Kath and I saw “X-Men II” today and, yes, it’s that rare animal: A sequel better than the original. It’s no longer the “Wolverine and a Buncha Guys” show. This time around, we get a real sense of the true emotional depth and breadth of the Marvel Mutantverse. From the pure “Cabaret”-esque showmanship of Nightcrawler to the ticking timebomb of Pyro, to the sure-to-provoke-cheers cameos of Colossus and Hank McCoy, this one’s got it all.
And more than anything, it has real-world resonance. There are some who have called being a Mutant a metaphor for being gay. Never seemed more convincing a take than when one teen mutant “comes out” to his family. And then, of course, there’s the concept of curtailing freedoms, midnight raids, a police state…all in the name of security. However much it was featured in the first film, it seemed more abstract; now it sends chills down your spine. Unless, of course, you’re one of those who cheers the loss of personal liberty in the name of “security.” Then…well, I’m not sure.
There’s many “little” moments, including a devil-may-care encounter between Mystique and some pursuing soldiers, and–oh yes–Cyclop’s part. Easily the X-Man least served by the script, he disappears…as they said in “Shakespeare in Love”–for the length of a bible. Storm, however, has a better wig and appears to have abandoned the arch delivery of the first film. The way she was talking this time out, she could have sold the “What happens to toads when they’re struck by lightning” line.
Film did have some pacing problems, plus I kept waiting to check in on a group of fugitive mutants led by Colossus. Odd to say that the film seemed long and yet they could have added at least half an hour to it with an entire additional storyline.
Great stuff.
Talk amongst yourselves.
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Managed to catch X2 at an early matinee, which was thankfully — and somewhat surprisingly — sparsely attended.
Peter’s right… it’s better than the original… much better. The script is incredibly well balanced. Everyone — save Cyclops — gets his or her time in the spotlight. Great role for Shawn “Iceman” Ashmore, who gets to shine despite being a relative unknown. Same thing for the actor portraying Pyro.
Movie should make mad money, not because it’s the first summer blockbuster, but because there’s so much going on — and so good — that fans and casual moviergoers alike will want to see it more than once on the big screen.
One question? Did anyone catch the name Remy LeBeau in the scene with Mystique in Strykers’ base on the computer?Anyone?
I just got back from seeing it and I loved it. It passes my test of “Do I ever want to see this movie again?” which the first one didn’t. One tiny nit-pick – wouldn’t it have been nice to see The Angel? He’s the only one of the original team not to have at least a cameo appearance. Just would have been classy to include him somewhere. And I can’t think of anything more to say without spoilers, so I’ll shut up now.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the original script did have Angel in a meaningful role but he didn’t survive the many revisions that Singer made during the shoot.
I also thought the movie is much better than the original (Singer states in EW that the original didn’t come out as he would have liked). Also saw the trailer for the Hulk and the League of Ext. I’m planning on seeing both of them. Looks like the start of a great summer for movies
Haven’t seen it yet, but, Cyclops gets the short end AGAIN? That stinks. Personally, I love the “boy scout” heroes: Superman, Cyke, Capt. America, etc. They aren’t as cool or fashionable as Wolverine, but I prefer the heroes that bring us up.
Someone will argue how Wolvie is better because he’s “more real”, “has flaws”, etc. and, while those are true, I just wish there was more room for “the good guys” these days.
(PAD, it’s time to break out that column about “What Comic Fans Want”)
One question? Did anyone catch the name Remy LeBeau in the scene with Mystique in Strykers’ base on the computer?Anyone?
That’s going to be a fun “Freeze-Frame moment” for the DVD. I also saw “Artie Mattocks (sp)” from X-Factor and Generation X. Items on another screen included “Muir Island” and “Project Wideawake.”
Now I wonder, what can possibly be the plot of X-Men 3? 🙂
David
Yowza.
Very intelligent use of tactics. All the right moves. Much better use of Jean and Storm (and not token either….that was very smart use of powers in the climax….).
Wonder how he tops this….
