X-Men 3: The Last Stand (possible spoilers)

[Ninja_Squirrel]

I just saw X-Men 3, and to be honest, I simply don't know what to make of it.

Internet buzz about Brett Ratner's bad direction of it is highly undeserved. The direction seems fine. If anything is his fault it's that the movie feels a little lacking of emotion. So much happens in the movie that when something does warrant some emotion, there's only so much time to react, rejoice, or mourn, before it's time to move on to the next action.

There are few key moments in the movie that I don't like too much to start with, but if they're going to happen, I needed more time for them to sink in. I've read a few reviews over at Ain't It Cool News, and the main complaint is that certain characters and certain subplots are handled far less delicately than they should be.

Supposedly, there was a rushed production schedule on this movie, so I don't totally blame Brett Ratner.

Instead, I think I blame the screenwriters (and/or the studio executives) for deciding to put too much into one movie. The "cure" for mutation is a great storyline. The Phoenix is a great storyline. The ultimate clash of philosophies between Xavier and Magneto is a great storyline. Put it all together, and it's just too much. With so much else going on, introducing Angel was overkill.

I went into this movie wanting to like it. In a way, I still do. I loved the introduction of Beast and the increased use of Colossus and Kitty Pride. There are a lot of good homages to the comics and some good action scenes. But, the actions and fates of some of the main characters are handled with a dull sickle instead of a surgeon's scapel, or even a decent steak knife.

Basically, as a summer blockbuster popcorn action movie, it works. As a science fiction film, it's decent. As an adaption of the comics, it might be okay considering how often the comics also get adapted, re-booted, and re-interpreted. As a drama, it's unwieldy and leaves me wanting less action and more character interaction.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I think of the movie, but I have no trouble seeing how hard core fans of the comics could see this as a slap in the face. I only collected the comic for a year or two during the early '90's, and even I feel a bit bothered by parts of the film. I might have to see it again to figure out just how bothered I am by it.

 

[LondosHair]

DEFINITELY spoiler warning...

Basically, as a summer blockbuster popcorn action movie, it works. As a science fiction film, it's decent. As an adaption of the comics, it might be okay considering how often the comics also get adapted, re-booted, and re-interpreted. As a drama, it's unwieldy and leaves me wanting less action and more character interaction.

I have to agree. I saw it yesterday. I did like it, but there were parts I wish they'd done differently (or correctly, for that matter).

First of all, I can't stand the new "Ultimate" X-Men comic line. I don't like any of the "Ultimate" storylines, in fact. (Basically, some geniuses decided it'd be fun to re-tell some of the older superheroes' storylines with a more contemporary feel. It's caught on with younger readers, as intended, but it more than irks a lot of us "old schoolers.")

When they make the movies, they like to borrow storylines from both universes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it crashes & burns.

There were several changes to canon characters made in X3 that I didn't particularly care for.

Hair's movie notes:

Colossus (my favorite X-Man) doesn't have super-strength when he's not in his armored form. I dunno if they filmed him carrying the TV with the intent of doing his armor in CGI in post, or what, but he shouldn't have been able to carry that giant TV in his unarmored form.

Colossus also has a relationship with Kitty Pryde in "Uncanny." No sign of that in this movie.

I've never cared for Rogue at all in any of the X-Men movies. Without the powers she absorbed from Ms. Marvel in the "Uncanny" storyline, she doesn't really DO anything. She just runs around, being moody. The Rogue I grew up with is sassy and confident, and hides her inner pain of not being able to touch anyone from most of those around her. The only ones she really shares it with are Xavier or Gambit...

The Phoenix was not an "alternate personality" of Jean Grey. The Phoenix itself is a cosmic entity which possessed the body of Jean Grey because she was the only mutant capable of handling it. Obviously, I can understand why they wouldn't want to write that into a movie storyline, and I suppose they did a good job of trying to explain it to non-readers, but as a longtime X-Men fan, I just wasn't impressed by it. They did a great job of showing just how powerful Jean is... er, was... er... yeah.

As much as I doubted Halle Berry's role in this film, she did well. She came off as a natural leader after Xavier died. It was good to see Storm actually fly. (She did hover in X-Men 1, but it wasn't the same as this.)

Iceman FINALLY turned to ice! Frickin' awesome. His fight with Pyro was far too short, though.

