OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

X-3 The Last Stand

POSTED BY: TAYEATRA
UPDATED: Saturday, July 8, 2006 00:32
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 15056
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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:05 AM

TAYEATRA


Ok, so honest opinion time for everyone that's seen it.

(I'm not posting spoilers since I don't want to ruin it for anyone.)

Here what I wrote in my review blog...

Quote:

Ok. So I saw the film last night and I've been processing it since then in my mind.

I've always been a comic fan and then the cartoons and movies so I tend to watch who's in the background of every scene to see if I can name them. I really didn't need to do that this time though because the director kept shoving the camera at them as if to say... 'look, look at the powers, look'.

As a fan I enjoyed the film, the effects are great and there are some really OMG moments.

As a critic the directing was a little off and the writing left much to be desired. Bits of conversation was stilted (although this could mean deleted scenes) and there were too many 'profound lines'. By this I mean, when a character has a moment of realisation and says something like 'May God help us'. Once or twice? Fine. Repeated instances of this? I begin to question the script.

Overall I enjoyed it and will be seeing it again and buying the DVD, but as an example of film-making the director should have a serious paycut... I know you have pretty/handome actors/actresses, but a round of close up reaction shots after every major event is not necessary.

Inner fan girl liked the effects, loved the darker storyline and is still somewhat in awe of the film.



Any thoughts people?

Edited because:

WARNING... THIS THREAD NOW CONTAINS SPOILERS


*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:07 AM

UNREGISTEREDCOMPANION


I haven't seen it yet. Taking my oldest son on Sunday.

Your review did make sense, but you had a couple of typos...

