X3 review and predictions!!!

[UnrulyAppendage]

I saw it this afternoon. I was not disappointed. It wasn't great, but I liked it better than the first one. It wasn't better than the second. No Superman trailer.

 

My only real gripe was Logans reaction to an important event. I do not see him as the kind to get that emotional.

[Psiknight]

Um, I can't believe so many of you actually enjoyed this pile.

 

Stepping away from the world of comic fandom, here are a few problems with the movie:

 

-Utter lack of character development. For anyone that says "who needs character development? Not every comic character gets an origin right away"...well, is that a good thing? Just tossing random characters like Beast and Angel into the mix with NO back story or development at all is poor.

 

-Overuse of one-liners. I thought the Juggernaut line was so lame. And Shadowcat's retort was equally forced. Wolverine and Storm also spewed plenty of these comic relief one-liners and "catch phrases."

 

-Wooden acting. I noticed a drop off in acting from all of the characters, save Xavier and Magneto.

 

-Focus Wolverine. Is it just me or did Wolverine get a HUGE portion of on-screen time? I know the fans love him, but it's X-Men 3, not Wolverine.

 

-Plot too heavy-handed with its theme of "intolerance is wrong."

 

For these reasons, and these alone, I thought this movie was no better than the average action vehicle. Add in the complete destruction of the source material and, well, yeah...it's bad in my opinion.

 

-

[RDK]

Let me say this slowly: the movie is not the comic.

 

Given that the movie X-Men are more grounded in reality (their more practical outfits, for example) it would make no sense for Jean to suddenly burst into a fiery bird. The "phoenix" imagery is a visual gimmick that works well in the comic, but c'mon, why would Jean turn into a flaming bird in the movie? I, at least, think that would have looked stupid.

 

As for Juggernaut not being a mutant, he wouldn't have fit into the movie otherwise. The X-Men flicks (and the comics mostly) are about mutants. The filmmakers have done a great job (imo) of "suspending our disbelief" when it comes to making superpowered mutants work on screen - as opposed to, say, dying in the womb as most genetic mutations do in real life - so introducing some "magical" explaination for Juggy's powers wouldn't work in the context of the film. Nor would Magneto have anything to do with Juggy if he was a non-mutant...

[Psiknight]

Let me say this slowly: the movie is not the comic.

 

Given that the movie X-Men are more grounded in reality (their more practical outfits, for example) it would make no sense for Jean to suddenly burst into a fiery bird. The "phoenix" imagery is a visual gimmick that works well in the comic, but c'mon, why would Jean turn into a flaming bird in the movie? I, at least, think that would have looked stupid.

 

As for Juggernaut not being a mutant, he wouldn't have fit into the movie otherwise. The X-Men flicks (and the comics mostly) are about mutants. The filmmakers have done a great job (imo) of "suspending our disbelief" when it comes to making superpowered mutants work on screen - as opposed to, say, dying in the womb as most genetic mutations do in real life - so introducing some "magical" explaination for Juggy's powers wouldn't work in the context of the film. Nor would Magneto have anything to do with Juggy if he was a non-mutant...

 

Right, but ignoring all of that: the movie was still just a brainless action flick.

 

On the topic of Juggernaut...they simply could have used a different mutant bad guy as well. Instead they went with an established non-mutant villain and turned him into a mindless patsy, a la Bane in the horrible Batman and Robin.

[FollowTheSun-migration]

It's funny to see nit-picking over Juggs when virtually every character has been changed to some extent. I think it would be too much for the X-Men movies to start adding 'magical super heros' to the mix of mutants and humans, anyway.

 

Did this movie remind anyone of Mutant Massacre? I felt like I was watching hints of that play out a few times, and I thought it was just me, but I read someone else mention it too.

 

Oh, and the worst part of this movie for me, besides the watering down of the phoenix saga? This horribly written, lazy, idiotic diologue:

(something along the lines of:)

Beast: Well the professor is dead, let's close the school, there is no other option.

Wolverine: Yes that is the only thing we can do.

Storm: No... (thinks back to when prf X told her she'd run the school one day, just 20 minates ago) the school stays open.

Wolverine: Okay let's keep the school open.

[valiantman]

There was a fiery phoenix in the movie... did you all miss it?

 

It's right there on the screen.

The CAT scan screen, that is. Check out her brain activity while she's lying on the table.

