X-Men: The Last Stand

[Mithrandir]

The short version:
It's better than the lambasting many reviews are giving it and worth a see in the theaters (although I nearly choked when the price for a ticket was $9.50). It is a very, very uneven movie however - some things were much better than the previous two, some things are much worse.

The long version:
A couple extremely important characters are basically written out of the entire movie, which was exceptionally annoying. Oh, and Angel - after all the hype and his constant presence in the trailers - has just barely 10 minutes in the movie. 10 friggin minutes... and doesn't really "do" anything to boot. Once again, very annoying. I think the main problem was that they tried to write too many referenceso to the X-Men comics into the movie. Singer was much more subtle about his nods to the comics, the occasional "hey bub", mutant lists on the computer screens, etc. and instead focused on capturing the *essence* of the comic book message. Ratner has completely abandoned the essence of the comic book, in my mind. Magneto is the worst. Ian McKellen does a fine job acting, but about half the things that Magneto does in the movie completely break character and I would never believe that he would do them. Never. He goes from mutant supremicist to sociopath. Basically I spent the entire movie saying, "Magneto would do that, he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't do that, he definitely wouldn't do that..."

Magneto's character was very frustrating in this movie.

I was also disappointed in Colossus's new change into metallic form. I really feel like in X2 they "got it", but then they completely changed it up for TLS and it looks ass-tastic.

Pyro also underwent a rather ridiculous change. When we left him at the end of X2 he was a very conflicted mutant. When we pick him up in TLS, one of the first things he states is that he wished he had killed Professor X. Huh? Where did that leap come from? It just makes no sense.

I thought the idea that the plot revolves around was pretty intriguing though (a "cure" has been discovered for mutation) but it is never fully explored in much detail. I really felt that they dropped a *lot* of potential there. A bunch of very surprising things happen, but I wasn't a fan of them to be honest. Hmm, trying to stay away from spoilers here. Basically, the four major "oh snap" moments were either under-realized or just plain unneeded and really shattered what fans of the comics would expect going into the movie. I still can't believe that they did a couple of the things that they did.

That last sentence needed to be left that vague so as to avoid huge spoilers:wacko:

I was entertained by the movie (except the changes Pyro and Magneto underwent that just made no sense) but I feel like going and reading some comics now to purge Ratner's view of the X-verse from my mind. TLS was 97 minutes long and needed to be at least 2 hours long to tell the story they wanted to tell. Everything feels really packed in. The dialogue is short and lacks depth, the intimate moments are way too short but the explosions sure are big.

Oh yeah, almost forgot... Kelsey Grammer was fine as Beast but, because the dialogues were so short, we never really got to see Beast's tremendous intelligence and vocabulary - the aspect that Grammer would have excelled at, no doubt. I'm still pissed Nightcrawler isn't in this one though.

I just read that you should stay to the end and that there is an extra scene after the credits have rolled. I missed it, so someone please stay and tell me what happens, mkay?:)

[roguebanshee]

I just read that you should stay to the end and that there is an extra scene after the credits have rolled. I missed it, so someone please stay and tell me what happens, mkay?:)

Someone biting it early comes back, or at least that's what people are saying on other boards.

[[wcip]Angel]

Thanks for the spoiler-free reviews. I've never been a huge X-men fan. I always thought they were mindless action-flicks, but a couple of months ago I was really bored and sat down and actually watched them, and I was surprised how great they were. (Plus, you know, Ian McKellen!! :shuriken:)

I'm looking forward to this, partly because I'm a HUGE fan of Kelsey Grammar. I read in interviews that Halle Berry had a bigger role in this one, so I'll be weary about getting my hopes too high.. don't fancy her much.

$9.50 for a theater ticket? :lol:We pay almost twice that here. :blink:

[Doc]

Halle Berry just signed a multi million dollar deal to do a "Storm" movie.

And they are in preproduction on something called Savage Fury, well, the name keeps changing but word is there is going to be a multi part Wolverine flick. Part of it is set in the Civil War even.... They are using his long life to drag out all of the old costumes and really make an involved movie.:wacko:

I wonder if they will cover the angle of Wolverine being a Samurai.

One problem with going back that far... Wolverine had it claws, but they were still bone. Hollywood will probably gunk that up and make them metal. Ugh.

[Chaerophon]

Halle Berry just signed a multi million dollar deal to do a "Storm" movie.

And they are in preproduction on something called Savage Fury, well, the name keeps changing but word is there is going to be a multi part Wolverine flick. Part of it is set in the Civil War even.... They are using his long life to drag out all of the old costumes and really make an involved movie.:wacko:

I wonder if they will cover the angle of Wolverine being a Samurai.

