Posted this somewhere else, but perhaps this is the more suitable thread.
This is more a rant about Jean's death than anything else, but I just don't get how people can exaggerate this film's bad points so much. Okay, there are a fair few plot holes, and okay, a 1 hour 40min runtime is far too short, especially for the Phoenix Saga which is one of the most pivotal storylines in comic existence. But each and every time I see Xavier get de-molecularised, that painful last smile from him to Wolverine, as the flesh is literally torn from his bones, and Wolverine slicing Jean up at the end, with Jean's contented smile and warped satisfaction at her own death... well, I feel like breaking up and crying. And I don't cry easily when it comes to films.
Perhaps it's because Jean is my favourite character? I know she hasn't really been too well developed in the films, but as someone who hadn't read the comics (my only outside X-Men influences were from the games and the X-Men evolution cartoon), I still really felt for her and the powerful burden she had to carry.
Sure, after doing a little background research I can see that the films haven't really done the Jean/Phoenix storyline justice at all. In fact, they haven't done ANY of the characters justice. All we get is Wolverine pushed in our faces 24/7 with his boring powers, egotistical attitude and lame kitty claws. Still, to this day, I can't find the guy interesting... I'll take an ass-kicking telekinetic and telepath over some hyped up, alternate reality Indiana Jones rip off any day. But even with all of these flaws (and I imagine to the seasoned X-men fan, they are pretty major flaws), I still managed to shed a tear. And you can't deny that the action in this film was pretty hardcore, even if all other points were total crap.
Although, with all of this said, if for some reason there had been no Jean in this movie, it would have been completely sucktacular for me. There's nothing like a goodie gone bad, and Famke did a great job playing that part. If only the movie had been an hour longer...
##### Begin Jean Fanboi rant #####
I really hope they bring Jean back. If Xavier can transfer his mind like that, I don't see why Jean wouldn't be able to do something similar. IMHO, it wouldn't discredit the series at all. I mean, it wouldn't be far fetched for some uber-powerful Class 5 Omega-level mutant with the poignant tag name 'the Phoenix' to return from the ashes. It's been done in the comics a dozen times, and in the movie-verse, Jean didn't actually
die the first time round anyway. The Phoenix in the water at the end of X2 was an obvious hint to her return. If they wanted her return in X4 to be slightly less fantastical than the comics, they could invent a new, more plausible storyline out of it. For example:
1. Xavier & a reformed Jean both coming back. X-Men don't trust Jean. Jean has all her powers, but X3's events have managed to block off the Dark Phoenix side of her personality. Jean is torn up about killing Scott.
2. Mystique goes to work at Xavier's institute as a human. Perhaps as some sort of undercover agent? Her powers begin to return, but her 'blue' form is permenantly subdued. She keeps her powers a secret. You could also fit in a sub-plot with the return of Nightcrawler here, and have her doting over her abandoned son.
3. Mystique returns to the Brotherhood, whom are in search of a new leader to replace the depowered Magneto. She tells them of Jean's return. The Brotherhood then try to sway Jean to their side.
4. Jean joins the Brotherhood as an undercover member, trying to destroy the group from within in an attempt to gain back Xavier's trust. She then becomes leader, but finds the taste of power tempting. She starts to have flashbacks of the Dark Phoenix.
5. Magneto returns, with his powers intact. There is a struggle for power between him and Jean. He then goes to Xavier's institute to warn them about her return, and to arrange her defeat so he can assume leadership of the Brotherhood once more.
6. The X-Men mobilize and prepare to fight Jean & the Brotherhood. She gets caught by surprise and the X-Men attack her, unaware of her secret ambitions to betray the Brotherhood and return to the X-Men. The attack from her former friends causes the Dark Phoenix to be unleashed once more. However, this time Jean struggles to control it. Eventually, she learns to embrace it, to embrace both the light and the dark side of herself.
7. Blah blah blah, X-Men beat Brotherhood, Magneto is back in charge and things are back as they were, apart from Cyke being dead and Jean being all super-charged and stuff.
8. Wolverine still loves Jean, but Jean is still torn up about her true love, Cyke. However, during her time as leader of the Brotherhood she learned of a mutant who might be able to bring back her love. The movie ends on a cliffhanger, perhaps with Cyke being resurrected some how.
And then throughout the movie they could just interweave actual comic events (e.g. Sentinels). Or perhaps do something with the Apocalypse story line and have a struggle for power between him and Jean. Anyway, my point was that there's still so much potential for Jean. If they just leave it like that, then I'm afraid they've lost pretty much the only character so far with any true depth (it's taken three movies to get her to this point), and it'll be much more time-consuming to flesh out the other characters enough to replace her. Jean is great, because by bringing her back they could also flesh out the relationship between her and Storm, Xavier, and of course, the beloved Wolverine. Every character would be affected by her return, and that makes room for natural character progression without trying to divide the attention between dozens of characters. It's like killing 20 X-Men with one stone. Figuratively speaking, of course.
##### End Jean Fanboi rant #####
Alright, I'm done venting. I just watched the film again and had to write something. <3
