too much yet not enough...

Rating: 6/10 (11 July 2006)

This sendoff for the x-men suffers without Bryan Singer at the helm, lacking the strong narrative and ambiguous subtext of its predecessors and instead going purely for action. although spectacular, the film tries to cram in too much story in to not enough film, unsure whether it should be concentrating on the development of the "Mutant Cure", Magneto's revolutionary machinations or the rebirth of Jean Grey as the evil and destructive Dark Phoenix (the most interesting storyline, yet the one that feels most tacked on). Thats without taking into account the subplots introduced such as the father-son conflict between Angel and his father, or the iceman/rogue/shadowcat love triangle, or indeed the storm/wolverine/phoenix triangle.
The other main problem is that the film attempts to include all the X-Men that the previous films didn't such as: Angel, Colossus, Juggernaut, Callisto, Shadowcat, Beast as well as developing existing X-men, something which both sidelines several characters (such as rogue and iceman) while introducing 1d characters such as the redundant angel. The exception to this rule is furry intellectual beast, a fan favourite excellently played by Kelsey Grammar who you wish you'd have seen more of.
The film is not without its good points though. acting is on the whole excellent, with the exception of a woefully miscast Vinnie Jones as a cock-er-ney Juggernaut, a comic relief butchery of a classic villain. Famke Jansen is amazingly sexy as the previously boring Jean Grey and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan once again bring gravity and charisma to the film. The dark tone of the film is also to be congratulated with several x-men meeting surprising and poignant deaths, including one fairly redundant character and, one major character.
Overall, the films refusal to be optimistic lifts it above the average popcorn flick, although it pails in comparison with Singer's previous installments.
3.8/5