Damn it, Bryan Singer and the old scriptwriters should have been doing this one. I liked X1 and loved X2, and in comparison to those, this fails on so many levels. They basically gutted the heart of the story and replaced it with a bunch of unneccesary SFX mumbo-jumbo. Did they really have to set Worthington Labs on Alcatraz? Or even involve Angel in the plot at all? Not to mention that whole stupid, pointless scene with the Golden Gate bridge.
Meanwhile, Jean, whose SUPPOSED to be the star of this show, does basically nothing except get angry once in a while. The movie's explanation of what the Phoenix force is is inconsistent with itself and rings hollow, and was CLEARLY dumbed down for the general populace. The movie score and production design were generic at best. Character development is basically nil. Don't get me started with the inconsistency of the character deaths with the end of the movie - which send conflicting messages and leave us without closure. The only strong suit in the movie is probably Wolverine, and the previews (for Superman Returns...let's see what he'll do with that one.)