Not one, but TWO Fastball Specials in this movie! I grinned like an idiot at the 2nd one, because I knew it was "for real" that time.

Beast was an amazing character. A little more serious than I would have liked, but still VERY Hank McCoy. Again, I grinned like an idiot when he said "Oh, my stars & garters..." (That's been a long-time favorite line spoken by Beast). I do like how they called him "Hank" and never "Beast." Hank always resented being turned into a blue-furred creature when he had started out as a rather normal-looking guy.

Seeing Angel in ths movie was nice, but he was too effeminate. Nice touch when he saved his father, though... I liked that.

The ending was left about as wide open as you can possibly leave it. I really do hope they make more X-Men movies. They've finally fleshed out a cast that works well together (never cared for Marsden as Cyclops.... or Cyclops as a character, for that matter). Xavier is out of the picture (for the time being), as is Magneto. I think it'd be great to see them do something with the Genosha storyline.

 

[Decal]

Spoilers
Well couple things , the jean grey and juggernault , think the creators wanted to white wash the movies, only mutants could have special powers, to simplify things for non comic book readers. They did it with lady death strike in the previous movie given her regeneration and not really making her a cyborg other than the metalic cracking of her fingers but that also the andimantium in her bones.
My buddy was annoyed they made Juggernault into a mutant instead of his powers being mystical. Leach shouldn't have been able to drain his powers.

Brought up the phonix bit to my friend and he didn't much it mind going with Xavier could be wrong and not knowing what he talking about. He may not experince any cosmic/exterestial so easier to explain phoneix as a another personaility than another being. Xavier just speculated that Jean was able to protect herself and didn't die
(should say my buddy is a juggernault fan part of reason he more dismissive of phoenix)
Dunno think they made the movie as a end for the x-men but left themselves with outs. With Magnento showing his powers maybe returning at the end. Dunno londohairs did you stay after the credits?, they gave xavier a out to come back, just not with Patrick Stewart playing him. With all that they pretty much have outs for everyone except cyclops , all the depowered mutants like mystique and Magneto maybe can regain there power, xavier is as stated in the after credits, and while Pheonix/Jean she can take care of herself. (Potentialy bring cyclops back with her too). Next movie is the wolverine prequel anyways, wonder if their going to have non mutant supers.

 

[LondosHair]

Yeah, I saw the post-credits ending. Kinda neat. The whole movie needed more Moira McTaggert. That chick was HAWT.

My buddy was annoyed they made Juggernault into a mutant instead of his powers being mystical. Leach shouldn't have been able to drain his powers.

That was another point I was going to make but forgot... Juggernaut isn't a mutant, which is why I thought Kitty's idea of saving Leech was going to be futile.

Vinnie Jones never seems to get good lines. "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" NOBODY in my theater laughed. Not only that, it didn't get any reaction whatsoever, and the whole thing ended up feeling like the campiest moment in all of comic book moviedom.

 

[Decal]

Well Kitty was the only x-man there that could of done anything to the Juggernaut maybe iceman but he not quite ready. That line got a few laughs when i went and my buddy was stoked since it was a little internet movie and knew of it before. He also got psyched for the preview with 'snakes on a plane'
Moira yeah, thought it was Liz Hurley Playing Mctaggert but I was wrong.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I had a couple criticisms. There were definitely some over-the-top super-cheesy moments that were supposed to be dramatic like Angel spreading his wings all pourdly among others.

I also thought they did too little With Scott's (and all the main characters who died) death. He just kind...died. They didn't show it, and really barely mentioned it. If I knew nothing of X-men I would've just thought he was some minor side-character used as a pawn to show the Pheonix taking over Jean. Three major characters died in this film, yet none of them really gave you that dramatic "wow" feeling.

The other thing was the ending was entirely too predictable. When Storm said to Wolverine "the question is will you be able to do what you have to when the time comes" it blatantly gave away that the film was going to end with Wolverine killing Jean.

All in all though, it was a good, entertaining film that I liked, though it could've been better.

 

[Sinclair]

I enjoyed the movie. I didn't follow the comics long enough to know any inconsistencies there may have been. I was aware that Juggernaut wasn't a mutant in the comics, but it didn't really bother me. Wasn't he also Xavier's half-brother or something?