THERE instead of THEIR and EVEN instead of EVENT.

~~~~~

"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:10 AM

TAYEATRA


Thanks for that... suitably corrected. That will teach me not to type in the dark!

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:12 AM

N0SKILLZ


Heading up to the movie theater in like 30-40 minutes to go hit the second showing up the day in cambridge, woot! Hopefully it's not empty cuz its 3pm on a friday!

-------------------------------
RAF Lakenheath
Security Deputy of the Sereni-Tree
"I can't feel my Danger Zone" Jayne Muppet!
http://walkerboh.deviantart.com/

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:14 AM

TAYEATRA


Have fun and don't sit to close to the screen. There's a lot happening in the background of some scenes, so sit back and appreciate it!

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:27 AM

N0SKILLZ


oh i will. I like the middle (since you get the best sound, usually) or towards the back (its just more comfortable then craning your neck)

hopefully this wont be my last showing this weekend. I'm hoping to drag my suitemate outta his room tommorrow (or even tonight) to go see it, since he practically never leaves his room, except to go to work!

-------------------------------
RAF Lakenheath
Security Deputy of the Sereni-Tree
"I can't feel my Danger Zone" Jayne Muppet!
http://walkerboh.deviantart.com/

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Friday, May 26, 2006 7:52 AM

LETOV


Quote:

Originally posted by Tayeatra:


Any thoughts people?



*****
Taya
*****




I can't argue any particular point. I think I'll have to see it again to really get a good feel and engage my "critical" side. I pretty much just sat back and let it hit me. And it sure does that. One thing I will definitely say for this movie is that, like the 2nd, it is its own movie. As a trilogy they have done a good job of changing the feel. This movie has its own distinct feel, it is a very different story, as X2 was a very different story from the first. I thought they did a good job treating characters well and not letting the action taking over completely. I felt the new characters added were pretty true to the originals and well acted.

All in all, I say go see it. It was quite a ride. Now its time to sit back and wait for the spoilery discussion thread...

PS Don't read Hippie's response if you want to avoid spoilers.

- Leto_V

"Well, my days of not taking you
seriously are certainly coming to
a middle." - Mal

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Friday, May 26, 2006 8:57 AM

HIPPIEBROWNCOAT


Yes, as a fan i generally liked it, too, but i have my gripes.

I thought that some scenes moved waaaaaay too fast to be realistic. For instance, when

Select to view spoiler:


Mystique gets shot with the 'cure' and transforms into a human, Magneto cuts her out way too quickly. These two characters have run together for years. They've broke each other out of prision, fought very hard to realize the same dreams, and he just turns his back on her the second she becomes human? That was way too quick. If he'd have at least said something pretty, took a few second pause to mourn the loss of a partner, i could have believed it, but

it just seemed like he was working within a two-hour time constraint. Oh, yeah, he was, but i felt rudely reminded at that moment. Also moving too quickly was Angel's breaking out of the lab. Those lab techs were moving too fast. I think the studio could have spared a minute or two for both of those scenes.

Another dislike was the teenage lovey-dovey drama. Sure, it was a minor subplot and kind of was a good excuse for

Select to view spoiler:


Rogue to be out of the action and get cured and all that jazz, but i found it kind of distracting. By that i mean i yelled in the theatre, "Don't you dare reduce this movie to stupid teenage bullshit drama!!!!" I think Rogue would have gotten the cure without Bobby in her life, anyways. Her power truly was more a curse than a blessing.



On a feminist perspective, i have to bring up Jean/Phoenix. It has long been a notion in our culture that women with power are dangerous and evil. Since they overpower men, they can not be controlled and are therefore bad. I know that X-men comics were written decades ago, and i am not arguing that Jean/Phoenix isn't a malovelent character; she is! Damn true! But here we are, 2006, seeing the same theme for the billionth time. In case you are doubting this, pick a Disney movie. (we've seen near all of them, or at least some.) For example, Cinderella. Made, 1950 something, right? Good girl is helpless, evil stepmother has all the power over the good girl till Prince Charming saves her. Powerful women have been villified in media throughout the decades.

Select to view spoiler:


Mystique is quite evil until she saves Magneto and gets her power taken away. Then we don't see her until we learn that, sans mutant powers, she has gone to the authorities to stop the mutant uprising. And, lo and behold, at the end of the movie, bad girl Jean/Phoenix has to die (and it takes the best man to do the job). No chance of her controlling her powers and becoming a good character.

So, yay, another movie that subtly reinforces the ages-old myth that empowered women are bad.

I did enjoy Magneto's line about Mystique's beauty, however. "She was so beautiful." No possibility of doubts that Magneto just wanted some ruckus and glory. He truly appreciates mutant beauty, power, individuality. I don't think i ever doubted his motives before that moment, and i certainly don't now.

I also enjoyed the concept of humanity want to "fix" individuals who they think are "broken." It kind of continues the social commentary that X-men has always mirrored. Hasn't America recently tried to "fix" other, "broken" nations? The ones who don't think like us, whose power is maybe a little or a lot threatening? Or the ones that we pity and basically see as sick and disadvantaged? Kinda interesting social commentary there if ya think about it.

Oh, yeah, and i've got to jump on board and say the special effects were out-or-this-world. But now i have to get off my butt and get ready for work.
Toodles!

Oh, i am a tweaked one, yes i am...

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Friday, May 26, 2006 9:36 AM

TAYEATRA


Hi Hippie...

Can you please edit your post to cover the spoilers with the spoiler feature. I don't want to wreck it for anyone.

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Friday, May 26, 2006 2:04 PM

BENSHAHN


I thought it was very good. Much better than X2. Be sure to stay through all the credits, there's an important scene at the end.

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Friday, May 26, 2006 4:55 PM

TRUTHSEEKER


I agree with your points about the script weaknesses in the movie, and I have one to add. I have several issues with the movie, but here's the one that bothers me the most.

Select to view spoiler:


In the final battle against Magneto, when everyone is huddling behind wreckage, and they see the "cure" hypos, they all instantly jump on the shoot-up Magneto plan. No one expresses any doubt, or misgivings, or moral dilemma about doing exactly what Magneto accuses all his enemies of wanting to do: destroy mutants.



Maybe Joss has spoiled me, but if the good guys are forced by desperate circumstances to do something evil, I want someone to acknowledge the fact that it is evil. I want someone to show remorse, guilt, something!

But nothing in this movie was really thought out. There's no character development, despite how hard some of the actors are trying to make silk purses out of a sow's ear of a script.

I'm not a big comics fan. Most of what I know about X-men comes from borrowing my brother's few issues when we were kids. But the thing that always drew me to this particular universe is how carefully thought out the allegory was. The themes of individuality, isolation, prejudice were all portrayed with purpose. And while there were good guys and bad guys those distinctions were fluid: the good guys didn't always agree, the bad guys have some valid reasons for their actions, and characters could change sides without sacrificing believability.

The screen writers and director of this movie seem to have spent no time considering the underlying meaning of the X-men mythology, and as a consequence, the characters in the movie have actions instead of motivation. They are reduced to two- dimensional caricatures, something, ironically enough, that the comics characters never were.

*** *** ***
The woods are the only place where I can see a clear path.

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Friday, May 26, 2006 11:54 PM

DALLASFIREFLY