One problem with going back that far... Wolverine had it claws, but they were still bone. Hollywood will probably gunk that up and make them metal. Ugh.

I could very well be wrong (I haven't read a lot of the comics) but didn't Wolverine get his claws from the Canadian government (lol) when they "adamantized" his skeleton? I thought that his only mutant ability was his healing powers...

[Doc]

I could very well be wrong (I haven't read a lot of the comics) but didn't Wolverine get his claws from the Canadian government (lol) when they "adamantized" his skeleton? I thought that his only mutant ability was his healing powers...

He had his claws, but they were just bone. Sharp, like a cat's claws, prone to breaking off and what not. They were plated in metal.

Little known Wolverine Trivia. Wolverine's regeneration is drastically slowed when his claws are out. Full regeneration only happens when claws are retracted. He can be knocked out with his claws out if he takes enough damage. It was one of the better moments of X2 when they hinted at this bit of trivia when he gets shot in the head, drops, and his claws retract.

[LochnarITB]

I read in interviews that Halle Berry had a bigger role in this one, so I'll be weary about getting my hopes too high.. don't fancy her much.

<span style="color:#FF0000">SACRILEGE!
I have already pre-ordered Halle Berry: The Phone Book - Part 7:wub:




Hmmm - could not find a way to make the snap back part of the quote work with the brackets in [wcip]Angel. Any ideas on how to do it?

[Mithrandir]

Halle Berry just signed a multi million dollar deal to do a "Storm" movie.

And they are in preproduction on something called Savage Fury, well, the name keeps changing but word is there is going to be a multi part Wolverine flick. Part of it is set in the Civil War even.... They are using his long life to drag out all of the old costumes and really make an involved movie.:wacko:

I wonder if they will cover the angle of Wolverine being a Samurai.

One problem with going back that far... Wolverine had it claws, but they were still bone. Hollywood will probably gunk that up and make them metal. Ugh.

Are you sure about that Storm spin-off? I can't seem to find any info from Google searches and it doesn't seem to be mentioned on IMDB. Plus, I found this interview from May '06:

http://www.blackfilm.com/20060505/featur...erry.shtml

Did you ever go back to the comics to look at Storm’s history and the latest stage she’s at? Would you ever consider doing a spin-off to this with Storm?

HB: No. I think I like coming in and playing Storm, but there are so many things I want to do with my career that I don’t think I want to dedicate that much time to doing a spin-off character on Storm.

In addition to the Wolverine spin-off, they're going to do a Magneto prequel with Ian McKellen.


My original post came off pretty harsh (and rigthfully so), but I would like to throw out a couple things I like about the movie that I did not mention initially:

1) For the first time in the series, Professor X is not infallible - he makes decisions that some of the X-Men don't agree with and they call him out on it. Good touch and more believable I thought.

2) Shadowcat has some very cool fight scenes. It's pretty clear that they tried to make her the Nightcrawler of this movie. It is sort of akward how Shadowcat plays such a minor role in X2 but then is all of a sudden a full-fledged member of the team at the start of TLS however.

3) Halle Berry did a perfectly fine job as Storm, so don't hate on her too much. Her secondary leadership role that she had in the comics really shines through.

[Taem]

And they are in preproduction on something called Savage Fury,

Perhaps its the story of Nick Fury and his police group - what were they called again, "The Shield?"

He had his claws, but they were just bone. Sharp, like a cat's claws, prone to breaking off and what not. They were plated in metal.

Little known Wolverine Trivia. Wolverine's regeneration is drastically slowed when his claws are out. Full regeneration only happens when claws are retracted. He can be knocked out with his claws out if he takes enough damage. It was one of the better moments of X2 when they hinted at this bit of trivia when he gets shot in the head, drops, and his claws retract.

OMG Chaerophon, you never read Weapon X? For shame :P. I'm not even a fan of American comics in general (I prefer my Berserk and Blade of the Immortal manga thank-you) and I've read Weapnon X. My favorite American comic character is definitly the Punisher, although he can be a little over the top at times.

[Mithrandir]

Perhaps its the story of Nick Fury and his police group - what were they called again, "The Shield?"

Last I read, Marvel is going to do a Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. movie after Ghost Rider, Spiderman 3, Hulk 2, and Ironman... and that they are trying to get Will Smith for Nick Fury.

[BruceGod]

But Nick Fury is a white guy... Kind of like they made Kingpin black in Daredevil?

