Disappointed

Rating: 5/10 (26 May 2006)

I didn't think it was possible to mess up the X-men franchise since you've got almost all the same actors and actresses coming back and a decent storyline to work with as well. Well, Ratner once again proves that under his direction, there are no bounds-especially on the downside. After all, who could forget "After the Sunset"?
The previous X-men movies were so good that one hoped that the series could go out in style. Instead, we get this mediocre picture to close out the trilogy. After seeing the movie, I felt that I could have just watched the trailer and I would have basically experienced all this movie had to offer. I don't want to be too critical of this movie though. The movie isn't terrible in the absolute sense but compared to the previous two movies, it just pales in comparison. The pace of the movie was very rushed and it was obvious that they tried to cram everything in within the time frame.
The movie tries to maintain a decent storytelling pace in the first hour or so. There is an actual attempt at character and plot development instead of full-blown popcorn action. Unfortunately, the problem here was they were throwing in various scenes that did not support the main story lines. There were clearly way too many mutants and it seemed a lot of them were just putting in face-time and showing off their powers. All in all, it just seems they were trying to jam all this footage in without taking the time out to develop and make it good.
What also bothered me was the Phoenix storyline. It did not fit well with the mutant cure storyline. It almost seems like half the time she's standing there bored waiting for her turn at camera time. In my opinion, they should have just made this movie solely about the Phoenix and explored her evil side. Perhaps she goes on a rampage or something and then it culminates in the obvious big battle. Now, THAT would have been a movie. The mutant cure story wasn't bad, just this movie wasn't long enough to support two plots. The action and CGI are top notch of course. They do not disappoint at all.
I just hope they change their minds and make another X-men movie. Surely, they can't let this be remembered as the last X-men movie. There are good scenes and acting performances scattered throughout the movie that keep it enjoyable and prevent it from being a disaster like the Punisher or Daredevil. I just wondered if someone had properly managed the flow and execution of this movie *cough* Singer *cough, how great this movie would have been? Well I guess there's always Superman Returns...