should cross-connect, but they don't really. Basically, they're two separate movies, one that's 1:15 long and the other that's maybe 30 minutes long. The only cross connection is that Magneto includes her in his army and sets her off as the mutant equivalent of a nuclear bomb when his attack fails.
This movie could more adequately be called, "Logan and Storm: The New Adventures of the X-Men," because it's really about them. Storm and Logan monopolize about 80% of all character development. It's a real shame too, since Halle Berry gives a pretty poor performance despite the material she's given. Though I don't see how anyone could come off as anything less than a jerk with the scripted line to Rogue, "There's nothing wrong with you." I so wanted Rogue to jump on her and drain her life, screaming, "Oh Really?! Then why are you dying?!"
As for Logan, he's dominated the previous two pictures as well, so I couldn't really expect anything different. It's just unfortunate that he has to take center stage to the degree that he does.
So, plots that don't matter to one another, un/underused characters, and making it all about Logan and Storm. That, and the movie's incredibly fast pacing (due to the two plots forced together in only enough time to explore one) are the film's primary objective problems. Outside of that, it's a pretty decent action flick.
Now, allow me to become "That Guy" for a minute, because I need to rant. This isn't the Dark Phoenix Saga. Not by a long shot.
The DPS needs to hit certain marks: Jean gains infinite power. Jean is driven insane by it (power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely), thus becoming Dark Phoenix. Jean is eventually brought under control, but only temporarily. This allows Jean to examine what she has done while under the influence of those powers. Then, the containment of Jean's powers fail.
And this is the key part. Jean Gray realizes that these powers will never be contained. She can't control them, and because she's human, they will corrupt her. She realizes that she is a threat to humanity, and therefore makes the only rational choice left to her: she kills herself.
Jean Gray sacrifices herself willfully out of love for her friends and all of humanity. She willingly turns aside infinite power and embraces death. At the end of the DPS, it is said of Jean that, "She could have lived to be a God. But it was more important to her to die a human."
To me, this is an incredibly powerful and HUMAN tale. That's not what X-Men 3 was. For several reasons.
One, Jean as Phoenix had no character development in X3. And you need that, because the story is all about her. X3 gave Jean maybe 10-15 lines, and she says those in the first 30 minutes, before she is fully lost to Phoenix.
And most importantly two, Jean does not choose to kill herself. Logan (the star of the movie) does it. She fights Logan, trying to kill him, but his healing factor lets him strike the blow. This makes it an act of murder (justified though it may be) for Logan, not an act of sacrifice for Jean. It enhances Logan's character, with Jean merely being the object of affection.
At best, it could be said that Phoenix could have tossed Logan away, but Jean was restraining Phoenix from doing so. Thus, Jean may have had some choice, allowing Logan the opportunity to kill her. But that's not as powerful as Jean doing the deed herself, accepting responsibility for her own powers. Either way, it's more about Logan's feelings of regret in doing the deed than Jean.
And if the story isn't about Jean, what's the point?
Objectively, X-Men 3 is a 5. Subjectively, it's a 1: the brutalizing of a story that could have been done far better.