I also caught a moderatly attended early show and the crowed cheered in all the right places.
I liked that the previews didn’t give away a lot of the secrets, but it still gave away one or two “cool” moments that I would like to have not seen before. I understand why they were there, bust still dislike it. Gotta sell the movie to the non-comic fans with eye-candy.
Better performances all around, they were more into the characters this time, to me. I was impressed how much character stuff happened. Made me very happy.
And about Gambit, there was a cameo planned for him. There was an interview with the guy in, I believe it was EW magazine. He said that Singer grabed him from the sidelines, where he was doing some set work, for the part because Singer liked his look. He said that he was also pretty sure that he wouldn’t keep the part if Gambit shows back up in X3, that a “real” actor would be cast.
I’ll refrain from more until more people see it.
I just got back from seeing X2 and thought, at best that it was OK. There were some great scenes, like the fight and “bamfing” choreography of Nightcrawler’s opening sequence, Colossus’ armouring up, Kitty Pryde’s cameo, Rogue and Iceman’s relationship, Wolverine recovering from getting shot and the all too short cameo by Hank McCoy.
All that aside, I thought the movie had serious pacing problems – it starts off amazingly and then slows down to almost a screching halt and the ending is really anti-climactic. I also never believed that Jean and Scott are in love and certainly never believe that he was the leader of the X-men.
Like in the first X-men this movie seemed to concentrate too much on wolverine leaving characters like Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops as only shells of what they could have and should have been.
The story itself was OK and loosly based on Chris Claremont’s classic, “God Loves, Man Kills,” but without the heart and soul of the original. It really seemed to be more of a filler to lead into the next movie, what seems like a “Dark Phoenix” story. Really this movie had so much potential and could have been so much more.
Colossus was definitely the highlight of the film. I literally applauded when he powered up and knocked Stryker’s troops through the door. He should have had way more screentime.
Only drawback was that the second half of the film was cluttered with too many running subplots. Me, I would’ve focused solely on Stryker and Xavier, and X-Men’s efforts to rescue him, and left all the other scenes out.
“One question? Did anyone catch the name Remy LeBeau in the scene with Mystique in Strykers’ base on the computer?Anyone?”
I did! 🙂 I was thrilled at that!
Hehe – I caught the Gambit reference too. Really enjoyed the film overall. I was very impressed with how well both Alan Cumming and the FX crew pulled off Nightcrawler. It was kind of odd to see him running around with his mother looking much younger than he did, but I guess Shapeshifting treats you well. Also nice for Mystique to get used better – she’s a good character when used properly, and better when not just Magneto’s lackey. As far as Cyclops – it’s a shame he didn’t get used more again, but I think he’s not too far off. Scott Summers isn’t supposed to be particularly charismatic or larger than life- which probably makes him easy to lose among all the other standouts.
Ian MacKellan is better than before as Magneto – it’s good to see him become a bit more complex than the supervillain with tragic background he was in the first movie (not that he was bad then, either).
I’m sure most long time readers have a pretty good idea of what’ll happen in the final installment, even if they didn’t catch the faint firebird image under the lake in the final scene…
Well, now who’s to say the third movie will be the final installment?
I am I the only one who noticed Striker’s desktop had a whole FOLDER entitled “Franklin Richards?”
Peter, can’t I read a comic movie review with out you bashing Bush? What’s next Bush bashing in every comic, novel, and blog post you write? You sound bitter.
I loved X-2. (I hate that title though) I really wanted to see the Phoenix rise from the lake, but better luck next movie. I hope Famke sticks arround for X-3 (X-men divided ?) Nightcrawler was all I wished him to be, but I read that Kitty was in the original script, paling around with Rogue, Bobby, and John to Bobby’s house. I guess I can’t have my two favorite X-men as stars (even though Kitty had a cameo in both movies)
Off topic: Peter, have you ever thought of contacting Darkhorse about writing their Buffy comic? I think that their comic is taylor made to fit your comic writing style.