I've seen X-Men TLS two nights in a row at midnight. I've enjoyed all of the X-Men movies but this is my favorite. I'm looking forward to Magneto and Wolverine spin offs. Oh yeah, Halle Berry still fills out a pair of pants nicely.

I wanna be Mr. Baccarin!

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 3:49 AM

EMMARIGBY


Quote:

Originally posted by DallasFirefly:
I've seen X-Men TLS two nights in a row at midnight. I've enjoyed all of the X-Men movies but this is my favorite. I'm looking forward to Magneto and Wolverine spin offs. Oh yeah, Halle Berry still fills out a pair of pants nicely.

I wanna be Mr. Baccarin!



I went to see it last night. I enjoyed it but it didn't live up to my expectations at all! Not half as good as number 2 in my opinion.

I agree with the plot flaws that other people have pinted out. It all just seemed a bit shallow and disjointed to me.

For example:

Select to view spoiler:


The blank albinoish kid whose mutant ability was to supress powers. He seemed really underused. I mean we got the barest hint as to how he felt about how he was being used , plus we never found out what happened to him and he wasn't used at all to his fullest extent as a plot device.



I was impressed by the special effects but not so much by the characterisation. I was a fan of the cartoons and was excited to see Beast but he just wasn't intelligent and urbane as I want'ed him to be. That was the beauty of that character, that he looked so primative and spoke so very beautifully!

Plus I'll never forgive the film-makers for not including Gambit. I mean there's no excuse for depriving me of a gorgeous man with a sexy Cajun accent!

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 4:48 AM

N0SKILLZ


Now i may be wrong Hippie, but didn't Jean\Phoenix end up controling her powers in teh comic and I'm almost postive she controlled them in teh cartoon ,that i was so fond of as a kid.

And as for my thoughts on the movie... It was a good movie ,not great, just didn't live up to my expectations, that i got after watching the first teaser(god i loved that beginning music with them walking outta the danger room, soooo bad ass).

Select to view spoiler:


I wasn't a fan of Rogue getting the cure, it really bothered me. Mostly cause cause I don't know to many girls that would go to those lengths to be with a boy, after witnessing that boy show so much attention to another girl (Mostly cuz i've been in Icemans shoes, and got dumped faster then you can say "Boo" and I wasn't even caught like he was!). Plus Rogue is one of my favorite characters (mostly cause of the cartoon, she just hit me as the strongest character, almost as cool a Supes)

And the fact they had to show that the cure doesn't work for a long period of time (if at all). I know they had to do it so they could have the magento spin off and stuff (not gonna watch it btw, might get a rip, but not buy it). But that really weakens your feelings towards Rogue getting the cure, I mean if magento can be hit with such a big dose and have his powers, then why not rogue, with the smaller dose?

Eh but i'm just pulling at strings here.



All and All good movie, that just doesn't live up to my personal expectations. So go see it and deciede for yourself.



-------------------------------
RAF Lakenheath
Security Deputy of the Sereni-Tree
"I can't feel my Danger Zone" Jayne Muppet!
http://walkerboh.deviantart.com/

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 6:50 AM

HIPPIEBROWNCOAT


NOSkillz, i do believe you are right about the cartoon; Jean did learn to control her powers but didn't she do it with Xavier's help? I dunno. Haven't seen the cartoon in years. As for the comic books, well, i never read them, so i can't say.

And i am SOOOO on board with loving animated Rogue. She was so bad-ass. Origionally i was dissapointed with the first movie, making Rogue into a vulnerable kid, but it ended up working out very well under Sanger's direction.

Also good point with the cure being temporary.

Select to view spoiler:


Magneto getting stuck with four needles and then we get the hint he still has powers?

I am kind of apprehensive that just may be the director or studio (yay, Fox) throwing in whatever they please because i think everyone on this site can agree Fox and continuity don't mix. Or maybe it's totally accurate, and

Select to view spoiler:


Rogue's powers will also return at some later, most inconvienient time. Poor Bobby.



must get offline and have life...

On, i am a tweaked one, yes i am...

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 6:58 AM

HIPPIEBROWNCOAT


Taya, and everyone else, i apoligize. Spoiler screens are now in place. What hasn't been screened, i've seen in the previews.

Oh, i am a tweaked one, yes i am...

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 10:33 AM

SINGATE


Quote:

Originally posted by HippieBrowncoat:
As for the comic books, well, i never read them, so i can't say.



I have a feeling people who are devoted to the comic book are going to have a hard time with this movie. Those who have had very little or no exposure to the comics will probably enjoy it as a great action flick.

First, Jean did come back from the brink in the comic with Scott's help if I remember correctly. If you ever get the chance pick the Dark Phoenix story arc, it is one the best written group of comic books ever.

In the movie I really enjoyed the display of power by both Magneto and Phoenix, two of my favorite baddies from the comics.

Now on to the things that are a bit annoying. The writers took a lot of liberties when dealing with major characters. I will try to use the spoiler tag so nobody freaks out.

Select to view spoiler:


The deaths of Scott, Jean, and Xavier struck me as bad ideas. I could understand one but how do you kill three of the main characters that are the foundation for the X-men.

Magneto and Rogue having their powers taken away was another bad idea. I did like how we get the hint Magneto isn't powerless at the end.

Juggernaut would not have been affected by that kid who was able to suppress mutant powers. His powers are mystical not genetic in nature. It seems like they changed this just to get a cheap laugh.

At the end when Wolverine stops Phoenix it comes off as a little unbelievable. After seeing what she is capable of there is no way he would not have been obliterated. I know people will point out his super healing ability and the fact that part of her didn't really want kill him but come on. She didn't seem to have much trouble offing both the Professor and Scott so why should Logan get a pass. Whoops, I forgot, everyone loves Wolverine and they couldn't screw up the opportunity for a spinoff.



Now that my ranting is over I want to say that I did like the movie even though it contradicts the stories I grew up on. Hell, all three X-men movies had no trouble walking all over what is considered canon in the comic books but they are still entertaining and that is the important thing.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 11:48 AM

COPILOT


I was dissapointed in XMen 3 everything was just to damn fast. Everything was easy it felt plain empty. But it seems that every movie I look forward to seeing this summer is going to dissapoint me. Maybe Joss just ruined things for me I don't know but it's fraking annoying.

An I carried such a torch.......For the Dark Lord

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 6:03 PM

NAFLM


Well, I liked the movie but felt that they tried to do too much (and in too little time). Trying to cover both the Jean/Dark Phoenix and Mutant Cure storylines was silly, and they didn't work well together. I think the movie would have worked much better with just the Mutant Cure plotline. The story actually had to go out of its way to deal with the Jean storyline. Although they did handle much as the original comic storyline went.

Oh, and Singate, it sounds like you didn't stay past the credits. There's an extra little bit that would change some of your spoiler information.

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 6:23 PM

SINGATE


Quote:

Originally posted by naflm:
Oh, and Singate, it sounds like you didn't stay past the credits. There's an extra little bit that would change some of your spoiler information.



You are correct sir! I've never had much patience for waiting around through ten minutes of credits just to see some extra footage. For once I guess I missed something important. Oh well, just have to wait for the DVD unless someone is going to post what happened.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 7:09 PM

MENGSTROM


X-men3 was good but not great. It definitely suffered when Singer left the project and Ratner came on to finish it up.

