Several problems arise, though, in the telling of this story. There is so much tragedy and fate that it dictates the story. There is a pervasive sense of helplessness as each character makes the only choices that are obvious to them, only to bring them closer to armageddon.
The story was originally intended to be told over a much longer time frame, as well. In the movie format this leads to a very abbreviated story. The movie has a rapid pace, although scene placement and movement is extremely slow. The contrasting scenes of intense battles and destruction and slow, thoughtful scenes are meshed well, but time is left out to explore the characters, their motivations, and their pasts. Those who read the manga will understand why the various characters act as they do, but in the movie, due to the lack of time for development, the characters seem to act in an almost arbitrary fashion. These problems are compounded by the compression the story underwent in order to fit it into a movie of reasonable length. When it is all over viewers may end up wondering just where the story was and what the point was. What was everyone fighting over, and why did they have to fight over it in the first place? It appears that these people just all decided that they had to fight each other, and as a consequence the Earth would be destroyed. Thrust into the middle of this with no explanation except for the foreshadowing from Kamui's mother are Kamui, Fuuma and Kotori — poor victims of a set of cruel fates that will wipe out virtually everyone.

The direction for the movie is superb. The pacing of the scenes flows well from slow, thoughtful, and dreamlike to intense action and destruction. The animation is also first rate. All of the dream sequences, the panoramic backgrounds, and the destruction that results from the various battles is exquisite. Computer graphics are used to add perfection to certain scenes: the crumbling ground, the crystal that is the Earth. The use of such CG is becoming more and more common in anime and it used to very good effect in this movie.
The soundtrack for the film, orchestral and final, fits the animation and pacing very well, as if one is watching some intricately choreographed opera where the music and story intertwine to become one. Those who are ardent fans of the X² music video and expect the same type of music to accompany the animation of X will be surprised at the difference. Although it does not propel the viewer along with the sheer energy of the X² video, it superbly conveys the sense of titanic fate forcing all of the players to move along their predetermined paths. You can even feel the desperate scratching of Kamui at diamond-hard halls of destiny that only allow him one course forward, forcing him to watch in agony as what he loves is destroyed, even by his own hand.