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In my above comments. I tried to ues the inviso text but I guess I don’t have the hang of it yet. I know I’d be pìššëd if I had read my spoiler before seeing the movie.
Saw it this morning, loved it. I love Nightcrawler, and Alan Cummings was great in the part. That opening sequence of his was just amazingly cool.
I especially like how it had a good enough story that people who’s knowledge of X-Men consists of seeing the first movie can enjoy it, but there’s little notes to catch the eye of those with more experience. It’s kinda cool being able to talk to my sisters about the movie, when neither of them have ever read any of the comics. Now who’s the geek?!? Ha-ha-ha!
I really liked the movie. The Phoenix sub-plot left me with the biggest smile…until the end.
Wasn’t the best part of the Phoenix saga the part where she sacrifices herself at the end to save everyone else? But she already did that in this movie. How are they gonna make a watchable Phoenix saga without using the same device twice? Seems to me that the effectivness of the whole Phoenix saga has been negated by already using that ending!
Oh well, I’m still going to see it again.
Spoilers, hope the inviso works
Anyone notice that Strykers son was a thinly diguised Mastermind? And he was never shownb to die…
I’m betting Jean survived but is spent and recovers with his “help” and emerges in 3 as Dark Pheanix. .
Loved the movie. BUT for one small thing that made me howl with dismay…
[SPOILER–attempting use of Inviso-Font™ technology]
Professor X would not have let the X-Men leave Jason behind when Alkali Flats was destroyed. Uh uh. No way. And wouldn’t it have been a nicer message if, after all the pain Jason has put him through, Xavier stopped Nightcrawler from bamfing him out, held out his hand to Jason and said ‘Come with us. Come home with us.’ Claremont’s Xavier would have done that. Morrison’s Xavier would have done that. Heck, even Captain Picard would have done that.
Whoops, sorry–that previous Professor X spoiler was courtesy of me, and i don’t know why it didn’t work to use the Inviso-Text, or why my name didn’t come up.
Peter, wasn’t the background of this column blue at one point? Now it appears white to me (with a blue border). Could that be affecting the Inviso-Text?
I don’t really have a solution; I just like saying the word “Inviso-Text.”
Dune: One question? Did anyone catch the name Remy LeBeau in the scene with Mystique in Strykers’ base on the computer? Anyone?
Luigi Novi: Yep. Jamie Maddox and Franklin Richards were also in there.
Nick: The story itself was OK and loosly based on Chris Claremont’s classic, “God Loves, Man Kills,”
Luigi Novi: I didn’t see any resemblance to GLMK, personally, and I’m curious as to what all these people who claim it was based on it are referring to. The only element from GLMK in it is Stryker, and he’s not even a priest, but a military Colonel.
If anything, the X-Mansion invasion was really frightening because it reminded me of the depiction of what happened to young Rachel Summers in her alternate timeline. I was almost afraid to wonder if Prof X would get blown away. The last bits of the first teaser trailer added to that feeling.
Other things I liked:
The teleportation attack sequence in the White House: AWESOME!!!
Finally! They introduce a foreign X-Man, and they keep his foreign accent!! Yes! Between Storm, Pyro and Colossus sounding like Americans, and Magneto sounding British (somewhat more forgivable, since it’s McKellen, and we love hearing British accents), it was refreshing to have Nightscrawler actually be German, and despite the fact that he too is played by a Britisher. Kudos.
Wolverine cutting loose during the Mansion invasion: Need I say it was incredible?
Adapting Legion and Mastermind into a character in the film: Interesting.
The unease felt by Bobby’s mom, and the utter revulsion by his piece of šhìŧ brother were at the heart of the bigotry theme. Well done. I practically wanted John to flash fry that little fûçkër myself for calling the police on them.
Things I didn’t like:
Nightcrawler barely taps or elbows some of the Secret Service agents, and they go flying backward. Ugh.
Jean’s dilemma at the very end was incredibly contrived. First, with her power, she could levitate herself over the water. If the plane had reactivated, they could lift off, and she could let Nightcrawler port her into it. There was no reason for her to stop him from doing so. In addition, Nightcrawler could’ve ported Bobby out there to freeze the water, or depending on the limits of his power, a good portion of it.
