X-Men: The Last Stand
I saw X-Men 3 yesterday with my fellow sci-fi buddy, Jessica. I'd invite Hassan, but he has a thing against movies that contain any of the following: wizards, Hobbits, witches, magic, monsters, fairies, and especially mutants.Where or where do I start? Yahoo news announced today that X-Men 3 had the largest opening for the Memorial Day weekend and the FOURTH largest opening EVER. All I could I think was, there are millions of poor souls who have WASTED their money this weekend.
I don't know who to blame: the writers, the director, or BOTH?!??! Maybe I should blame myself...perhaps I had high expectations for a third X-Men movie that virtually had all of the same characters returning.
Note: The follow comments may contain some spoilers. On second thought, if you've seen the previews, you basically have seen the best parts of the movie. The spoilers may even save you some money...
1) Writers tried too hard to ensure that there WOULD NOT be a 4th X-Men. My God! In order to make sure that there couldn't be a 4th movie, they did the easiest thing possible. They killed off key characters! And they twisted the plot so far off the actual X-Men comics that it was ridiculous. (I'm not a X-Men junkie, but it seemed like that some of the X-Men were written out of character) Jean Grey killing Cyclops with a death kiss? Then, the Phoenix killing the Professor by literally shredding him into millions of molecules?!?!? Then, Jean Grey being killed herself by Wolverine? I barely had time to mourn the death of the Professor! Rogue volunteered to be "cured" because she wanted to make-out with Iceman. Wasn't she supposed to be sassy and a semi-feminist?
2) Too much going on and too little time. This movie was spread too thin...there were so many story lines that I felt like I was watching a soap opera.-Cyclops mourning the death of Jean Grey
-The split-personality struggle between Jean Grey and the Phoenix
-The Professor's attempts to control the Phoenix
-The love triangle between Iceman, Rogue, and Kitty Pryde
-Archangel's personal crisis with his father wanting to cure him
-Rogue's personal crisis of not being able to touch people
-The "cure" being used as a weapon against mutants
-Rescuing the mutant boy that took away the powers of mutants
-The on-going rivalry between Iceman and Pyro
3) Along the same lines of too much going on, there were too many characters! With too many characters, most mutants barely got any screen time. Virtually, the main characters of this movie were Hugh Jackman and Halle Barry. Hmmm...gee, I wonder why! Anyways, the fight scenes were sub-par, but I have to give credit to Kelsey Grammer who was the perfect "Beast". His fight scenes were awesome, but I wanted more!
The face-off scene between Iceman and Pyro absolutely predicable, lame, and pathetic! The whole thing lasted only a minute with Iceman head-butting Pyro after a "tug of war" scene!!! They should have done a fight scene between Juggernaut and Collosus! Instead, Juggernaut had a one-on-one with the puny Kitty Pryde...what good was she!?!?! AND, with so much attention in the previews about Archangel, where was he?!?! He barely "stretched out his wings" in the movie. How disappointing was that?!?!On the enemy side, it seemed as if writers were making up characters to fill up holes. There are other villians besides Magneto...what about Apocalypse?!?!?! And, I thought that the Sentinels were going to get more screen time! Instead, they were only holograms in the "Danger Room" for training purposes!
4) Unfinished story lines: with so much going on in only an hour and 43 minutes, I think the writers forgot to end some of the story lines. Rogue's crisis abruptly ended when she was able to touch Bobby without a glove. What happened after that?!?! Did she leave the school? Is she still with Bobby or does he have his hands full with Kitty? Who won that triangle?!? What happened to Mystique after she was shot by the vaccine? AND, the biggest unfinished story yet...what happened to that bald boy the rescued from the research facility?!?! Is he a loner since no mutant wants to get near him?!?!
By the time I finished this movie, I was in complete denial. I refused to believe that the Professor was dead and that Magneto had lost his powers. For God' s sake, he was playing chess in the park by himself! So much had happened, but not to the detail I wanted to see it in. The fight scenes were short and predicable. The only mutant powers we really saw were those of Storm, Wolverine, and the Beast. I wanted more! I wanted to see more Iceman and more Rogue! Jeez, we didn't even see Cyclops fire a single heat ray...he died in the first 30 minutes! I don't think Collosus even turned into metal! All he did was hurl Wolverine into the air. He barely had 3 lines in the movie!
Sigh...I'm sad that there won't be a 4th so that they can get another chance to do it right. If they do, devote more time to the fight scenes and mutant powers. I didn't care about tying up loose ends...that attempt totally ruined the movie.
Sigh...
posted by Christina @ Saturday, May 27, 2006
8 Comments:
So much to comment on here... I'm a total geek when it comes to comic mythology so I hope you don't mind me indulging myself. First off, I like the movie. I walked into the theatre knowing full well the director would have some liberties with the X-Men story. As the guys down in SD say to me, "You gotta surrender yourself [when watching a flick]."
