The director wasn't an x man fan

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2006)

Sadly, the director of this movie was not a fan of the X men phenomenon. Was it really necessary to decimate the cast in such a clumsy and heavy handed way. Cyclops' demise was so sudden and unheralded that one couldn't help but imagine that there had been some contractual dispute between the actor and the filmmakers. Mystique has undoubtedly been one of the stars of the series, but alas, transformed into a common check out girl with barely a moments pause. Xavier's battle for the sanity of Jean Gray should have been the centre piece of the movie, but he was killed off half way though with barely a whimper and you were left wondering what might have been. The hint from earlier in the film that Xavier may shift his dying consciousness into the body of someone else (like the man dying of cancer) didn't materialise in the movie, and since the chances of a fourth movie seem remote the introduction of that possibility seemed like a directorial oversight. Jean Gray's tortured & psychotic character was in many ways excellent and beautifully shot, a blend of Carrie and Exorcist, but unfortunately we didn't see enough of the real Jean Gray, and too much of Pheonix standing around looking moody but doing not much else. The end scene did redeem it somewhat, however again it would have been nice to have seen some more of the real Jean, perhaps coming to terms with the enormity of what she had done. (kill her lover and mentor) All we got was a slight misting over of the eyes.
If this film is the last in the series then there are too many loose ends and unanswered questions. This is a big let down for fans, because it seems to me that the makers have done this deliberately in case they are able to find enough money to throw at the cast to convince them to make a fourth movie. If they can't then that's that, and that shouldn't really have been good enough for this director.