Terrible Let Down of the Year

Rating: 1/10 (23 May 2006)

I just left a sneak preview for this movie and I could not be more disappointed. The only people that will enjoy this film are the ones that know absolutely nothing about the X-Men. Shame on Avi Arad and Lauren Shuler Donner for allowing this terrible representation to be completed and released. After watching the first two X-Men films, I was positive this would be amazing, mind-blowing, and above and beyond any fan's expectations. Instead it did not even try to meet those expectations. Please do not continue to read if you do not want to read about details of the film.
There is one redeeming quality for this movie: Storm is actually powerful. Took them long enough to use her character properly.
I don't know whose idea it was to try and cram everything they possibly could into one film, but it really should have been reconsidered. The Danger Room finally appears, but only for a few minutes and there is no mention of its name, or purpose. In this scene a Sentinel is destroyed, but again no mention of why they are fighting a giant robot, or what it is called.
Next, the entire Phoenix story should have been ignored for this film. Jean Grey returns only to be a fireless Phoenix that resembles a psychotic demon rather than an all-powerful goddess. Not only is her return repulsive, but she kills Cyclops almost immediately in the film. Although I understand this cannot follow the comic book exactly, something that should not change is that Jean Grey's love for Cyclops is what gives her the strength to overcome the Phoenix and ultimately take her own life. In the film, Wolverine kills Jean Grey/Phoenix, even though in the comics his character's love for Jean Grey prevented this action. Not to mention earlier in the film Phoenix tossed Wolverine around like a rag doll, but could not take him down at the end of the movie. At least they could have pitted Storm against the Phoenix in the finale, but instead we are left with another stabbing.
This movie attempts so much, but accomplishes so little. It introduces Angel, whose part is almost nonexistent. Why did I see him in a million promo shots of him wearing a X-Men uniform, but not once does he wear it in the film? They should have just killed Rogue. She is the only X-Men member that seeks out the "cure". It's bad enough her character's powers resembled nothing of her comic book counterpart, but did they really have to take away what little power she had? Does this film ever say Shadowcat, Colossus, Psylocke, Angel, Beast, Danger Room, Sentinel, or Multiple Man? If it does it is very quick and quite lacking in explanation. It's oddly insulting because you have to be a fan to know who the characters are, but the story and world has been altered so much it creates frustration knowing this will be the best representation of these characters in the film world.
The only way this film would work is if another one was coming out next week to portray Phoenix correctly, reconsider who lives and dies, reverse the cure, and actually identify key characters and elements by their names. This could have been one of the best movies ever made. The stories of the X-Men are identifiable, spectacular, and emotionally charged. This falls flat as just a summer special effects film with some creepy parts.