Many times, there were lame lines of dialogue or cliches that just ruined the scene - these especially would occur at the end of a scene (i.e. "God help us all" and "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"). In fact, most of the president's lines were just awful - they should've just taken some of GW's great quotes over the years and used them - at least there'd have been some humor (oh, and I actually like GW, but I can laugh at him)!

Adding/keeping lines in that get the point across or explain how a character is feeling shows that the director did not trust the characters or the actors portraying them. The other two movies, especially X2, trusted the characters. A look or expression would've gotten the point across just fine. Lazy directing.

Lame dialogue was not the only problem with the script - the fact that "The Last Stand" was just that for many of the characters represented lazy storytelling. You cannot help but inject drama into a story if you're killing off characters at every turn - that is lazy writing. That is using great characters for your own purposes. X2 didn't kill off anyone until the very end, and it made for a much more compelling story because it was not lazy writing. It was a carefully constructed script that really pulled you along, and you cared about what was happening.

The best thing going for the movie was the Phoenix storyline - that's when things finally picked up with the scene at Alkali Lake and then just when it gets going it slows down again with the lame Cure idea. I don't agree that the Phoenix and Cure storylines should've been separated - the Cure storyline wasn't strong enough to hold its own. Phoenix is what this movie was about at its core, but it kind of got lost with all the Cure stuff flying around. The movie lost its focus every time Cure elements came in.

Wolverine by and large carried the movie again, which was good. But his "Braveheart" speech was just out of character. Wolverine would say, "I'm gonna go kick some ass. For Wheels. Who's in?" Not the overly emotional piece of crap speech that he said.

Having said all of that, it still was a fun ride and a fun watch. It just needed some good script-doctoring (like what Joss did with the first X-men, adding a few lines that made it golden). It was a good film, but it could've been a great film. And it's focus that makes a good film great.

If someone could post the little scene at the end of the film, please do. If it negates all the deaths of the film, it would be another instance of lazy storytelling - hope that's not what it is.

Mengstrom
www.stillflying.net

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 7:53 PM

PINGJING


Quote:

Originally posted by HippieBrowncoat:

On a feminist perspective, i have to bring up Jean/Phoenix. It has long been a notion in our culture that women with power are dangerous and evil. Since they overpower men, they can not be controlled and are therefore bad. I know that X-men comics were written decades ago, and i am not arguing that Jean/Phoenix isn't a malovelent character; she is! Damn true! But here we are, 2006, seeing the same theme for the billionth time. In case you are doubting this, pick a Disney movie. (we've seen near all of them, or at least some.) For example, Cinderella. Made, 1950 something, right? Good girl is helpless, evil stepmother has all the power over the good girl till Prince Charming saves her. Powerful women have been villified in media throughout the decades.

Select to view spoiler:


Mystique is quite evil until she saves Magneto and gets her power taken away. Then we don't see her until we learn that, sans mutant powers, she has gone to the authorities to stop the mutant uprising. And, lo and behold, at the end of the movie, bad girl Jean/Phoenix has to die (and it takes the best man to do the job). No chance of her controlling her powers and becoming a good character.

So, yay, another movie that subtly reinforces the ages-old myth that empowered women are bad.




Thank you for mentioning this, HippieBrowncoat. I didn't like the movie for reasons other people mentioned (no character development, stilted dialogue, plot holes) but the lack of a strong female superhero really bothered me. Sure, there's Storm, but she follows Logan more than she leads herself.

Select to view spoiler:


Rogue was my favorite character, and now she's lost her powers. She can't really be a member of the X-Men anymore, unless she's some kind of liaison to the human world. And Jean, what a pointless waste of an interesting character. Why couldn't she have learned to control her subconscious?



I haven't read the comics, but from what others have said, it sounds like the 1950s comics weren't as sexist as this 2006 movie.

Joss, I am counting on you to do Wonder Woman right.

http://serenityjune23rd.com/

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 9:43 PM

DTUCK


Quote:

Originally posted by Mengstrom:
If someone could post the little scene at the end of the film, please do.




After the credits...

Select to view spoiler:


There is a quick cut to the room where the patient Xavier was discussing to the students is being kept, the one that 'has no higher brain functions'... and we see, from the patient's perspective, the woman from the video walk in, and we hear offscreen, in Xavier's voice, "Hello, Moira..." and the doctor's eyes go wide for a moment and she responds "Charles...", before the scene goes black.



__________________________________

The best way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 11:07 PM

DALLASFIREFLY


I saw it again tonight. I love midnight shows. I checked IMDb and it looks like Magneto is already in pre production, which is good news for me since that's my favorite character. Is it just me or is Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat) hot?

I wanna be Mr. Baccarin!

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Saturday, May 27, 2006 11:17 PM

SERENITYSEEKER


I must say that I both loved and loathed parts of this movie. As a movie goin' guy, the action and shiny effects really won me over (Wolverine's fight in the forest and that bridge scene were freakin' awesome!) but as far as the plot and script, I'm with many in that it was suffering.

As far as the plot goes, the idea of The Cure storyline I could've done without. Yes, it's a great saga but the main focus I believed should've been more on the Phoenix story. I think back to when I left the theatre after seeing X2 the first time, I nearly leapt out of my seat when I saw the Phoenix outline in the water. I wanted much, if not all, of X3 to be about Jean facing the dark part of her mind and seeing more of an intense conflict between her, Scott, and Logan. And where was my freakin firey Phoenix outline around Jean that I was sooooo looking forward to seeing the fx department create?! Huh? HUH?! Ok, gotta calm down. The other thing that ticked me off so much was

Select to view spoiler:


Why did they have to kill off Scott, Xavier, and Jean. I must agree with Singate that killing all three, even though Xavier is still technically "alive", really served little purpose to me. I felt very little remorse when Scott died (never was much of a Cyclops fan), Xavier's death didn't seem gut-wrenching enough, and Jean's just served nothing except to show the charismatic side of Wolverine. She coulda changed over dangit.



And, as far as the dialouge goes, I must agree that there were too many cliche' lines to be heard. The "May God help us" and "What have I done?" lines came off way too cheesy. These actors are pros and they know these characters well enough to pull off the scene without crappy dialouge.

To wrap up my rant, I just have to say "Why oh why did you leave the franchise Brian Singer?" I would've loved to have seen his vision of the Phoenix saga but instead we get Ratner's view. The guy's a good director, but he should stick to the Rush Hour movies IMHO. Hopefully Singer's view of Superman will help me overcome this superhero movie depression. And I must also say "Curse you Joss Whedon" for he has spoiled me with witty dialouge, suprising twists and a movie experience I will always compare other movies to from now on. Oh well, 'tis life. X-Men: The Last Stand was a good summer movie, but as a whole, it left me wanting and maybe (crosses fingers) we can have a 4th X-Men movie to write the wrongs of this one.

Keep flyin'.

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 1:05 AM

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG


Good fun, but not a patch on the previous films. Along with the poor dialog we also get:

Select to view spoiler:



Too many characters. Angel, Beast, Multiple Man, Juggernaut all nice to see but ultimately could have been left out for more character work on the already existing character.

More Storm. It felt like they had a contract saying she had to use her powers for something every 10 minutes. Storm it's supposed to be sunny. Storm it's a bit misty, clear it up. Halle Berry likes to talk about how important Storm is in the comic books, but she still doesn't seem to understand her. I mean, did anyone like her enough to warrant her having such a big role?

