Dec 18
JeremyMovies brett ratner, bryan singer, hugh jackman, Ian McKellan, james marsden, patrick stewart, X-Men
Question: What is your favorite superhero movie adaptation?
Answer: Hands down, this is so much easier than the Harry Potter question where I actually had to think about my answer. This time, I can go on pure instinct: the first two X-Men movies (thought I think I’m gonna give a brief shout out to Iron Man as runner up!). It might be cheating, but I’m going with both because I really view them as a single adaptation.
The first movie revived the 90′s-moribund superhero genre, despite Storm’s bad hair and “Do you know what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning?”; up to that point, the movie superhero had been largely dormant for quite some time. I mean, seriously, those were people’s main quibbles with the first movie. Well, those and Magneto’s largely one-dimensional minions. But it brought us action, it brought us character development (for the good guys) and it was superbly cast. I mean, the brilliance of casting Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan aside, Hugh Jackman is just delicious (and maybe James Marsden too).
Moving right into the second movie in a way that really advanced the plot and the relationships between the characters was superb. Anyone who has ever felt marginalized can really connect with these people who really would rather just be left alone to live their lives in peace. At the same time, it’s easy to understand how the experiences of someone like Magneto have shaped him in a way that has built up a burning hatred within. How often does Hollywood manage to give us good action with a moral (that doesn’t feel like a moral bludgeon) and still leave some ambiguity in how we’re supposed to feel? Rarely, but it was achieved with these two films.
Yup. That’s my pick.
And now, a moment of vituperation: Damn, damn Bryan Singer for bailing on us and letting Brett Ratner ruin the third! I find it entirely ironic that Singer jumped to Superman Returns and Ratner to X-3 and then no one liked either movie. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Twentieth Century Fox would be what Warner Bros is doing and just ignore the bad movie and move on with producing a replacement?
Alas and alack…at least I hear good things about X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Oct 03
AndrewMovies Movies, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, X-Men
To celebrate the DVD release of X-Men 3 -- The Last Stand, the commercials have touted 3 alternate endings as the prime bonus features. A special deluxe version of the DVD comes with a comic book written specially for the DVD release.
The alternate endings are little more than deleted scenes that could have been tacked on to the end of the movie, had there not already been three scenes that appeared in the theatrical version to set the stage for a sequel. In fact, I’m convinced that the reason the 3 alternate endings weren’t included was because they did not foreshadow X-Men 4. Well, that, and the scenes sucked.
The bonus features pretty much sucked all around. Aside from director’s commentary, which is pretty much like death by voiceover, we had a thirty second black and white promo for the Simpsons movie, and deleted scenes.
Deleted scenes, by their very nature, suck. The best directors know what to cut and what to keep in the editing room, and some directors even manage to keep the crap off of the DVD, instead of lumping in every frame into the category of ‘bonus features.’
The deleted scenes, at the very least, show that the director, Brett Ratner, made some very good decisions during the editing process. He rightfully cut some of the worst mental dialogue I have ever heard “uttered” (a psychic conversation between Xavier and Jean Grey.) He also filmed several scenes twice, with different dialogue each version, and in my opinion, probably chose the better of the two every time.
The 3 alternate endings were less than 30 seconds apiece. We can choose from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters opening for another school year (apparently Bobby went from pupil to teacher’s aide over the summer…) Or Rogue returning to campus with powers. Or Logan returning home to Alberta, Canada. Why? Right. Why.
Fortunately the movie itself more than makes up for the seriously wasteful special features. To really enjoy The Last Stand, you have forget anything you might have ever read about X-Men continuity, and just take in the reality that previous director Bryan Singer skillfully developed and Ratner had enough brains not to completely destroy. The action sequences are breathtaking (although I personally thought upending the Golden Gate Bridge was overhyped.) And for the first time in the trilogy, the action scenes rocked you. They were imaginative and damn cool to watch.
For the X-faithful, the plot has some serious holes. From the woefully underdeveloped storyline between Angel (Ben Watson) and his father, to the short-shrift they gave to Iceman’s relationship to Rogue, most of the characters’ lives seem to take place off screen. Jean’s suppressed dual personality was a lame invention, and then having established she was Queen Wacko, they had her stand around the entire movie looking bored. Aside from boiling pots of water and floating furniture around the room, her main calling in the movie seemed to be disintegrating the people closest to her.
By far the movie’s worst offense was the death of Cyclops early in the movie, which was left purposefully ambiguous for the better part of the first hour. This choice killed any emotional punch that hardcore fans could reasonably have experienced. Then by the time it was addressed within the context of the story, it was overshadowed by the death of Professor Xavier. And all the while, you are scratching your head, thinking, Did they really just kill off some of the most important characters in X-Men mythology?
The doubts linger through most of the movie, despite some truly spectacular action sequences. My favorites, truthfully, involved some of the newly introduced mutants. I’m not even sure the Juggernaut qualifies as a mutant, but watching him and Kitty Pryde race through Alcatraz to find Leech just really thrilled me. And the danger room fight against a sentinel was awesome, no matter how brief.
In all, I give the movie good marks. If entertainment and action are the name of the mutant game, it delivers. I give the DVD release a big pfff. Even Homer couldn’t redeem this one…
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