Mystique can infiltrate just about ANYWHERE, and since Magneto is allowed visitors, she could easily free him herself, perhaps as Senator Kelly. Yet she enacts this convoluted plan, filling this dufus prison guard with enough iron (iron that interestingly, looks like chrome when Magneto draws it out of him) to make a few good-sized ball bearings, and all the metal in him doesn’t kill him? And what about all the iron, metallic salts and other metals already inside him, that we all have? Couldn’t Magneto manipulate that? If not to levitate him, then at least enough to say, divert it to one portion of his body and kill him?
The cat licking that frozen coffee bit was extremely contrived. It looked like it was supposed to be cute, but it looked dumb. Trust me, guys, I have a cat. Outside of milk, they don’t drink human beverages. My cat would sooner lick herself than be attracted to coffee or tea.
Wolverine isn’t dumb. He should know better than to raise his hands, with claws extended, when a cop several feet away pointing a gun at his head told him to “put the knives down.” Sure, Logan said “I can’t,” but adding the phrase “they’re attached to my hands” would’ve made the point clear to the cop. Sheathing them would’ve also helped. Of course, the real reason is that the plot required him to do something that would provoke a response from the cops. And I didn’t care for the way that John’s fire was somehow able to act like a battering ram, throwing those cops dozens of feet away, and when all is said and done, the male cop just has some soot on his face? Pass the shovel. I thought this would be a point-of-no-return plot point, in which Pyro, having now killed an cop doing his job, would be on the path to join Magneto. Instead, they chickened out and let the cops live.
It takes all this time for Xavier to track every single mutant, but as soon as Magneto reverses the psychic order and has him track and attack humans, Xavier’s able to do so immediately? And what about Deathstrike? Wasn’t she a mutant in this film? Didn’t Stryker realize that she’d be killed too if Xavier was successful in killing every mutant? I didn’t notice her wearing that apparatus on her noggin to protect her.
If someone had an adamantium pump stabbed into their midsection, would it really be able to travel up to their face and seep out of the corners of their eyes? Wouldn’t it simply have destroyed all the inner organs, and melted all the flesh of the person’s face from the inside before it even had a chance to seep out? (I guess that wouldn’t be permitted in a PG-13er?)
Why in the world did they leave Jason inside Cerebro2? Why didn’t Xavier tell Kurt to ‘port him out too? He’s an innocent victim of Stryker’s.
If Xavier wanted to make an appeal to the President, and reveal information that Stryker had, was it really a good idea—or necessary—for that big melodramatic production? Why, after all, bring along the guy who the President thinks tried to assassinate him, and allow him to climb onto the walls, making the President even more nervous? Why bring Bobby, when Bobby is only a student, and Xavier should be thinking of his safety, rather than exposing him so the President knows what he looks like? (Did Shawn Ashmore beg Bryan Singer to be in that scene just so he could wear a black X-Men outfit, or something?) Given Xavier’s stature, shouldn’t he be able to arrange a meeting with the President under more equitable circumstances? For that matter, why is he revealing to the President that he’s a mutant? After the attack on the Mansion, I’d be more reclusive, not more open to announcing myself as a mutant with a herd of students.
I get the feeling there’s a whooooole lotta deleted scenes for this one. (Didn’t notice Gambit, but I did see “Madrox, Jamie” on that list.)
Loved X2.
Maybe to late by now, but:
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>>>Mystique can infiltrate just about ANYWHERE, and since Magneto is allowed visitors, she could easily free him herself, perhaps as Senator Kelly.<<<<
Yes, but what good will it do her to visit Magneto if she would be scanned for any form of metal she’d try to contraband?
>>>Wolverine isn’t dumb. He should know better than to raise his hands, with claws extended, when a cop several feet away pointing a gun at his head told him to “put the knives down.”<<<
My impression was that Wolverine thought, when he saw the guys sneaking with guns that they were Stryker’s troops. By the time he figured out they were cops, they had already seen the claws.