Evil Xavier. Didn't buy that he'd do that to Jean. Maybe if Jean was going to kill everyone then yes, but as it just seemed to be him raping her mind and putting blocks simply because he thought she was too powerful seemed crazy. Especially when he didn't seem to know what was going on with her powers in X2. Totally out of character.

The lab being on Alcatraz.... Why? Other than to have the bit where Magneto rips the golden gate bridge up.

Magneto being chronically stupid. Moves the Golden Gate bridge to Alcatraz thens send in wave after wave of mutants. Here's an idea, drop the bridge on the facility. Or rip out the foundations. Or ask Phoenix to destroy it from your forest shanty town, she is pretty much all powerful.

Phoenix, the most powerful mutant ever kills Cyclops, kills Xaver then goes and lives in a shanty town. Doesn't really do anything for the rest of the movie. A complete waste.

Iceman vs Pyro. Could have been amazing, instead they just throw wave after wave of fire and ice at each other. Again, wasted opportunity.

After everything, after all the sacrifices made, turns out almost no-one's really dead and the cure didn't even work. Almost as bad as 'it was all a dream'.

Other, smaller points:
Why did no-one really care Cyclops was dead?
How did it become night so quickly?
For an army of mutants they sure didn't have many powers.
Magneto can smell Wolverine's adamantium from miles away but can't detect that the guns aren't metal?
Where were all the freak mutants? The reason the cure worked so well in the books was because so many mutants had awful, pointless or debilitating mutations. Nothing apparently wrong with any of the ones queing up for it.



-------------------------------------------------
Pimping my fanfic:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=8267

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 1:51 AM

TAYEATRA


I've found it very reassuring that others are sharing my viewpoint here. I wasn't sure if I was initially being too critical.

The one thing no-one else has mentioned has been whether or not they feel there are some important cut or deleted scenes. ChronictheHedgehog mentioned that it became night very quickly... I feel there may have been a cut there. Other deleted scenes may IMHO have contributed to the somewhat stilted dialogue... (cut the main text but leave the cliches- drawing attention to cliche overuse).

Select to view spoiler:



It's interesting that some people see the cure as being temporary only for Magneto. When I saw it I took it to mean that the cure would wear off on anyone over time. I mean, there is no time-scale for the Magneto chess scene. Maybe I just wanted to know that Rogue wasn't powerless, she used to be one of my favourites back in the comics and cartoons.



On a side note. Right there with you EmmaRigby. If they write Gambit off one more time after we were promised an appearance in X2, I am going to get very upset. He's not just about blowing things up! He's a complex character that massively impacts the Rogue storyline, his powers are cool, he has witty dialogue and, dammit, he's hot!

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 5:19 AM

REGINAROADIE


Well, after thinking about it, I've decided in my mind that while X3 wasn't on the level with X2, at least it wasn't BATMAN AND ROBIN.

My main problem with the movie (other than too many characters, some cheesy one liners and character conclusions that were let downs) was that it seemed a bit rushed. With the first two movies, there were at least some moments that breathed. It took it's time in developing it's characters and themes. Like in X2, there was the scene between Stryker and Xavier where when Xavier says that mutation isn't a disease, Stryker immediately yells at him "YOU'RE LYING!" In that one interaction, the entire point of the X-Men mythos was revealed. But with X3, it seems as if everything was rushed to get to the big action set pieces, which while they rocked, lacked some of the emotional heft the first two had. It had scenes that dealt with the big issues, but it was done in point form and had none of the nuance the first two had.

I liked both the Cure sub-plots and the Dark Phoenix sub-plot. I just think it would have been better if they focused exclusively on one of the two and not mashing both together. Have a "Cure" movie and a "Phoenix" film.

Also, one of the smaller things that bugged me. In the flashback, you saw Xavier and Magneto twenty years younger with the real actors youthesized through CG. While it looks OK, they both sound like old men. They should've told the sound designer that they needed to make them sound twenty years younger and not the old men they really are.

Oh, adn the reason why Cyclops was killed off was because he was defecting with Bryan and his crew over to SUPERMAN RETURNS as well.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"There's only one "Return" ok, and it ain't "of the King", it's "of the Jedi."

"Maybe we should start calling your friend 'Padme' because he loves 'Mannequin Skywalker' so much, Right? (imitating robot) Danger...danger...my name is Anakin...my shitty acting is ruining saga."

Excerpt of internet teaser for CLERKS 2.

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 6:46 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


"Also, one of the smaller things that bugged me. In the flashback, you saw Xavier and Magneto twenty years younger with the real actors youthesized through CG. While it looks OK, they both sound like old men. They should've told the sound designer that they needed to make them sound twenty years younger and not the old men they really are."

I don't agree with this. Take a look at Star Trek, the Next Generation sometime. There's Patrick Stewart, Season One was in 1987 (19 years ago!) and Patrick Stewart sounds pretty much the same as he does now. And I've gotta say, he stays in awfully good shape. I think he's in better shape than I am.

Now, I did have a serious problem with Xavier in this flick.

Select to view spoiler:


Xavier says to Wolverine, "I don't have to explain myself, most especially to you." What a rediculous thing for him to say! Xavier is a big proponent of explaining himself. He's a teacher (professor) and he spends a lot of time with children helping them to understand philosophy and the reasons to do things. Why would he say such a rude and angry thing to Wolverine? Bah.



--Anthony




"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 6:53 AM

REGINAROADIE


Yeah, it did bug me a bit that Xavier seemed to be a bit on the bad guy side. Mind you, Joss turned him slightly into a bad guy as well in his X-MEN comics, so I guess it could happen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"There's only one "Return" ok, and it ain't "of the King", it's "of the Jedi."

"Maybe we should start calling your friend 'Padme' because he loves 'Mannequin Skywalker' so much, Right? (imitating robot) Danger...danger...my name is Anakin...my shitty acting is ruining saga."

Excerpt of internet teaser for CLERKS 2.

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 12:39 PM

BREXAN


Like a lot of people I've been a huuuuge fan of the X-men but I have to agree that this movie was disappointing. While I loved it, its more of a blind love - the same sort of thing I'd feel if there was a Serenity followup regardless of its content.

Select to view spoiler:



The first thing I didn't like was the removal of Cyclops within the first few minutes. Its a shame that James Marsdon wanted to go and do Superman (giving up a starring role in X3 to be a nobody in Superman?), but I think he should have been removed/replaced from the film full stop. There was no emotion when he died (by the time we learn that he actually did die, we were used to him not being there and it meant nothing) and Jean doesn't really seem to care that she killed him. So what was the point?

That leads onto the next thing, the whole Wolverine/Jean affair. I thought this was settled in X2, and even then I'd had enough of it. He loves her, she likes him but stays with Cyclops, fine, over, move on. But nope. And in this film it seems as if she's more in love with Wolverine than with Cyclops. The whole Jean ending stank of "only our love can help us through this" and, if anything, Cyclops should have been the one making that statement.

