X Mess

X-Men 3 is a mess.

There’s plenty of ideas going on in the film. A thread of potential plays itself out through the story. It’s got enough material for two different films. But it’s without focus. It feels like it goes on many tangents.

Part of the problem is the horde of characters nabbing at the spotlight. There’s too many characters and not enough development. Not even Wolverine, well played by Hugh Jackman, the central character for the previous films, can sink his claws into this one.

So he’s pushed into the sideline for some of the greater, more important issues: Jean Grey’s seemingly Christ-like revival, the supposed cure for the mutant virus and the introduction of several new characters.

Not enough spotlight for any of the characters. There’s no solid flow to the story. It’s like everything is being shot from different angles. And nothing ties it together.

They’re trying to wrap up too much in too short a period of time.

A few major characters get killed off during this film. It’s generally not a good idea to kill off someone for the sake of getting an emotional response in the story. That’s happened too often in the TV series X-Files: you can’t get attached to any of the characters because someone gets knocked off every year in the series.

James Marsden’s Cyclops is wasted in this film. He only has a couple of scenes in the film before he is bumped off. That’s too bad because his character has a lot of potential in X-Men 3. We could’ve seen him vying for Jean’s affection alongside Wolverine. It might’ve been a possible, and interesting, love triangle going on. Instead, his acting talents is pushed aside.

And who is given more of the scenes? The sinking ship of t
his film is caused by Halle Berry’s much public-dispute about wanting more scenes. Or else she’s not doing the flick. I think the director should’ve just gotten rid of her the same way he did the Nightcrawler character. (Which was unfortunate). She does a lot of flying around. Whoopie-de-do.

Though she is stepping up to the plate after Professor X’s demise. I would’ve preferred to see Patrick Stewart’s strong presence, his stalwart calmness to Berry’s awkward scenes. She remains the albatross in this film’s spiral into self-destruction.

Some of the more embarrassing moments are given to Vinnie Jones’ Juggernaut. His high-pitched squeal of a voice sounds like it belongs to a comic foray instead of a serious, literary film. His line “I need to go pee” tops the garbage list. Some villain he turned out to be. I think I need to go pee too.

The film seems so pointless. A cure that doesn’t seem like a cure. The mutant powers are suppressed. That means they can come back anytime. X-Men 3 should’ve gravitated more around the Jean Grey character. I mean, that’s what the film is supposed to be about. The rising of the phoenix. The bringer of life and death.

Not all of the film is terrible. I really liked the welcome addition of Kitty Pryde. A very beautiful girl who gets some good scenes. The bit with her racing against the Juggernaut to save a mutant is a bright, funny shuffle.

The first scene with a younger Professor X and Magneto elegantly performed by Ian McKellan coming to visit the quiet, unassuming neighborhood where Jean Grey resided as a child… that was a very touching moment. Too bad there weren’t more scenes like that.

It’s too bad the film didn’t focus more on Jean Grey, Wolverine and Cyclops. That would be a very momentous, moody story with plenty of heartbreak. Instead the film takes off into a meandering squabble.

I was hoping for more in X-Men 3. I would’ve liked a story with more soul to it. I’m fascinated by the whole idea of people who are outsiders in society and learning to co-exist. The film could’ve been about discovery of human emotions. But it was two hours packed with many ideas about nothing.