 

Put me in the "I liked it BECAUSE it was a mindlessly FUN movie" category.

Forget the comics. 40 years of comic books won't match a 90 minute movie.

It's 2006 and the story is set in the "not too distant future".

A comic from 1963 or 1981 or whatever book you're referencing isn't going to match.

 

Some of you guys sound like a bunch of old geezers talking about how a Yo-Yo was a better toy than a PSP could ever be.

[jokersrevenge]

having just seen all three movies in a row, I have to say character development was good. Has anyone else gone back and rewatched the other two movies? To me this is an elseworld movie, but still a good story.

[UnrulyAppendage]

-Utter lack of character development. For anyone that says "who needs character development? Not every comic character gets an origin right away"...well, is that a good thing? Just tossing random characters like Beast and Angel into the mix with NO back story or development at all is poor.

 

For a comic book movie, in my eyes, character development is secondary to being entertained. If the movie delivers good action and FX, I consider it a good movie. If the movie has a great plot, acting, and character development, it elevates itself beyond the genre and into being a great movie.

 

If this movie were touting itself as a work of art and pretending to be something it wasn't, I would be disappointed. I think it succeded in being an entertaining movie. I think if this movie would not have been an ego movie for the producers to get it released before Superman, they could have gotten a director with a vision. They didn't, but the movie is servicable. It is not a great movie as I would rate it C+, but it is not a disaster.

[jbud73]

Hmm well lets see if I can add my two cents as I ponied up the $$ and saw it last night. I was of course expecting a train wreck as Brett Ratner is a hack at best and definitely NOT in the same class of director as Bryan Singer - so expectation were low.

 

All in all though he did an OK job and made an entertaining movie. Considering what he was saddled with and his meager talents It could have been worse.

 

I guess my major issue is the -script. You will never fit decades of character development into a 2 hour flick, especially given the large number of mutants they introduced, hey I'm cool with that you make sacrifices where you have to (Juggy / Beast) and push where you need to for story, in this case in flash backs of Jean Grey. I actually liked how they dealt with Phoenix, I mean there's just not enough time for the Shiar space saga to play out and they need her back so the solution had the necesary economy and still played well.

 

What I didnt like was the move away and even Singer was guilty (whether he was pushed to do it or not is the question) of this, from an ensemble movie, which worked well in X1 and most of X2, to a star driven movie featuring Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman. At least the powers that be were smart enough to give Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen about comprable screen time as the previous movies, realizing that their movie is simply just better everytime those guys are on screen.

 

But pushing James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn into the back ground was a mistake and it looked forced.

 

One of the keys to the Phoenix saga is the triangle between Jean, Logan and Scott. The movies quickly eliminated this by pushing Scott out in X2, but it was still somewhat believable in terms of plot drive. In X3 he is dispatched very crudely, very early and without much fanfare. I honestly felt sorry for James Marsden as he did a great job in the opening 20 minutes of the movie portraying Cyclops tortured soul, post Jean's Death. Same thing with Janssen, she is pushed to the side for the last half of the movie, all she does is float and look like a zombie (as someone mentioned). Too bad as well as she looked to be pulling off the split personality very well in terms of acting. Finally they eliminate Mystique Probably the biggest surprise in X1 and X2 was Romijn's job with this character. She was sexy, person_without_enough_empathyy, totally cool and out Diva's Halle Berry. Yet they deliberatly end her in a very trite way that serves nothing in terms of plot continuation. Hey I wasn't at seeing her lying naked onthe floor that was cool, but she deserved better.

 

I wasn't too upset over the non-return of Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler. Sure he stole almost every seen he was in in X2, but they couldnt get him (or maybe others didnt want him cause he stole every scene in X2) they lived with it and didn't waste 5 mins of screen time trying to explain something badly, as would have likely been the case. His replacement (Kelsey Grammer) as Beast did a nice job. Sure his exchanges with Wolvie weren't as good as those between Logan and Night Crawler or especially Cyclops, but I dont think that was his fault. He even delivered the stars and garters line without making it too cheesy.

