Zak Penn

The government weaponizes a cure for superpowers.

The action doesn't work. The characters don't make sense. (Phoenix, who is described as a creature of unfiltered joy and rage, just stands around doing nothing and looking vacant for most of the movie. And why is Professor X suddenly and inexplicably a villain? When did that happen?). There's nothing to the plot except an allegory which is undermined by its own idiotic writing. I mean, it's a movie about oppression which basically makes a case show more for oppression. Who are we even supposed to be rooting for in that last battle? The only good thing in the entire movie is the shamelessly cartoonish Juggernaut.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: F
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.5/4 show less

Honestly? Every single criticism of this is accurate. It's a teen geek boy Mary Sue wish-fulfilment novel that's come from the SciFi Boys Club.

Did I also enjoy it a lot despite every flaw and every annoying thing about it?

Yes.

But there is no way in hell I would have got through the written text.

The chasm from X2 to this was so large as to give it a perhaps somewhat ill deserved reputation as a horrible film. It's not. It's just very mediocre, being overstuffed with characters and plotlines, and not letting any of them properly resonate with the audience as a result. But in hindsight with expectations adjusted, it's more bland than outright bad, and no worse than, say, "X-Men: Apocalypse" (which similarly followed a strong entry in "Days of Future Past" and thus looks very bad by show more comparison). show less

I'd seen this in the cinema but actually enjoyed it more the second time around. Not as fun as the book but it is very Spielberg and he knows how to tell a story.