X-Men return

I don't want to waste a lot of time thinking about the X-Men. I was a big fan of the first two. The new one is a muddle and basically an elaborate hand-off. The idea is "let's let Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and the rest of the old folks to wrap up their storylines so they can move on and hand the franchise over to some kids."

How they get to that wrap up isn't interesting. The director of the last two installments, Bryan Singer, had some visual flair. Under new director Brett Ratner, the movie has lost all style and sense of tension. Even establishing shots of new scenes seem to plod.

One of the many subplots of the movie involves a "cure" for mutantism that can take all the X-men and their ilk and turn them into regular humans. The problem? Most the mutants seem to think they are the normal ones and don't need a cure. This made me daydream about a great movie from a few years ago called "Sound and Fury." It's a documentary about Americans who face a dilemma similar to that facing our heroes in "X-men" (I'm serious.)

It follows two families with deaf children who must decide whether their children should be fitted with cochlear implants that would allow the children to hear. One family says "of course we will" and the other family says "I'm not sure it's the best thing for the children to be able to hear." From their prospective, deafness isn't a handicap that needs to be cured. They have a vibrant culture and a beautiful language. Yes, it would be easier to get by in the hearing world, but who cares about fitting into the hearing world?

If you want action, go see Mission Impossible 3. If you want to see a movie that builds an unbearable amount of tension, will have you wondering what is going to happen next and yelling at the screen, rent "Sound and Fury."

If you go see X-men, tell us what you think.