I'll say this about the OG X-men movies. X1 and X2 were well-made movies that were competently acted and directed...
...but they weren't good X-men movies. They went too far from the OG comic storylines and threw way too many classic characters from the comics into the bushes. They were too Hollywood, despite having a couple of standout scenes here and there (Nightcrawler in the White House for example).
The X-men movies were cool for their time since they were made in an era where superheroes hadn't proven themselves to be a huge box office draw (except Superman and Batman), so it made sense to stay away from spandex and traditional comicbook tropes to try and follow the lead of more successful movies of the time like the Matrix. We were all excited because we never saw the X-men in live action before... but that novelty eventually wears off.
The problem with Fox's whole approach is that the ante's been upped since the time of the OG X-men movies. The (first two) Sam Raimi Spider-man movies, the Nolan Batman Trilogy, the MCU, and even Deadpool have long since proven that comicbook superheroes can be successful on the big screen, with colorful costumes, comic-accurate storylines, and all. These X-men movies didn't have to walk on eggshells scared to be comicbook movies anymore. But instead of learning from that success and evolving with the times, these people in charge of the X-men franchise stayed making their movies like they were still in 2003. They had NO plan for the long-term direction of the series, they didn't do their homework on the source material, and they were still throwing legendary characters under the bus just to push big-name celebrities and follow Hollywood trends.
The worst part is that FOX could have beaten Marvel to the punch in terms of building out a sprawling, interconnected cinematic universe with mutants... but these people thought they knew better than the OG comic writers. They don't.