Now... "My God! In order to make sure that there couldn't be a 4th movie, they did the easiest thing possible. They killed off key characters!" You didn't wait till after the credits did you? Nuff said.
"I'm not a X-Men junkie, but it seemed like that some of the X-Men were written out of character..." Well, when Phoenix is "born" she's actually pretty violent, near homicidal. In the toons her power is given by an alien gem. The power sort of knocks out her conscience and she does attack the X-men. Rogue actually pretends to be tough but actually desperately wants to be cured; true in both the toon and the comic. She does a few things that go against her principles to find a way to "make-out". One of those is shacking up with Magneto (or at least the reader is led to believe it's Magneto).
"there were so many story lines that I felt like I was watching a soap opera..." Welcome to Marvel my dear! X-men was really about a family. A bunch of non-related individuals living in one big mansion and fighting evil. The comic was sort of a soap opera and all the little plots kept me entertained for years. I like the fact that they did that in the movie. I don't know if you were a fan of the toon, but they did a lil of that in there as well.
"Along the same lines of too much going on, there were too many characters"... yeah but it's not as bad as "Street Fighter".
"They should have done a fight scene between Juggernaut and Collosus..." that's where we do agree strongly. Juggernaut was underpowered. I'm used to him bear hugging 20 story buildings and shaking super heroes out, stomping on streets and knocking dudes off balance, and the ever popular hiking the city bus down the street.
Correction: there was no "Arch-angel" in this movie. There was "Angel". When he was a teen he was just "Angel" later Apocolypse turns him evil and messes with his body, hence "Arch-Angel". That's gonna be in X-Men 6. Oh yeah... I'm a firm believer we'll get more X-men from the film industry.
"There are other villians besides Magneto...what about Apocalypse?!?!?! And, I thought that the Sentinels were going to get more screen time! Instead, they were only holograms in the "Danger Room" for training purposes!" Big nod from my part, completely agree. Magneto is a bad ass in the comic though... too bad they casted freakin Gandolf!
As far as the ends you mentioned... I'm sure Marvel will tie up the ends in a follow on comic book. I might pick it up if it's reasonable priced.
The bald kid is Leech, in the toon and comic he lives in the sewers. In the movie you see him running into the academy so I don't know. As for some of the characters dying... again... you should have sat through the credits... oh well!
Jeez, Kam! I've been waiting ALL weekend to hear your comments about this movie! I thought you would have totally hated the movie!
Talk about "Rage Against the Tanookie"! You bring up some good points for being an X-Men officianado...but still, I was disappointed!
Did you see MI3 yet? What are your reviews?!?!?
I didn't stay for the entire credits (ran out due to the disappointment), but I heard that the Professor is still alive in someone else's body. But what does that speak of for the others?
I think the root of my disappointed was with Rogue...she has always been my favorite X-Men and to see her "cured" was like the end of the road for her.
If they do more X-Men like you predicted, I hope they make them better!
I did not see MI3, promised Sarah I'd take her this week. Since you insisted, I'll also blog about it.
Yes... Prof X is still alive. They didn't actually show Cyclop's body now did they... hmmm... What others? I don't recall anyone notable dying other than those two.
Cured huh? You think they are cured? Interesting... The chess scene with old man Magneto trying to move the piece didn't say anything to you? Maybe the "cure" is only temporary now that Leech isn't being used.
I felt the director left a lot of stuff open to prevent the exact same feelings you are having. I had a similar feeling after watching Star Wars Phantom Menace (Eps 1). I was so dissapointed when they decided to reveal the Force as a sort of bio-effect from these tiny organisms called metachlorians. It sort of took away from the magic of the mythology. We can agree to disagree, your points are just as valid as mine, just different perspectives.
But don't take just my word for it... listen to what Avi Arad had to say on it!
Just read Avi Arad's article. I guess I feel better about what the future may hold for the X-Men. Next time around, they should concentrate on target characters and do quality action scenes. But I have a looming feeling that we may not have all these characters (Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, IceMan, Cyclops, Jean, Beast) ALL together again...
Hey Christina, this may be redundant but I'm goin on lack of sleep so bear with me...but Yes I thought the movie was not all I thought it could be BUT I found it entertaining. (I stayed following the credits) Xavier is still alive (the method was hinted in the beginning of the movie). Magneto was shown to have a minute recovery of some power. The movie's "open ending" was probably meant to allow for continuation of the story but I agree with you as well...they probably will not have as many core x-men at once as this may lead to more "un-impressive" battles as the special effects alone to do each battle justice would take forever without mistakes like the scene with nightcrawler in x-men 2.
correction I meant mistake.. I found one
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