Amazing Action, Poor Plot.

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2006)

I have now totally re-edited this comment, as reading other people's comments made me realise how I truly feel about this film. Like thousands of others I was so excited when this film was announced. And like thousands of others I was disappointed with what I witnessed in the cinema. Main reasons listed below:
1) The concept of losing three major characters in the first hour seems ridiculous - But losing Cyclops in the first 10 minutes is nothing short of insane! I'm not even a huge fan of Cyclops, but even I recognise that he is (or rather was!) an important character! What were they thinking?
2) Introducing new characters is totally acceptable, but introducing about 7 new characters and then giving them about 5 minutes of screen time each is crazy! One of my mates paid £5 for her cinema ticket to see Angel in this film... meaning that it cost her about £1 per minute of Angel screen-time time! Totally underdeveloped characters ruin even the best action films.
3) Plot - an important component of any film, right? Apparently not. The plot starts out simple enough: Do they take the "cure" for the mutant gene or fight against it? Then it starts unnecessarily complicating itself - Will Jean ever be the same again? Who will be cured against their will? Will they ever actually explain what happened to Cyclops rather that letting us assume he's snuffed it? It would have been better to have just had the main plot line and kept it at that.
4) I can honestly say that I would rather that they'd just waited for Bryan Singer to finish his other commitments - I'd have waited another 2 years if necessary, if it meant that at the end of it all we'd have a decent Xmen film, worthy of the glory its two prequels received.
After all of that ranting, I'd just like to say though that the acting of the main characters - Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian Mckellen and Halle Berry was amazing. Keep it up guys! I would say the same about Jean/ Pheonix, but unfortunately in a similar case to Angel, Jean spends about half an hour on the screen, and says about ... (counts on fingers) ... 9 words in the entire film!
I really hope that they do make another Xmen film, (which is looking more and more likely) with Bryan Singer - Then my mind might finally be at peace. I know that they say that you don't fully appreciate something until it's gone, a saying which 100% applies to the directing abilities of Bryan Singer. By all means, if you liked the Xmen films before this then there's no harm in watching this film - Just don't expect as much from this one as the other Xmen movies. I give it 7/10, but only for the special effects and acting.