Le Messor
05-23-2006, 01:46 AM
My fears have been realised.
But not my worst fears.
I was worried going in that my perceptions would be coloured by not having eaten since lunch. I guess the people who planned a 6:00pm figured a lot of people wouldn't have time for dinner; they put little boxes of food on the seats; two spring-rolls, a quiche, some Mentos and a bagel. Champagne waited for us in the armrests. (The under-18s had spring water, but they could've easily reached champagne if they wanted. The place was about half full, nobody would stop them.)
All the food was mini-size; one eighth the size, all the taste. I could eat everything but the ham and cheese bagel (I'm vegetarian).
They auctioned off an X3 poster, signed by the cast, and a pendant--the X logo, an X in a circle. I only know that's what the pendant looks like because the guy who bought it sat right in front of me; I thought it might be the Phoenix pendant I've seen.
Stay through the closing credits!!!
Anyway, on with the show.
After this, I'll talk about a couple of plot points that're already so well known, I figure you already know, or don't care. If you do care, but don't know, be warned.
It opened with the Marvel 'flipping comic pages' logo, personalised for this movie. There was a Phoenix rising bit in there; and I think when I play the pause game, I'll find I own a few of the original issues.
Normally, with a comic book movie, they'll make two then change directors. The third isn't as good as the first two, and the fourth, we don't even talk about. (Comic book mini-series usually work the same way, only with a different writer).
The pattern holds. This isn't a garish mess; it _feels_ like it belongs as the third X movie, and fits, but it's lost something. Also, I think they were trying to go a bit more Goth than the first two outings. It's subtle, with the floating rocks in mist scene, and the punk / Goth Morlocks, but it's there. (I'm calling them Morlocks; some of them were, in the comics, but not all, and they don't use that word in the movie).
They crammed this full of characters--also a bad sign.
It seems like the makers knew they were making the last, and they knew what the fans wanted to see, so they crammed it, almost all of it, into one last outing. Storm flew; but she needs to learn to fly horizontally.
Yes, they gave us a lot of what we wanted to see; but there was a price. That price was character development. There were tons of character cameos, some of which I didn't know about before watching, but no consistent motivation--in fact, at times, the motivation was contradictory.
They didn't betray the characters as much as, say, _The Two Towers_, but there was a little of that. Prof X, especially; he was in character for the comics, but not the earlier movies.
Beast looked like a muppet. His face didn't, but his arms and legs did. He didn't look as cool on screen as he does in promotional stills.
There were bits Joss fans would love; Dark Phoenix, when she wasn't skanky, looked like Dark Willow. The doctor who invented the cure was his invention; as was the mutants confusing 'you have a disease' with 'we are a disease'.
There were lots of cool bits for readers of the comics; character cameos, moves, even scenes from the source.
Angel flew. It looked kinda cool, but I couldn't help thinking _I've_ done a better winged-humanoid flying than that. (I took a course in computer animation). He barely flapped his wings, which wasn't always unrealistic (raptors glide a lot, but there were times he probably should've flapped to get the lift he got.) Sorry, one of my nits to pick.
The movie held a thematic resonance pretty well.
I enjoyed the movie. But, when X2 came out, I started saying X3 was my favourite movie--until they switched director. X2 is my favourite, and X3 hasn't changed that. But I hope they don't make a fourth. Not without Bryan Singer.
Minor spoilers follow.
It opens '20 years ago' with Jean meeting X and Magneto; then we switch to '10 years ago' with a young Warren cutting off his wings. His father bursts in, and seems very upset by this. We don't know why he hates his mutation; he has wings! He can fly! Who hasn't dreamed that?
If he does hate it so much, he's rich, can't they just hire a surgeon to amputate?
This is one of the bits of contradictory unmotivations I spoke of. In the present, his wings have somehow grown back (never explained) and now Warren wants them, and his father doesn't. Again, Warren's power is one that doesn't need a cure beyond amputation. (The same thing happened in the cartoon, btw).
It then moves to 'the not too distant future'; and the _Days of Future Past_ storyline, looking like something from _The Terminator_. Way cool. Yes, even a Sentinel, which looks cool, because we don't see it. You heard me.
X-Men 1 made me feel what it might be like to have mutant powers. X2 promised a cool Jean Grey Dark Phoenix bit. X3 lost both things. We never see the Phoenix Effect. And, they screwed up her awakening. Instead of the cool "Hear me, X-Men, no longer am I the woman you once knew. I am fire! I am life incarnate! Now and forever, I am Phoenix!" from the comics, she just appears on the waters edge. And then does something completely unmotivated.