[Taem]

and that they are trying to get Will Smith for Nick Fury.

Excuse me? The guy that played Kingpin in Electra was a great actor, but he wasn't the Kingpin! Not even close! Will Smith? He's a good actor and all, but he is definitely NOT Nick Fury.... Kind of reminds me of that Catwoman movie I never bothered watching with Halle Berry and that ridiculous costume. I understand these changes were made to help incorporate a wide variety of racial roles and that doesn’t bother me one bit, but what does bother me is that they need the right actor for the character being portrayed! The Kingpin is supposed to be a HUGE fellow, enormous actually. That actor they got looked like a small football player. Nick Fury is gritty and buff like nobodies business; Will Smith is not. I never saw the latest Catwoman movie, but I heard it was a new chapter in the series with the concept focusing around a new Catwoman being born every 100-years or so, so I can forgive Hollywood for this character assassination. But Will Smith? Come on!

[Doc]

Excuse me? The guy that played Kingpin in Electra was a great actor, but he wasn't the Kingpin! Not even close! Will Smith? He's a good actor and all, but he is definitely NOT Nick Fury.... Kind of reminds me of that Catwoman movie I never bothered watching with Halle Berry and that ridiculous costume. I understand these changes were made to help incorporate a wide variety of racial roles and that doesn’t bother me one bit, but what does bother me is that they need the right actor for the character being portrayed! The Kingpin is supposed to be a HUGE fellow, enormous actually. That actor they got looked like a small football player. Nick Fury is gritty and buff like nobodies business; Will Smith is not. I never saw the latest Catwoman movie, but I heard it was a new chapter in the series with the concept focusing around a new Catwoman being born every 100-years or so, so I can forgive Hollywood for this character assassination. But Will Smith? Come on!

I was horrified when I read that talks had taken place about The Rock playing Wolverine in X1.

Still horrified that the Rock might be the next Terminator.

[Mithrandir]

But Nick Fury is a white guy... Kind of like they made Kingpin black in Daredevil?

Well, Nick Fury is black in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, so it is not a stretch at all for Will Smith to play Nick Fury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury

I was horrified when I read that talks had taken place about The Rock playing Wolverine in X1.

Still horrified that the Rock might be the next Terminator.

Does The Rock really fill seats? I have never wanted to see a movie just because The Rock was in it, nor have I ever spoken to anyone who wanted to see a movie just because The Rock was in it. He was decent in The Rundown I suppose, but I also have a soft spot for Sean William Scott and Christopher Walken so perhaps my view of that movie was colored by those two actors.

How does he keep getting roles?

[roguebanshee]

Well, Nick Fury is black in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, so it is not a stretch at all for Will Smith to play Nick Fury.

There is of course a much more obvious choice for (Ultimate) Fury:

and was in fact specifically tailored after actor Samuel L. Jackson with his permission.

[Archon_Wing]

I agree with some of your complaints. Some of it didn't really make sense, but I never expect movies of this sort to really make any sense anyways. I'm not a comic book fan, but I usually don't worry about faithfulness to the original. I mean, the movie is supposed to be a creation of its own, and the author/director has their own vision of what happens. Of course, making weird changes isn't completely acceptable, but I'm willing to live with some liberties.

I thought it was good clean entertainment, and really didn't expect more from it. I do like Storm in this movie, I remember her being so useless in the first one.


The extra scene is pretty pointless, and you can probaly predict what it is. (How do you make text invisible?)
<span style="color:red">
Somewhat of a Spoiler







;)
;0
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:)
:)
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:o
:/
:wacko:


<span style="color:#FFFFFF">
OMG SOMEONE'S NOT DEAD. Like, comic book deaths of important people are permanent?:)





























<span style="color:red">End Spoiler

[Mithrandir]

There is of course a much more obvious choice for (Ultimate) Fury:

Sam Jackson is probably too busy promoting Snakes on a Plane.

[Mirajj]

OMG SOMEONE'S NOT DEAD. Like, comic book deaths of important people are permanent?

Yeah, that's what I thought when it happened too. Like there's an Xman who hasn't been killed umpteen times.;)

"I got better."

[Occhidiangela]

Yeah, that's what I thought when it happened too. Like there's an Xman who hasn't been killed umpteen times.;)

"I got better."

Then you will be pleased to know that Batwoman has been resurrected by DC. :rolleyes:

Occhi

[Mithrandir]

Then you will be pleased to know that Batwoman has been resurrected by DC. :rolleyes:

Occhi

... and they made her a lesbian. Many a pimple-faced 13 year old rejoiced.