If you're an X-men fan, even the most casual - it's BAD

Rating: 3/10 (30 May 2006)

I was really torn here how to rate this movie as a movie (passable, maybe), or as an X-men movie. Well I can't view it outside of being an x-men movie, so that's what I went with.
The first two x-men movies showed us that we don't need to make up excuses for bad action films just because they're summer blockbusters. They were so good, and exceeded my expectations by such dramatic lengths that I have been waiting for X3 basically since the credits of X2.
First of all the deaths. I'm not going to be whiny and say I liked so and so so why'd they kill him. This much fighting by the third movie, it was probably time for someone to go.
However, a death scene could have at least been powerful, or at least have meaning. Instead they seemed to signal where the plot was the most lacking, or was took the worst turns. Cyclops had just motorbiked from New York to northern Alberta (ya, OK). Actually, I was liking it at this point. He was showing so anger and some backbone and wasn't going to leave Jean's death in the last movie. There's the bit about the eyes and then...... she kills him. Forget everything about true love the original story was about or that we thought we're seeing at this point, the most major x-man ever is disposed of in a very cliché villain introduction scene.
Lastly is Jeans death. The dialog as to why Logan is trying to save her - and then he kills her? "Greater Good" ya whatever, let's just leave out that he's basically just lying to her. Let's call this scene for what it is too - the fact that the "dark Phoenix" had really only been in the movie so much to show up and throw temper tantrums at convenient times that they really had no idea what else to do with her. A confession of true love and then Jean and Logan get together? Jean's love love of Logan saves her? Jeans death simply serves as a quick fix because the fact is despite having been introduced to violently (a scene that fails the desired effect wholly), the dark Phoenix has really been a non-villain in this plot line. In fact, it's almost like she was thrown in as a requisite of the foreshadowing at the end of X2. Like Scott's death however, it also signals a turning point. This time where not even a sequel could save the down turns the movie has taken the plot.
Then there's Xavier's death. It was almost unmemorable at the end of the movie. It was pointless and anti-climatic. The only thing I can think of was that he stood in the way of a dumbed down movie. The "foreshadowing" of MacTaggart's comatose man was so blunt it was almost laughable the "ethical" question he was asking his class didn't even make sense. I completely knew what to expect as I was watching the credits.
As for the mutants that loose their powers? Well only in the case of Rogue's character did it even make sense and she was such a non-entity. Now there was the end scene with magneto - maybe the serum wears off after a long time? I like that message - you can't change what you are. Still, the last quarter second certainly isn't going to save this movie.
At the end of the day this movie did have some nice action - but hell they all did. In fact I wasn't even that impressed with the Beast in a fight and I was looking forward to that. What we had were a crap load of great characters getting squashed and replaced with a bunch of kids that weren't even stylized to look specifically like x-men, let alone developed in any way. What were they trying to save make-up costs on the 4th movie? Please leave this series at 3, the first 2 were absolute masterpieces, time to leave well enough alone.