I actually felt that there were too *few* characters in the film, at least on the X-men's side. Magneto managed to grab dozens of allies, 3-4 of them we know the names of and I think the amount of character development they got (a line here and there) was plenty considering their role. I don't see why, with a whole school full of mutants, the X-men could only muster up 8 people to defend the cure facility. They all knew a "war was comming" and in their preperation they should have been training up a few more people (enter Gambit) even if, like the bad guys, their character development was minimal.

I think the Xavier holding Jean back thing was confusing. In X2 Jean's powers were already progressing, and that seemed natural. Come X3 I would easily have belived that her powers had simply advanced, especially with the amount of effort she'd have been using to force enough power to hold back the crushing waters before she 'died'. All the "Jean you must stay in control" would have still worked, she's advancing and Xavier would fear her becomming too powerful for her own good. In the end, he could have (if he lived) set up the blocks to restore Jean to 'normal'. Instead there's some gobbledygook about her having 2 personalities all along, and why Xavier did what he did was never fully explained (so what, she can throw some cars about, its not like she showed them she could kill people in move a bridge *looks at Magneto*).

Generally I thought the ending was anti-climactic. After all the fighting, Jean just goes mad and kills a bunch of people (why she didn't just do that at the start I don't know) then its all "I love you Jean" from Wolverine -> stab -> film over. No attempts to give her the cure, no sitting the cure-based mutant kid next to her, no appealing to her 'good' side, just a stabbing and Wolverine crying "nooo" (why should that? he just stabbed her, its not like its a "no, don't die like this!" if he's responsible). There were so many possibilites for the ending, and it just came down to the old, boring, monotonous, and predictable "kill her".



I put that all in spoilers to be extra careful :P
Suffice it to say the movie did *not* give me what I wanted from it.



-Brexan
"Also, I can kill you with my brain"

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 1:00 PM

EMMARIGBY


Quote:

Originally posted by Tayeatra:
I've found it very reassuring that others are sharing my viewpoint here. I wasn't sure if I was initially being too critical.




I came out of the cinema happy then as the initial adrenalin wore off I got increasingly dissatisfied until now I'm really quite peeved. It was a film that just seemed packed with wasted opportunities. They were working a 'verse that had such a rich history to draw from and they decided that they knew better than all those who wrote the comics and cartoons and chucked canon out the window. It seems to me almost as disrespectful as if Peter Jackson had made the first Lord of the Rings film then said "Oh, I see that Legolas has a large fan following. Lets kill off the Arogorn character so the Elf can be in the clear to have a romance with Arwen. We'll get rid of the orcs because they don't look very nice, will cost a lot to put in makeup and might confuse people. We'll make Haldir a major character instead of Gimli, just 'cos we can. We'll change the ending too. Can't think how yet but I'm sure something will come up during filming."
(Sorry, did I go to the geeky place?)

Quote:

On a side note. Right there with you EmmaRigby. If they write Gambit off one more time after we were promised an appearance in X2, I am going to get very upset. He's not just about blowing things up! He's a complex character that massively impacts the Rogue storyline, his powers are cool, he has witty dialogue and, dammit, he's hot!



Yay! Someone who shares my strange perversion of fancying cartoon characters! I also fancied Rogue (I mean a confident, powerful Southern Belle! What more could you want!) so was not best pleased when she was portrayed as an insecure teenager in the first movie, but held out hope that they would explore her backstory. In the cartoons at least she started with just the power of absorbing others' energies and was tricked into holding on for too long to super-hero (called Madam Marvel if memory serves but I'm not good with names) and stealing her abilities of flight and strength but also got stuck with her personality, and it was this that the Professor had to supress (you see it made more sence for her to have a pissed off alter ego!). They stole my favorite storyline and used it very badly (IMHO).

By the way, I also fancied Beast in the cartoons (is this very wrong?!) but was disappointed by the film version. He looked okay but wasn't the super intellectual and poet that I'd hoped for.

Okay, going to stop ranting any moment now!
*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 2:15 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain


I also had a huge crush on Gambit. I heard somewhere that they left him out of this one because they thought his character was "too much like Wolverine". Bullsh**! Logan is kinda gruff and broody, Remy is kinda rough around the edges but he's a rogue with a ready sense of humor. He was always pushing limits just for the fun of it. The excuse that he's too much like Logan is a bad as the one about cutting out Nightcrawler because he and Beast look too similar and people might be confused. Bah!

And the whole Dark Pheonix thing. Jean didn't have another personality in the comics/cartoon show. She was inhabited by an other planar being that turned malevolent. It seems that they're trying to stay away from the more out there element of the comics.

All I've heard in the hype has been stuff like "Oooo, Danger Room! Centinals! Cannonball Special!" These are all cool things but if it'sa chioce between them and story/character development, then I'd drop the fancy tech and such.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 2:25 PM

EMMARIGBY


Quote:

Originally posted by Kayna:
I also had a huge crush on Gambit. [snip]
All I've heard in the hype has been stuff like "Oooo, Danger Room! Centinals! Cannonball Special!" These are all cool things but if it'sa chioce between them and story/character development, then I'd drop the fancy tech and such.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.



I hadn't heard their reasoning. I'd assumed Nightcrawler wasn't in it due to the actor having prior commitments. You're right, their reasoning sucks and is completely indicative of their condescending attitude to their audience. Give them big bangs and naked women and we won't have to worry so much about the writing. (Although I admit my attention wanders from forming coherant criticism whenever Mystique is around! Does anyone else think she is more sexy blue or am I just sick and twisted?!)

By the way, anyone else wanting to make me feel better about my fancying cartoon characters? I get weak at the knees over Batman: the animated series too!

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 2:26 PM

FWBBROWNCOAT


In short, the movie, incredible...looking forward to see if they do X4 :)

TO ALL WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET AND THOSE WHO ARE GOING AGAIN:

Stay through the credits for a revalation about one of the main characters...believe me, it was worth it.

Wolverine is still the man...Beast was done really well, wish Angel had a bigger part in it. And Vinnie Jones definitly added his own element to Juggernaut.

"Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all." - Malcolm Reynolds

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 3:29 PM

CYBERSNARK


I got to see this on Saturday, then came home and had several hours worth of stuff to do, so I'm only getting here now. I'm with all the disappointed people. Don't get me wrong, parts of it were awesome, but it was cancelled out by the mediocre and bad. I really wanted this one to be awesome, but it just didn't quite make it.

The Good:
A review Saturday morning in my local paper had me worried that it would be a RotS-style effects show with minimal actual story. In this, I was pleasantly surprised: while jaw-dropping and spectacular, the effects were well-integrated into the narrative, and served to carry things forward rather than aggrandize themselves. They looked as realistic as I'd expect, but for a few slips (Logan stepping out from behind the Sentinel-head, the holes in his shirt [after he was stabbed] that mysteriously vanished then reappeared).

I loved Logan lighting his cigar from the flaming wreckage. That's the kind of whimsical fun comic book movies should be.

The story was. . . well, good in that it was interesting, flowed logically, and had a clear narrative structure. What I didn't like was that this was The End.

There's nothing really left after this. Of the seven lead characters, three are dead, and the story is, in effect, over. The well is. . . well, not dry (that's the really irritating part; there's so much they could've done), but blocked up, paved over, and turned into a parking lot.