 

Where X3 fails however is in the inability whether by accident, or on purpose to capitalize and continue on the relationships established in the previous 2 films. Jackman and Marsden nailed the nuances of the Cyclops / Wolverine stuggle, yet they are not allowed to continue in X3 due to -script direction. Same with Wolvie and Nightcrawler due to casting. Mystique's devliry is sorely missing from half the film, again needlesly. In the end Jackman and Berry's performances suffer because they are not allowed to interact with established members of the ensemble and have to carry the film largely on their own. You could argue that they do this, just barely, but it is needless and smells of producers mucking around to capitalize on star power.

 

Maybe thats why Singer left. He saw that X3 would not allow itself to be the film it should be and needed to be, even though all the elements to do so were easily there.

 

Well that's my 2 cents. All in all not a bad film, considering the -script issues I mentioned and the change in Director - but Great Expectations unfulfilled for the last (possibly) movie in the X-Men franchise. I was actually musing after the movie with the people I saw it with that the X-Men movies were like Star Wars in reverse. Great build up and lacklustre finish.

[dc360]

 

Man, that whole movie was BS.

 

• They killed off Professor X
  
• They killed off Cyclops
  
• They killed off Jean Grey
  
• Magneto is no longer a mutant
  
• Probably.... 20,000 humans and mutants died through the course of the movie?
  
• No explanation for Colossus, Kitty, or Angel's appearance, nor Pyro's leave.
  
• Uhhh... Nightcrawler, anyone?
  
• The dialogue was laughable. As was the "drama".
  
• Colossus had no lines. He just didn't speak?
  
• NONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE HAPPENED IN ANY X-MEN STORYLINE I KNOW OF. THEY RUINED THE FOUR ORIGINAL AND MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN X-MEN HISTORY.
  

 

[jbud73]

Oh, almost forgot. When I gave my post-movie analysis to my friends, one responded, "ok smart guy how do you keep Cyclops around and still have a credible ending?"

 

My simple solution would have been to have Scott get to Jean at the end and be forced with the decision to kill her for the greater good. He can't do it so she kills him. Wolvie then gets to make the same choice and does what he did in the movie. Its consistent with their personalities and allows for heightened dramatic emphasis and keeps the leader of the X-Men in the final movie .

 

Actually what you do is have Scott see Jean kill Prof. X., but still not be able to kill her. Then have Logan see Jean kill Scott and realize what he has to do.

[slackjawcomics]

Well if you do not read the comics, have not history on the characters, is the movie still has bad as you think? I mean I nephew loves the movies, and has never read a comic in his life. I on the other hand, have read a lot of x-men books had try not to compare the movie to any books. The movie was good, still in the top 3 I have seen this year.

[Psiknight]

Well if you do not read the comics, have not history on the characters, is the movie still has bad as you think? I mean I nephew loves the movies, and has never read a comic in his life. I on the other hand, have read a lot of x-men books had try not to compare the movie to any books. The movie was good, still in the top 3 I have seen this year.

 

Yes, for the reasons I stated earlier.

[Psiknight]

-Utter lack of character development. For anyone that says "who needs character development? Not every comic character gets an origin right away"...well, is that a good thing? Just tossing random characters like Beast and Angel into the mix with NO back story or development at all is poor.

 

For a comic book movie, in my eyes, character development is secondary to being entertained. If the movie delivers good action and FX, I consider it a good movie. If the movie has a great plot, acting, and character development, it elevates itself beyond the genre and into being a great movie.

 

If this movie were touting itself as a work of art and pretending to be something it wasn't, I would be disappointed. I think it succeded in being an entertaining movie. I think if this movie would not have been an ego movie for the producers to get it released before Superman, they could have gotten a director with a vision. They didn't, but the movie is servicable. It is not a great movie as I would rate it C+, but it is not a disaster.

 

No, I'd agree with a C+ rating, as that was my initial feel too. But good action and FX don't do it for me. It did when I was 12 but I guess my taste in movies has matured or something. I can't sit through a mindless, plotless (or pretty much plotless) action flick anymore without being bored.

 

This movie was a huge drop off from X2. It's impossible not to compare it to its predecessor, no? If this was just Joe Random action movie I might not have been so hard on it. But it was the final movie that followed a really good movie.

[howardhallis]

I think it was decent as far as superhero movies go. As far as Marvel Movies, rating on a scale somewhere between The Return of The Incredible Hulk made-for-TV movie and Spider-Man 2, I'd say it's tied with The Fantastic Four.

[valiantman]

 

Man, that whole movie was BS.

