This could have been another "Empire."

Rating: 1/10 (26 May 2006)

This film could have been another "Empire Strikes Back." With a bleakly tragic plot line and a devastating list of casualties, it could have described the heart-wrenching tragedy that inevitably unravels at the core of the greatest sagas.
They had all the right pieces. A daunting, uncontrollable new power in the form of the Phoenix, with the obvious implication that the Professor's fearful meddling in young Jean's mind is at least partly responsible for her untamed alter-ego. Doubting himself--not as a telepath, but as a teacher--Xavier had locked off the parts of her power that he believed could not be educated. Thus hidden from her conscious mind, this power had the freedom to become the Phoenix, a selfish and destructive creature possessing nearly unimaginable power.
Meanwhile, a major pharmaceutical company develops a "cure" for the mutant condition, sharply dividing the mutant community and providing the banner around which Magneto can build his own army of angry mutants. The government, of course, has weaponized the "cure" using plastic darts that take only seconds to incapacitate their target.
Again, all of the right pieces for a genuine tragedy for our X-Men. Betrayal, fallen friends, hopeless odds. I loved this story. I could have enjoyed this pain... but they just would not let me.
On a dramatic level, the film falls flat. Director Brett Ratner comes across as amateurish and unoriginal, while choppy editing and rush-job writing whisk us through a dazzling array of scenes with virtually no dramatic impact. Meanwhile, writers and director simply refused to tug at the nagging loose threads of their own story. The most glaring example? Xavier, who may not have deserved to die, certainly made his own death-bed. Despite a weakly-drawn confrontation with Wolverine, however, not to mention punchy but thin accusations from Magneto, Xavier never admits his mistakes, never confronts his contradictions. Thus, he dies still pleading his pathetic paternalism to a Jean Grey already destroyed by his own manipulations. He dies with impotent stubbornness, with no dignity because he cannot escape his conceit. His death, while tragic, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because he never managed to repent.
If his death is sour, Xavier's memorial and the succeeding scenes are far worse. The memorial is brief and unremarkable; afterward, Hank discusses closing the school, an option that Storm all too quickly rejects. We are supposed to feel uplifted, hopeful that life goes on for the X-Men. Instead, I feel cheated, robbed of yet another chance to properly mourn the loss of an icon: we never get to absorb his death, to revel in the tragedy. Suddenly, things are simply back to normal.
The narrative flow is practically non-existent: the story, while interesting, fails to build tension toward a dramatic climax. It is hardly helped by a flat and uninspired musical score.
There was no need for the X-Men to "win" this battle. There was every reason, in fact, for them to lose. We might have left this story with Magneto and Phoenix ascendant, at the verge of true world conquest. Indeed, this would have provided the escalation necessary to make the Sentinels a reality, to launch this movie franchise wholesale into the bleak and unapologetic world of the X-Men comics.
Instead, we get Hank McCoy, ambassador to the UN. We get a world in which, for no apparent reason, human and mutant suddenly get along. Yes, the X-Men saved the world (again) from Magneto, and they defeated the seemingly unstoppable Phoenix... but are we really supposed to believe that human paranoia gives in that easily? The actors, for the most part, did a superb job with a lousy script. Ellen Page was especially notable for a very honest, very relatable Kitty Pryde--I wish we had seen more of her.
I loved this story. I love a good tragedy. Too bad they had to ruin it.