Good but Not Great

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2006)

After thoroughly enjoying the last episode and the tantalizing hint of the rise of the Dark Phoenix at the end of the film, I was looking forward to this entry. The previews featuring Angel spreading his wings, Wolverine slashing away, and Storm flying through the air like a dervish looked irresistible.
Having just watched it however, all I can say is "Eh" (with a capital E mind you). The film has a lot going for it and some of the bigger special effects set-pieces are truly awesome in their power. So why do I feel like I just had dinner at a fast food restaurant? Actually, the film is like meeting a really attractive, intelligent person and hitting it off only to walk away from the encounter and realizing you had no emotional response whatsoever (and trouble remembering the person's name). Characters die (some literally evaporate before our eyes), battles are waged and things fly all over the place but, there doesn't seem to be a connection to the heart of the movie; which is definitely there but unattainable. At it's best though, there are some great scenes involving Cyclops, Wolverine and Phoenix but far too often I found myself wondering - wait a second - did that person die and if so, how come nobody on the screen seems to be too torn up about it? In fact, the movie eventually ramps up and moves at such a fast clip that by the end I found myself wondering what happened to Pyro, how come Angel only shows up for such a brief time in the entire film, and what the heck was that post-credit tag-on all about? Again, a good film and worth an hour and forty minutes of the your time if you're looking for a fun action film. X-Men purists beware though - major plot changes have been made to the original Dark Phoenix storyline and I don't think necessarily for the better.
All in all, I'm curious to see if the DVD turns up with some missing footage because this film only suffers from what's missing - not what's on the screen.