 

• They killed off Professor X
  
• They killed off Cyclops
  
• They killed off Jean Grey
  
• Magneto is no longer a mutant
  
• Probably.... 20,000 humans and mutants died through the course of the movie?
  
• No explanation for Colossus, Kitty, or Angel's appearance, nor Pyro's leave.
  
• Uhhh... Nightcrawler, anyone?
  
• The dialogue was laughable. As was the "drama".
  
• Colossus had no lines. He just didn't speak?
  
• NONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE HAPPENED IN ANY X-MEN STORYLINE I KNOW OF. THEY RUINED THE FOUR ORIGINAL AND MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN X-MEN HISTORY.
  

 

 

Geez. Did you even watch the movie?

 

[*]They killed off Professor X

A 20 second scene after the credits says otherwise.

 

[*]They killed off Cyclops

Boo hoo.

 

[*]They killed off Jean Grey

She's a freakin' Phoenix who already DIED once at the end of X-2.

If she needs to be back, she'll be back.

 

[*]Magneto is no longer a mutant

According to his "chess game", it's coming back quickly.

 

[*]Probably.... 20,000 humans and mutants died through the course of the movie?

Umm... it was a war?

 

[*]No explanation for Colossus, Kitty, or Angel's appearance, nor Pyro's leave.

Pyro left in X-2. Colossus appeared in X-2. Angel had an "origin". Kitty had lots of screen time.

 

[*]Uhhh... Nightcrawler, anyone?

20,000 humans and mutants appeared, yet you want more from the star of X-2?

 

[*]The dialogue was laughable. As was the "drama".

It's an ACTION movie written for 13-year-old boys. Drama? Dialogue? Try "Memoirs of a Geisha".

 

[*]Colossus had no lines. He just didn't speak?

"I'm the Colossus, bit*h."

 

[*]NONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE HAPPENED IN ANY X-MEN STORYLINE I KNOW OF. THEY RUINED THE FOUR ORIGINAL AND MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN X-MEN HISTORY.

The movies ARE the franchise.

Fan boys carry a franchise about five yards in 40 years... the movies take it a mile overnight.

[valiantman]

Well if you do not read the comics, have not history on the characters, is the movie still has bad as you think? I mean my nephew loves the movies, and has never read a comic in his life.

 

There's your answer.

[uclapeterg]

 

Man, that whole movie was BS.

 

• [*]They killed off Professor X

 

You didn't stay for after the credits, did you?

[*]NONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE HAPPENED IN ANY X-MEN STORYLINE I KNOW OF.

 

 

I hate when I see this comment. Movies aren't the comics, folks!!!!

[Korvac Saga]

I think it was decent as far as superhero movies go. As far as Marvel Movies, rating on a scale somewhere between The Return of The Incredible Hulk made-for-TV movie and Spider-Man 2, I'd say it's tied with The Fantastic Four.

 

First of all I happened to enjoy the movie. No, it wasn't as good as the first two but was also not bad enough to lessen their greatness. Sure they should have at least had Jean in fiery phoenix mode in the final scene with Wolverine. I don't hear from anyone how cool Wolvie looked as his skin and underlying tissues were being burned away by Jean's TK and simultaneously healed by his healing factor. That could never have been so beautifully portrayed in a comic. Sure, character development was thin and the new characters' back story were neglected. So what.

I don't feel that the movie suffered as a result. Brian Singer would have made a better movie, no question. I still think it gets a solid B grade which puts it ahead of FF IMHO(C+/B-range there).

[MutantKeys]

I think it was decent as far as superhero movies go. As far as Marvel Movies, rating on a scale somewhere between The Return of The Incredible Hulk made-for-TV movie and Spider-Man 2, I'd say it's tied with The Fantastic Four.

 

First of all I happened to enjoy the movie. No, it wasn't as good as the first two but was also not bad enough to lessen their greatness. Sure they should have at least had Jean in fiery phoenix mode in the final scene with Wolverine. I don't hear from anyone how cool Wolvie looked as his skin and underlying tissues were being burned away by Jean's TK and simultaneously healed by his healing factor. That could never have been so beautifully portrayed in a comic. Sure, character development was thin and the new characters' back story were neglected. So what.

I don't feel that the movie suffered as a result. Brian Singer would have made a better movie, no question. I still think it gets a solid B grade which puts it ahead of FF IMHO(C+/B-range there).

 

I give it a B as well