How to ruin a trilogy.

Rating: 1/10 (25 May 2006)

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD -

Last night I went to watch the German premiere of what I hoped would be the triumphant finale in the X-Men trilogy. I had purposefully ignored all early reviews and news about the film, I didn't even know that Bryan Singer had left the project - believe me, after ten minutes of the movie, I knew he had.
I won't bother to go into the story here, as in fact, there are almost five or six story lines from the comics collapsed into this movie, none of them working at all. It almost seems as if three different movies had been made and then just cut together. Jean Grey as Phoenix is so badly developed that it amounts to an insult to any fan of the comic book. During the final battle she just stands around in the background for -literally- twenty minutes until she decides to annihilate San Francisco, obviously for the sole purpose of creating a "cool" FX sequence. To see just how much the production team obviously disrespects the intelligence of the audience, watch how day turns to night from one shot to another after Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz. My jaw dropped at witnessing such a massive continuity error.
Brett Ratner obviously has no love or respect whatsoever for the comics or even the previous films, as is displayed by the following creative disasters that riddle this movie:

Nightcrawler, who was a visually entrancing and emotionally interesting character in the last installment has mysteriously disappeared from the X-Men...

Rattner introduces new Mutants left right and center without developing their character or even their motivation one bit - something Singer paid great attention to. The best example is the prison breakout, where Magneto frees Multiple Man and the Juggernaut, both of whom agree to join his cause without even knowing who he is or what his cause is.

The costume design of the Juggernaut is indescribably ridiculous and makes every scene featuring him unintentionally funny. Think Hercules meets the Flintstones.

Gone is the subtle, inventive dialog from parts 1 and 2. It is replaced by clichéd phrases that are delivered by a visibly unmotivated cast, Hugh Jackman being the best example, a mere shadow of himself. For every funny one-liner in this movie, there are at least ten that will make you wince.

Cyclops is killed off like a character from a bad soap opera in the first ten minutes of the movie. It is inexcusable to remove such a vital character in such a disrespectful manner and I feel sorry for James Marsden for having to go out on a whimper like he did.

The list goes on and on.
This movie is the sudden demise of what Brian Singer turned into one of the great franchises and I can only imagine how he must feel at seeing what the producers are willing to do for a quick buck.
Anybody who liked the first two movies, likes the comic book, or has any respect for decent film-making - I ask you to save your ten bucks and not hand it to the makers of what is a failure of character and creativity in every respect.
Thanks for reading.