>>>Didn’t Stryker realize that she’d be killed too if Xavier was successful in killing every mutant? I didn’t notice her wearing that apparatus on her noggin to protect her.<<<<
It was established in the film that while Stryker hated mutants, he didn’t mind using them. She also had the control “patch” that both Nightcrawler and Cyclops had.
>>>If someone had an adamantium pump stabbed into their midsection, would it really be able to travel up to their face and seep out of the corners of their eyes? Wouldn’t it simply have destroyed all the inner organs, and melted all the flesh of the person’s face from the inside before it even had a chance to seep out? (I guess that wouldn’t be permitted in a PG-13er?)<<<
I figure that the healing factor and her adamantium skeleton made the scene possible.
The cat licking that frozen coffee bit was extremely contrived. It looked like it was supposed to be cute, but it looked dumb. Trust me, guys, I have a cat. Outside of milk, they don’t drink human beverages. My cat would sooner lick herself than be attracted to coffee or tea.
Every cat, like every person. is different, with different taste and different likes and dislikes. I have two cats one of them likes to drink grape juice, lemonaid, coffee, (yes coffee) and eats chocolate Ice Cream, the other cat doesn’t go near any of these things. I have no problem with the cat licking the frozen coffee because one of mine would have done the exact same thing.
Another thought:
After that big bombshell at the Drakes’ house that mutant genes are generally passed on through the male (is that canon from the comic book? I don’t remember that ever coming up) I thought for sure, with Jason being a mutant, we were leading up to his father also being a mutant, without even knowing it. Professor X turns on the juice and Stryker, out by the helicopter, crumbles…a look of horror on his face…”No!!!!” as he realizes the truth…well, that’s not what we got, though.
I haven’t read “God Loves, Man Kills,” in ages, but I remember a scene with blood coming out of someone’s nose and they realize “Oh my God! I’m a mutant!” Was that Stryker in the GN or was that an aide…I just can’t remember…
Fun movie. Spoilers below regarding Jean.
There have been a few comments about a sequel and Phoenix that make me think people may have missed something. At the end (right after Charles smiles) during the Jean voiceover, you can see the Phoenix Effect flying over the water.
I agree that Jason Stryker is the movie version of Mastermind. In the comics, Mastermind used the name Jason Wyngarde when corrupting Jean. Assuming he survives, who knows what his potential is when not under his father’s thumb. I hope that the Hellfire Club will be revealed to have plucked him out of the base for their own agenda.
The pieces are all in place for the Dark Phoenix saga, let’s hope they deliver.
I haven’t read “God Loves, Man Kills,” in ages, but I remember a scene with blood coming out of someone’s nose and they realize “Oh my God! I’m a mutant!” Was that Stryker in the GN or was that an aide…I just can’t remember…
It was a Senator that was behind the Mutant Registration Act. Also
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Remember that It was Xavier who was killing all the mutants at Styker’s behest after being brainwashed/rinsed/dryed. That Graphic Novel is STILL one of my all time favorites.
Kathleen
I enjoyed this one very much. Loved the little touches of comedy and those moments that made the comics fans giggle while the non-comic readers looked surprised because they didn’t get the reference.
Saw the Phoenix thing coming fromthe first time Jean’s eyes glowed, but it idn’t disrupt my enjoyment of the film.
As for Jean not letting herself be saved, I think that is probably the Phoenix Force needing her to “perish” in order to be “reborn.” That’s how it happened in the original Phoenix story anyway.
Good movie. Definitely looking forward to the DVD.
Bobby
Bobby Nash
Writer @ Large
My two cents on why nightcrawler didn’t save jason…..
He didn’t have the time. They showed a rock crashing on where the Professor an instant after Nightcrawler *bamfed* him out. I just asumed they thought he was crushed at that point- and Nightcrawer not knowing where rocks had fallen- couldn’t *bamf* in to make sure without having a pretty good chance of merging himself with a fallen piece of Yukon Flats.