I don't like endings. I want to see the story go on, I want to see characters learn and adapt and grow through their experiences. I don't like seeing things tied up with a big bow. If this had been a TV series (probably animated, given that the stars are now too big to fit onto a TV screen anymore ), this would've been the best season-long arc ever.

Instead, it's just a passable two hours.

The Bad:

Select to view spoiler:


The utter uselessness of Scott's death. I mean yeah, he was Captain Cardboard for the last two movies, but now, to finally give him some character development (off-screen, no less --whatever happened to "show, don't tell?"), then to kill him off after TWO SCENES was just an insult.

Xavier's death was equally saddening. He should've been the hero of this picture, but instead, he just got rubbed out, as he(effectively) was in both the previous movies.

The Bobby/Kitty sparkage was the narrative equivalent of a cock-tease; I was waiting for the to-me-inevitable dramatic and emotional confrontation between the three. Instead we get Rogue running off, Bobby shrugging and moving on, and Kitty. . . never even realizing that she was in a romantic triangle. Seriously, did anyone actually tell her that Rogue & Bobby were together?

Also: perfect time to bring in a teenaged Gambit, to console Rogue at Bobby's dumbassitude. Then Bobby could've gotten all up in Gambit's face about putting the moves on "his" woman, only to have Remy throw it back in his face, which would make Bobby feel like sh*t ('cause he likely didn't even realize he was doing it, being a guy) and lead into the aforementioned confrontation.

Plus they should've kept Nightcrawler, so as to include some Curt/Kitty snark/flirting/sparkage. (And to get him p*ssed off at Bobby too --it'd have been funny to see the entire campus calling Bobby an asshole, and him having no clue WTF's going on.)

Then Hank could've backed him up (getting himself yelled at too, by association), and setting up the Bobby & Hank buddy-comedy that was one of the high-points of the books.

Similar dangling threads include Warren's never-even-named appearance and useless "spare the badguy's life" fly-through (and whatever happened to his dad, anyway? That whole subplot just kinda ceased to exist). There'd better be some deleted scenes.

Finally, Jean's ultimate death was as symbolically unsatisfying as it was devoid of impact.

The "Hero's Journey" through the Death/Rebirth archetype was the whole point of the Phoenix Saga, I thought. The hero (Jean) dies, and is then reborn even stronger, able to become whole in a way that she wasn't before. Instead, she spends the movie as an automaton, subject to other people's whims. I was hoping that, at the end, she'd have enough strength to bring back the people she'd killed. (Was it just me, or did this one have the highest collateral body count of any X-movie? Possibly even higher than the other two combined.)

And what's with Magneto, one of the most multifacetted and interesting villains in movies, playing the role of the moustache-twirling 80s parody of Evil(tm)?



The Ugly:
No Nightcrawler. No Sabretooth. Minimal Colossus. Random background guy who should've been Toad but wasn't. Bunch of second-string characters whose names are unimportant.

As disapointed as I am in the general apocalyptic (yet not Apocalyptic) tone, I do hope this does well; I want an X4, in which they somehow undo what they've done in this one: The stage is set for Apocalypse, and if anyone would provide impetus for the resurrection of Scott, Jean, and Xavier, it'd be him.

Even then, as bad as this was, I liked it for how it left me feeling; I left the theatre thinking "I could do better." There was nothing I wanted more than to get to work on my own script; 'cause if movies like this can get made, I know I can do this. The characters bouncing around in my head are so much more compelling than these cardboard cutouts, and I have enough of them to populate a whole series of movies. . .

Also: I'm thinking I may do a fanfic re-write of this one as I did with RotS and Star Trek: Voyager. . .

The next big X-Project is the Wolverine solo movie. Don't know why that's such a big deal; there've been three Wolverine solo movies; they were called the X-Men movies.



Quote:

Originally posted by EmmaRigby:
By the way, anyone else wanting to make me feel better about my fancying cartoon characters? I get weak at the knees over Batman: the animated series too!

My first crush was Sailor Mercury, if that helps. There's a whole thread about cartoon crushes around here somewhere.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Sunday, May 28, 2006 7:07 PM

HIPPIEBROWNCOAT


Oh, yeah, found another subject to bitch upon.

WHY WERE ALL MAGNETO'S EXTRA MINIONS MINORITY, PUNKS, OR GENDERBENDERS?????

Magneto had Pyro, 1000 personality man and Juggernaut by his side

Select to view spoiler:


after Mystique became human

. Three white dudes. But then was it me, or was the gathering of mutants in the church by and large minorities? And if not minorities, then biker/punk looking folk? And if not biker/punk looking folk, then trans, like the kid (don't remember his name, must not have gotten enough screen time and lines) who sent out shock waves with his claps and appeared male but wore a bra under his fishnet shirt?

If this is just a cinematic device to let the kiddies know which guys are good and bad by looking at them, then we all need to examine this a little more closely. The good guys were all white (with one blue) and Storm. Everyone in power is white male. Magneto, President, Xavier and Wolverine. One black and one blue guy in the Cabinet. Bad guys are a bunch of leather-wearing minorities with tattoos and piercings.

Am i being overly PC and racially/gender paranoid, or do i have a vaild bitch here? This is coming from the viewpoint of a straight white hippie girl with a very dear biker friend and a punk boyfriend. Let me know, thanx.

PS Emmarigby, i had a huge crush on Disney's animanted Tarzan. Ooooh, if i hadn't a boyfriend, i'd be his Jane...

Oh, i am a tweaked one, yes i am...

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Monday, May 29, 2006 12:54 AM

TAYEATRA


Wow, hey Hippie you're right. I noticed that but never thought in depth about it.

The shock-wave mutant was Arclight(sp?), I must admit I don't recall her from the comics but I may just have missed her.

A round of applause for the Browncoat that mentioned there have already been 3 Wolverine movies! *snark*

I also think Mystique exudes sex more sex appeal when Blue. Although Em... I have to call you out on the whole 'Beast = sexy' thing. That's pushing my boundaries on the whole fancying the cartoon characters thing!

For those wishing to be equally outraged about the Gambit issue... He was in the second film original script which was scrapped and re-written before filming. He was written out under the guise that his character was too much like Logan's and his powers couldn't do anything that Scott's couldn't do. That's the biggest pile of rubbish I ever heard, (although it threatens to be outdone by the Nightcrawler/Beast 'audience confusion' claim). Is it just me or do the writers think we're all Ritalin scarfing adolescents with an attention span that lasts all of about 3 seconds?

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Monday, May 29, 2006 1:20 AM

EMMARIGBY


Quote:

Originally posted by Tayeatra:


I also think Mystique exudes sex more sex appeal when Blue. Although Em... I have to call you out on the whole 'Beast = sexy' thing. That's pushing my boundaries on the whole fancying the cartoon characters thing!



I know, I'm a sick, sick puppy! (And I don't usually like a lot of hair on a man!) You know, I didn't even realise until the credits that that was Kelsie Grammer under there. And I like watching Frasier! He did have the right voice, just a poor script that didn't allow him to sparkle!

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Monday, May 29, 2006 2:54 AM

EMMARIGBY


Oooh, I forgot to share with you guys the dream I had last night. It was a very weird cross between X-men and Firefly (that'll teach me to stay up till 3:30am writing about X-men on a Firefly site!)

Mal was a mutant (I can't remember his mutant power - possibly just being supercool!) who got captured by the hands of blue guys who exposed him to a small dose of Pax. This reacted oddly with his mutant genes and caused him to grow malformed wings. Zoe busted him out and together they stormed Alcatraz to get the cure. (Told you it was weird!!)

The thing is that even my subconcious came up with more witty and clever dialogue than the film. Sadly now I can't remember any of the best lines!

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Monday, May 29, 2006 3:04 AM

TAYEATRA


*snort*

