I just saw X-Men 3...

[arib]

I went to see X-Men 3 today with chaiya. It was my first viewing and her second.

For the most part, I liked it. The characterization and character interactions were usually done well.

Now, the breakdown:

X-Men

Prof. X- Let me get this straight. Within the first half-hour, Chuck acts like an idiot, we find out he's been meddling in Jean's head, then Jeanix turns him into confetti? Bugger that. Stewart's good for more than an extended cameo, and this was a waste of his talents. For those of you that missed it, he turns up in a post-credits sequence. Meh.

Scott Summers- Scott broods for a bit, rides off on a motorcycle, eyebeams a lake, then gets "killed" offscreen. Ordinarily I'd complain, but Cyclops is a very one-dimensional character, and getting him out of the way made room for the various new characters. By one-dimensional, I mean that Scott usually has two states of being: pining over Jean but being too scared to do anything about it, or moaning over Jean because she's dead.

Jean Grey- Meh. The whole Phoenix thing's been overdone in the comics, so I see this as just another variation on it. Ditto the "manipulated by Xavier" bit. I didn't get too bent out of shape with her getting snikked by Wolverine, since Jean dies in the comics more often than Kenny does on South Park.

Wolverine- His sideburns just get bigger and bigger every movie. Played rather well as always, though I question the choice of having him cry when Xavier got confettied, given how pissed off he was when they last spoke. I loves me the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Loved the use of the "fastball special" in the Days of Futures Past nod and in the last fight scene. By the by, the Days of Futures Past thing? Wonderful.

Storm- Hallie Berry's Oscar earned her more face-time, and she was given much better stuff to work with than the "Do you know what happens when you hit a toad with lightning?" shtick from the first film. Full marks, and kudos to the SFX team for handling her powers well.

Rogue- Anna Paquin does it again, though I would've liked to see more of her. If she got de-powered, why'd she go back to Xavier's at the end? Dunno.

Iceman- Bobby got iced up! Dude! Now all we need to see is him fly around on ice slides and we're set. Also, stay away from Kitty Pryde, Drake. She's supposed to be cozying up with Colossus (in the mainstream 616-verse) or Peter Parker/Spider-Man (in the Ultimate line). Besides, you and Rogue have a good thing going, even with the enforced negiah.

Kitty Pryde- Not bad. Could've used a bit more fleshing out. loved her confrontation with Juggernaut. As much as I groused earlier, the scenes with her and Bobby when ice skating and at the funeral (when he held her hand and Rogue's) were very sweet and could have been platonic, given the immediate circumstances.

Peter Rasputin/Colossus- Too one-dimensional, just another slugfest guy for the brawl at the end. Also, he's supposed to be Russian!

Hank McCoy/Beast- Kelsey Grammar surprised me with this one. He played a very dignified Hank McCoy, and Beast totally mixed it up in the big fight scene.

Angel- Hi, I'm Warren Worthington III. I'm a rich kid with wings. How did I know to come save my father? Dunno!

The Brotherhood

Magneto- Sir Ian does another creditable job as Magneto, but with more scene chewing than the first two films. For those who pay attention to such things, the numbers on his arm add up to 22. Did the chess piece wiggle at the end? I think so.

Pyro- Whiny little prat. I'm glad Bobby iced up and beat his ass.

Random Spiky Faced Guy- he was a random spiky faced guy. Meh.

Multiple Man/Jamie Madrox- Jamie's supposed to be a good guy, not a special effect without much of a personality.

Superpowered girl- So, she's got superspeed, strength and random mutant detecting powers. You mean an amalgam of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Monet and Rachel Summers? Okay.

Mystique- They got rid of her too quickly. She did well with what she was given, though.

Juggernaut- Slightly more fleshed out than Colossus was. His head-to-head with Kitty was fun, but yelling "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" at a teenaged girl was a bit disturbing.

Overall, they needed more time for character development.

Now, my main beef with the film:

So, the main thrust of the movie is reactions to the "cure" for mutation that Angel's father's company invented. Initially, the X-Men seem to say "we're not happy about it, but we'll leave it to the individual to decide," while the Brotherhood says "grr, argh! This sucks! We're going to kill you all."

Then, Hank McCoy discovers that the government's managed to weaponize the cure, and have used it against Brotherhood members. This causes them to all say "Whoa, that's not cool..."

...and then Hank goes and uses the cure on Magneto to take him down! Dude, Doubleyew Tee Eff! We saw how Wolverine and Beast weren't afraid to kill people, given all the slashing they did. Why didn't Beast just disembowel him or beat him insensate or something?

I liked this movie a lot. My last quibble actually added to my enjoyment of the film, since it gave me something to mull over for a bit.

Comments

[jennkitty.livejournal.com]

couple things, and write them off as you will.

yes, anna paquin was good. but 3 of the 5 of us who went all went, "wait, rogue has an accent again, kind of?" i did like that she told Logan her name. nice touch.

Random Spiky Guy was called Spike in the credits. Now, in X-men Evolution storyline, Spike was Ororo's nephew and could eject the spikes and wasn't in the Brotherhood. which means, yeah, technically this guy is just random spiky guy. so why call him Spike? meh.

Peter - Yes, Colossus is Russian. He is also, in the movie storyline, a teenager. some of that ill blend with time around Americans, won't it, in some cases? We know he's been there for a few years already. is he that silent in the comics?

"Superpowered Girl" was supposed to be Callisto. Though I don't know how anyone would pick up on that unless they went to IMDB or the official website, as they never say her name.

i predicted the after credits, which amused me to no end.

my greatest regret is that i was not a comic book nerd in younger years. i'd love to read them all. got a resource i might check out?

overall, decent movie. but you mentioned something important about scott summers... we never saw a body.

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Angel (WWIII) overheard a key conversation with (I think) Wolverine and Storm about how Magneto was going to hit Alcatraz. And he knew that was his father's development for the cure, etc., and Storm said something about there being a slaughter coming. I didn't catch this the first time, but he was definitely listening at a door near that conversation, which is how he knew to go save his dad.

And, hey, I'd rather they use the cure on Magneto than kill him messily.

[arib.livejournal.com]

And, hey, I'd rather they use the cure on Magneto than kill him messily.

Yes, but *you* don't have razor sharp adamantium claws implanted in your forearms.

I hope.

:-)

[rscott.livejournal.com]

Razor-sharp adamantium claws that had absolutely no chance of getting within ten feet of Magneto. Beast could have gone for a more letal tactic, but the truth is that unless he managed to snuff out the old man in one move, the would have lost the advantage and Magneto would have taken them apart. So I don't see any real issue with their tactics, even if their moral use of the cure is a bit questionable.

As for Angel, I find the fact that he knew where to go to save his dad far less worrysome than the fact that he apparently flew cross country (from the X-mansion in NY to Alcatraz in SF) at nearly the same speed as the Blackbird jet in order to arrive at the fight scene in time. Which is pretty impressive for a guy with feathers.

[lizardling.livejournal.com]

It's called a triple side order of refried beans.


*duck*