Watch it, but not too often.
But not my worst fears.
I was worried going in that my perceptions would be coloured by not having eaten since lunch. I guess the people who planned a 6:00pm figured a lot of people wouldn't have time for dinner; they put little boxes of food on the seats; two spring-rolls, a quiche, some Mentos and a bagel. Champagne waited for us in the armrests. (The under-18s had spring water, but they could've easily reached champagne if they wanted. The place was about half full, nobody would stop them.)
All the food was mini-size; one eighth the size, all the taste. I could eat everything but the ham and cheese bagel (I'm vegetarian).
They auctioned off an X3 poster, signed by the cast, and a pendant--the X logo, an X in a circle. I only know that's what the pendant looks like because the guy who bought it sat right in front of me; I thought it might be the Phoenix pendant I've seen.
Stay through the closing credits!!!
Anyway, on with the show.
After this, I'll talk about a couple of plot points that're already so well known, I figure you already know, or don't care. If you do care, but don't know, be warned.
It opened with the Marvel 'flipping comic pages' logo, personalised for this movie. There was a Phoenix rising bit in there; and I think when I play the pause game, I'll find I own a few of the original issues.
Normally, with a comic book movie, they'll make two then change directors. The third isn't as good as the first two, and the fourth, we don't even talk about. (Comic book mini-series usually work the same way, only with a different writer).
The pattern holds. This isn't a garish mess; it _feels_ like it belongs as the third X movie, and fits, but it's lost something. Also, I think they were trying to go a bit more Goth than the first two outings. It's subtle, with the floating rocks in mist scene, and the punk / Goth Morlocks, but it's there. (I'm calling them Morlocks; some of them were, in the comics, but not all, and they don't use that word in the movie).
They crammed this full of characters--also a bad sign.
It seems like the makers knew they were making the last, and they knew what the fans wanted to see, so they crammed it, almost all of it, into one last outing. Storm flew; but she needs to learn to fly horizontally.
Yes, they gave us a lot of what we wanted to see; but there was a price. That price was character development. There were tons of character cameos, some of which I didn't know about before watching, but no consistent motivation--in fact, at times, the motivation was contradictory.
They didn't betray the characters as much as, say, _The Two Towers_, but there was a little of that. Prof X, especially; he was in character for the comics, but not the earlier movies.
Beast looked like a muppet. His face didn't, but his arms and legs did. He didn't look as cool on screen as he does in promotional stills.
There were bits Joss fans would love; Dark Phoenix, when she wasn't skanky, looked like Dark Willow. The doctor who invented the cure was his invention; as was the mutants confusing 'you have a disease' with 'we are a disease'.
There were lots of cool bits for readers of the comics; character cameos, moves, even scenes from the source.
Angel flew. It looked kinda cool, but I couldn't help thinking _I've_ done a better winged-humanoid flying than that. (I took a course in computer animation). He barely flapped his wings, which wasn't always unrealistic (raptors glide a lot, but there were times he probably should've flapped to get the lift he got.) Sorry, one of my nits to pick.
The movie held a thematic resonance pretty well.
I enjoyed the movie. But, when X2 came out, I started saying X3 was my favourite movie--until they switched director. X2 is my favourite, and X3 hasn't changed that. But I hope they don't make a fourth. Not without Bryan Singer.
Minor spoilers follow.
It opens '20 years ago' with Jean meeting X and Magneto; then we switch to '10 years ago' with a young Warren cutting off his wings. His father bursts in, and seems very upset by this. We don't know why he hates his mutation; he has wings! He can fly! Who hasn't dreamed that?
If he does hate it so much, he's rich, can't they just hire a surgeon to amputate?
This is one of the bits of contradictory unmotivations I spoke of. In the present, his wings have somehow grown back (never explained) and now Warren wants them, and his father doesn't. Again, Warren's power is one that doesn't need a cure beyond amputation. (The same thing happened in the cartoon, btw).
It then moves to 'the not too distant future'; and the _Days of Future Past_ storyline, looking like something from _The Terminator_. Way cool. Yes, even a Sentinel, which looks cool, because we don't see it. You heard me.
X-Men 1 made me feel what it might be like to have mutant powers. X2 promised a cool Jean Grey Dark Phoenix bit. X3 lost both things. We never see the Phoenix Effect. And, they screwed up her awakening. Instead of the cool "Hear me, X-Men, no longer am I the woman you once knew. I am fire! I am life incarnate! Now and forever, I am Phoenix!" from the comics, she just appears on the waters edge. And then does something completely unmotivated.
Watch it, but not too often.