Very nice Em, but I'm wondering what that says about your subconscious!

Maybe our BDH's could use their superpowers to destroy the damned troll that seems to be everywhere on these boards recently. I just don't understand some people.

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 4:17 AM

DEEPGIRL187


I'm not going to go on the "let's jump on Ratner bandwagon" here, because the truth of the matter is, there were problems with Singer and Ratner's work.

I do enjoy Singer's work (just watch House for a good example). But there were always some things that I felt he fell short on in the X-Men series. Mainly, it had to do with the dialogue. I'm not saying that Ratner did a stellar job, but there were some scenes in the first two X-Men that made me want to chew nails ("Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?"). In addition, his action sequences were a little weak. I mean, we are talking about a comic book here. While I know that there might be some constraints regarding special effects, the mutant's power's were given their due under Ratner's direction.

All that being said, I do have some beef with Ratner's work. The biggest one is this:

Select to view spoiler:


Rogue was extremely underdeveloped. This really began with Singer, but Ratner made it worse. I can understand her wanting a cure, her mutation is one of the worst. But her character never was showed the attention that the others were. Just look at her character in the comic, or the animated series. She was one of the strongest women on the team. But in the movies, she is nothing more than someone to feel sorry for. She should have been given a chance to develop her secondary powers, and she should have been allowed to fight. Not doing so was a great disservice to her character.



The second one, to a lesser degree, is this:

Select to view spoiler:


Scott really got the short end of the stick. I know his character wasn't focused on as much in the comics, but to simply kill him off in the first twenty minutes is sad. Ratner and Singer did nothing more than make him into a one dimensional, goody two-shoes kind of character, and there was more to him than that.



A lot more could have been done with all of the X-Men movies. In reality, you can't just blame one director, because it took both of them to get there.

Edit: Oh, and P.S. HippieBrowncoat:

Quote:

Magneto had Pyro, 1000 personality man and Juggernaut by his side


The 1000 personality man was actually called "Multiple Man". In the comic books, he was a member of X-Factor.

**************************************************

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:32 AM

QUEENOFTHENORTH


I can sum up my feelings about X3 in one word: disappointed. It wasn't a really bad movie, it just felt empty to me. There was all that flash and bang, and nothing at all behind it.

I also felt that there were too few X men and too many bad guys. As someone mentioned, you've got this whole school full of mutants, and the best you can do is half a dozen people??? I'll add my complaints of "I want my sexy Cajun boy" to the others. (By the way, Emmarigby, you don't even want to see my list of cartoon characters that I wish were real. )

And Cybersnark, that Gambit side story you were talking about is EXACTLY what I wanted to see in this movie. Let me know if you write that X3 fanfic! Anyways, here's hoping for another, better X men movie.

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:37 AM

BLACKOUTNIGHTS


I agree. Whole-heartedly recommend going to see the show. It's worth your $5-$10 bucks, even though it's not quite as good as the others.

I agree with most of the spoilerish problems mentioned above.

Select to view spoiler:


Love the Danger Room scene, but wish we would've gotten to see more of the Sentinel.



Overall, the biggest problem for me was the rushed feel. Seriously, two main arc story plots in one movie? Almost as bad as the Constantine movie's job of handling the Dangerous Habits story line. Good Lord.

Interesting note. My wife, who isn't into the comics, found the movie to be too slow in the characterization parts.

And I wouldn't say there are too many characters. That was part of the complexity of the comic. Actually, I could have handled more characters, specifically Nightcrawler and Gambit..heck maybe even a little of The New Mutants. Cannonball and Cable could be neat.

Select to view spoiler:


Surprised no one's mentioned that Scott may not actually be dead. Plenty of room left for him to be alive somehow. Heck, even Jean might get brought back. How many times have we seen a character in the Marvel books die only to be revived? This ain't A Game of Thrones.



See the movie. It's worth your dinero. It grossed $103 million opening weekend, so we're sure to continue to see X-flicks.


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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:37 AM

VERA2529


Quote:

Originally posted by EmmaRigby:
I know, I'm a sick, sick puppy! (And I don't usually like a lot of hair on a man!) You know, I didn't even realise until the credits that that was Kelsie Grammer under there. And I like watching Frasier! He did have the right voice, just a poor script that didn't allow him to sparkle!



ER, I so agree with this statment about Beast. I loved Beast and was so excited to have him in the film. And I was even excited to have Kelsey Grammer for his voice. But his dialogue did not do him justice.

And ChronicThe Hedgehog: I totally agree with you about Storm and Halle Berry's inadequate portrayal of the character. She just doesn't get it. I rolled my eyes everytime she opened her mouth.

That said, I still had fun at the movie.

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:57 AM

FUTUREMRSFILLION


Nos first let me ask how many teenaged girls do you know? Teenage girls would do just about anything to get the boy. Of course not all, but you would be amazed how many are out there that would.

Second - are you at Lakenheath?

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:58 AM

DEEPGIRL187


I don't know if anyone's heard this, but originally, Gambit was supposed to be in the movie. One of the actors they approached was Josh Holloway, whom many of you know as Sawyer from Lost. However, due to time constraints because of the show, he wasn't able to do it.

*sigh*

I would have paid full price to see that...

**************************************************

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 7:05 AM

TAYEATRA


Quote:

Originally posted by BlackoutNights:
[BHow many times have we seen a character in the Marvel books die only to be revived? This ain't A Game of Thrones.



You reminded me of a little cartoon on the web that I saw a few months back and made me laugh...

Here's the link

http://www.flashplayer.com/animation/xmendeath.html

Just click on the little picture on the left (phoenix and magneto cartoon) to watch it. Seriously... it's so true!

*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:17 AM

SHINY


In addition to the ones you mention, Hippie, the one that stood out to me was

Select to view spoiler:



How quickly Magneto changed his mind ("what have I done?") when Dark Phoenix really hadn't wreaked that much havoc yet -- no more death/destruction than Magneto has caused in his day. Yes, she was showing herself capable of that but I don't think that the Magneto character would have felt remorse until/unless she had actually wiped out say a city's worth of people or something...



---

I don't need a gorram back-spaceship driver!!!

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 10:22 AM

ZEEK


I'm sure I won't remember all the things I didn't like about this movie. I mean couldn't they have just made up some mutants if they weren't going to follow their storylines in the first place? Why do you need juggernaut if he's not juggernaut? Why not just have some big tough guy on magneto's side?

Phoenix wasn't developed at all. Could they have given her a couple of lines? She could have at least said "I'm angry for no specific reason". Instead she just glared and went nuts.

The cure was a little too powerful. It takes 5 seconds to take full effect, yet there was a line out the doors to get it? Seems like they could have been whipping people in and out of the operating room.

I agree with everyone else who thinks the x-men ended up getting the short end of the mutant stick. Where were all of them hiding anyway?

The sadest part is I knew after walking out that this is the movie Joss will never make. It's also the movie that will make more money than probably any Joss movie ever will. I also knew that instead of "The Last Stand" they should have called it "Super Kill Boobie Kill Explosion Kill Kill". Which of course paraphrases a Joss joke.

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