Yeah, a lot happened in the movie and it was actually shorter than I thought it would be. Some elements did seem a little rushed, but overall I thought it was a pretty good movie. It was great to see more of Colossus and Kitty Pryde. Kelsey Grammar did a great job as Beast as well.

 

[Demon]

Totaly agree. A good, fun movie. Kept my attention with lots of fast action, good effects, and just enough emotional investment in the main characters to care what happened to them, without slowing the story down.

It may not be what true X-men afficionados want, but for the casual fan, a good movie.

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And of course I have to applaud Jean Grey's desire to strip Wolverine's clothes off him at the end, but she didn't have to take his skin too!

 

[darth_librarian]

LH I love ultimate Marvel, FWIW. (I'm 28, so not exactly one of the youngest readers)) For me, The Ultimates is a great book, although I gave up on Ultimate X men a while back... If Mark Millar (who is indeed a genius, good spot!) or Brian M. Bendis had been involved in this movie in any way, it would have turned out very differently... I don't think the problems with this movie can be leveled at the way it takes ideas from both universes...

Otherwise, I thought all the above comments re: the movie were valid. I liked the direction, the cast did well, but otherwise, it just sucked in comparison to the first two. Lack of charcter interaction, a rushed plot (or about three plots hammered together) , naff dialogue and over reliance on effects turned it into another souless block buster... It pleased neither harcore fans like myself or casual viewers like the friends i went with, something that Singer's movies managed well. The plot development was not character based. It moved from A to B to C in strict order, and thus sucked as a result...

I'm sure Superman Returns will give us our comic book jolies instead though...

p.s. There was a post credits sequence with Prof. X waking up in another man's body... But i missed it. Would not have helped to be honest. The fan pleasing bits such as the Sentinel and the 'fast ball special' did not help relive the general feeling of mismanagment.

 

[Quagmire]

You were never going to get aliens or mystical jewels in a movie like this and frankly it would have been foolhardy to provide them. As someone who hasn't read any of the comics I would have thought less of the movie if the attempt was made.

That being said I do think they put too much into this film. Characters die or give up their powers offscreen that we've followed for two movies leaving the actions without the meaning they should have had.

A good action flick but could have been more with a little more attention to the script.

I didn't stay for the credits but based on the brief description here I'm not dissapointed.

 

[Pobman]

I thought it was OK.

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But definitely felt like the movie was rushed. I didn't feel for the characters at all when they died.

The ending where Wolverine killed Jean Grey reminded me of Buffy and Angel. However, whereas Buffy left me reeling, I just shrugged my shoulders as Wolverine killed her. I think fewer characters would have made the movie better. Angel was pointless. Yeah, maybe to give some motivation as to why the guy was trying to develop a cure, but surely they could've just made him a relative of one of the existing X Men. Or as a scientist, he could've just been curious as to whether it could be done.

It could've been fascinating watching Rogue battle with her desire to be cured, but also being scared of what that might bring, but her storyline wasn't fleshed out enough.

There were some positives and I didn't hate it. Just left me with a feeling of "could've been better" and a desire to go and watch the X Men cartoon.

 

[A_Ranger]

I thought the movie was merely okay. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like all that much either. It just wasn't anywhere near as good as the second one. And I was not emotionally invested at all.

Also, I was really dissapointed with the final battle. When all the mutants attack the X-Men, all they did was run at them and get their butts kicked. No one was using their powers except for the speaking roles. So lame.

 

[Jonny_Fever]

I watched the movie last night and I cant really put my finger on it, but it just didnt have the same feel to it that the first two did. It was still an entertaining movie but I too think they just put way too much into it.

The scene where Angel spreads his wings didnt get the effect the director wanted; most of the crowd in the theater laughed at that scene.

There were just too many characters running around and many of the scenes felt rushed. I think if they had stuck to just one or maybe 2 of the plots it would have been a better movie. Characterization has always been a big element of the X-Men but this time I think they left that out. I felt nothing really for any of the characters.

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When Xavier told Storm that he hoped she would take over some day, I knew that meant he was going to die. I grew up on the X-Men comics and was dissapointed that they changed so much of it. In the comics Kitty Pryde and Colussus have a relationship and Kitty is good friends with Wolverine. Also I was dissapointed that Rogue opted for the cure but then again, without any of her super powers from Ms. Marvel she really didnt do anything (as was pointed out earlier).

