Rushed Hour (and 39 minutes)

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2008)

This movie was fighting an uphill battle from the start - having a concrete release date fast approaching, losing Bryan Singer, now-established A-lister squabbling about character development, hefty studio interference, actor schedule clashes and a lacklustre script.
I don't blame Ratner, I'm sure he did the best he could with the time allowed. I don't blame the cast. The problem was with the script - it introduces too many characters without fleshing them out, leaving big characters out of the storyline (Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Mystique) and trying to be too big in scale. The beauty with Singer's X-Men is that he managed to make complex narratives accessible to the non-fans, he Ratner is forced to subliminally supply the viewer with rapid fire sequences that confuse and distract rather than endear. On the plus side, Jackman now owns the Wolverine character, Janssen is good as Jean Grey/Phoenix and Beast looks pitch-perfect.
All principal actors struggle in vain to sound more than cardboard characters from 1960's Star Trek - I feel most sorry for McKellan & Stewart who can do this stuff in their sleep. How come Halle Berry lost her accent? Was it to taxing? Rogue is forced to sit on the back burner. Cyclops, who was given a rough ride in X2, is dispatched all too quickly. Ben Foster (a talented actor) is given nothing to do as Archangel - stuck with the same facial expression in all of his three scenes. Many fans point the finger at Vinnie Jones - I thought he did very well with what he had - let's face it, there was no way the character could've been introduced to the screen without looking ridiculous - Juggernaut is not even given a death scene worthy of his introduction.
X2 remains one of the finest comic book adaptations to date, so it's a shame that such a groundbreaking trilogy is left to wither and die for the sake of the studio earning a quick buck.