When Bryan Singer left the X-Men franchise to direct Superman Returns, I couldn't help but feel a little dread. The first X-movie got off to an uneven start (mutagenic wave? killing off Senator Kelly?) but was ultimately satisfying. X-Men 2 succeeded on all fronts, evoking the comic books, introducing new characters, and telling a satisfying story.

And now we have X-Men: The Final Stand, a movie which struggles mightily with an ever-larger cast and myriad plots meant to satisfy diehard fans and newbies alike. Unfortunately, the plots and the characters caught up in them never managing to gel cohesively, ending with a movie that's the cinematic equivalent of one of veteran X-scribe Chris Claremont's rambling, multi-year, never-quite-explained plots.