The Juggernaut..a total waste of time. To me he looked ridiculous in the helmet and bulging muscles. In the comic he wore the helmet to stop any kind of psionic attacks against him. In the movie it just looked dumb.

I'm hoping that the third Spiderman doesnt turn out like this installment of the X-Men.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Also, I was really dissapointed with the final battle. When all the mutants attack the X-Men, all they did was run at them and get their butts kicked. No one was using their powers except for the speaking roles. So lame.

Heh, I agree totally here. Me and some buddies joked after the movie that Magneto went and recruited 200 mutants that all coincidentally had only the superpower to jump really high, because that's pretty much the only "power" any of them used.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

And all the military didn't even fire their "cure guns" until the evil mutants were almost on top of them! That battle wasn't too well done.

I think that the film would be vastly improved by adding 15-20 minutes of characterization with some of the main characters.

I liked the Beast well enough, but he seemed quite a different character than the fun-loving, joking, Hank McCoy of the comics. He was sort of a serious Ben Franklin type.

It seems likely to me that Cyclops and Phoenix/Jean Grey are not dead, and that's why we didn't see any more detail of Cyclops' "death." My interpretation of the Xavier-Phoenix confrontation is that we see Xavier saying "Let me in, Jean, let me in" to Phoenix. Then, Phoenix gets calm, and the things around her become still. Then Xavier explodes. I think she did "let him in," and Xavier was contained within Phoenix. I think it likely she did something similar to Cyclops.

In the post-credit scene, I couldn't see the figure in the bed well enough to say it wasn't Patrick Stewart, but it did have his voice. I think that when Phoenix was given the "cure" by Wolverine, she could no loger contain Xavier, and Cyclops, so they popped out elsewhere. I guess we'll have to get another movie to see if I'm right.

Oh, and I missed not having Night Crawler in this one.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

In the post-credit scene, I couldn't see the figure in the bed well enough to say it wasn't Patrick Stewart, but it did have his voice. I think that when Phoenix was given the "cure" by Wolverine, she could no loger contain Xavier, and Cyclops, so they popped out elsewhere. I guess we'll have to get another movie to see if I'm right.

The guy in the bed was not Patrick Stuart/Xavier's body, it was the guy that Xavier showed in the video to the child mutants earlier that was born without consciousness. The innuendo was that his consciousness has taken over that body.

And Jean Grey was not given the cure by Wolverine, she was given a fistful of claw. He killed her, not cured her.

 

[LondosHair]

And Jean Grey was not given the cure by Wolverine, she was given a fistful of claw.

I LOL'd.

 

[GeoKuutio]

I want something like, director's cut of this movie. It had the action, yes, but I would like to see some character moments too. Like many have already pointed out, it seemed like it was being rushed. All in all I liked, since I've never read any X-Men comics this movie was.. well, better than average one.

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The only thing that bothers me though, is that there's the moment when Magneto starts moving the Goldie, well, he does it when it's daylight all over the place, now when he decides that "umm yeah, now this bridge is in more suitable place", he releases the control of it and it "crashes" down on Alcatraz Island. Nothing bad there, but the instant the bridge crashes, the daylight turns into a night. Like *snap your fingers* and we have jumped 10 hours. Point being, what happened to the daylight? Where did the night suddenly came from?

 

[Jade Jaguar]

And Jean Grey was not given the cure by Wolverine, she was given a fistful of claw. He killed her, not cured her.

You're right, of course...

Guess I just couldn't get that image of four cure syringes going into Magneto out of my head. But, I still say that she's not dead, and the fact that her seeming death was through normal means only reinforces that.

I always wait through the credits, and sometimes am surprised to get a bit extra that many others miss, but I think I was looking away from the screen at that point this time, and couldn't see who it was in the hospital bed when I did turn, but clearly heard Xavier's (Stewart's) voice. It wouldn't surprise me if Xavier regained his physical form, by morphing his host, or some other way, in the future.

 

[Galahad]

I felt the bit with Xavier at the end was a bit contrived. Yeah Xavier has telepathic abilities... but the body he sent his consciousness into for all intents and purposes does not. Surely that's like burning a CD. Once the information is on, it's on.

I felt they did a lot of things in the film just because they could... and not at all because they should. I agree with the poster who said that people were being killed without adding anything to the plot.

I won't get that one on DVD, I'll leave it at X2 I think... leave it on a high.