I got to see the movie at a sneak peak here on Thursday so I could miss my friends giving away too many of the surprises though I got most of them from the trailers. I liked it. A lot! And so did my non-comic friends. Couple of things that I don’t consider spoilers (since they are mentioned above or in commercials) but address certain comments from above. Singer said he liked GLMK, not that X2 would be an adaption of it. Several similar ideas, scenes and characters (Stryker, Mags getting tortured, Xavier vs the X-Men…though that was a dream in GLMK). Nightcrawler couldn’t teleport Jason… the kid was attached to his friggin chair. He had to grab Xavier out of his chair! To take James out of his probably would have killed him anyway. I was disappointed with Colossus not using a Russain accent but then again, if the actor couldn’t do it convincingly, I would’ve been more pìššëd. I mean, I have accepted Wolvie being 6’plus, Jean being older, and the Mystique and Sabretooth being Bane-d (like Bane in Batman and Robin)to the point where they were less than threatening (though Mystique gets some back in X2). I was mainly upset with changing the ator for Kitty since I thought the first Kitty was much better. I also liked the first Pyro, too. I realize these were extras in the first one but it smells of the Billy Dee crap from Batman. You know someone told them, take the part! It gets MUCH bigger later. Cat licking the coffee/tea/ whatever. I own a cat that will try to lick up friggin oil if it spilled within reach. The lil crap machine eats anything in its way! And if a cat is gonna lick the clawas, it will lick anything. Also, as seen in the trailer, Wolverine DOES sheath his claws BEFORE the cops shoot. I just thought the scene intended to show the humans as fearful of ANYONE threatening. They probably would have shot even sooner if they knew he was a mutant! Ok, that’s it for now since more people want to see the movie. Oh and to GREG up there… yes the best part of the DARK PHOENIX saga was that but the Phoenix was “born” after she sacrificed herself on the shuttle flight. Two sacrifices for Jean. One as Jean and one as Phoenix.
Haven’t seen it yet, am planning to later today, therefore I’m skipping over most of the comments. But I wanted to mention something about the now-infamous “know what happens when a toad gets hit by lightning” line from the first film.
In an interview with THE ONION’s AV Club last year, Joss Whedon fessed up that that line was one of the only things left in from his draft of the screenplay. He felt Halle Berry ruined it with her arch, Desdemona-like delivery, and that it was meant to be delivered off-hand, kind of like a Buffy-esque quip. Berry’s a great actress, but she just didn’t get it.
Incidentally, this was revealed in the interview right AFTER it was revealed that Whedon was also responsible for what is probably the first film’s most beloved dialogue exchange, that being the scene where Cyclops asks Wolverine to prove he’s himself and not Mystique, to which Wolvie responds, “you’re a d*ck,” instantly settling the matter.
Spoilers
The movie was a bunch of scenes that looked okay but didn’t fit together, First the whole jean grey sacrifice came out of left field for me, not once did they even allude to her wanting to sacrifice her life, the glowing phoenix eyes were okay but really didn’t mean anything if you aren’t a hard core Xman fan.
Also I think that the first sign of bad writing is when you use mind control, they lost me there.
It was like “we have this really cool scene with nightcrawler in the oval office, but he’s a good guy…well how about he’s being mind controlled!!”
The characters were paper thin and just because I know who they are doesn’t mean that you can just have them show up and have me care about them.
And also the finale was of a dam collapsing in slow motion?! could I be more bored?
But I did like…
1.rouge and iceman, kinda sweet
2.raid at the mansion
3.Nightcrawler.. and the whitehouse scene was really cool even with the mind control aspect
4. colosus. should have been a main character, and I hate him in the comics
5.wolverines line when he sees the five claws
6.the cyclops/deathstrike fight, too short and he disappeared for the rest of a movie, but at least he went out with a fight.
“Mystique can infiltrate just about ANYWHERE, and since Magneto is allowed visitors, she could easily free him herself, perhaps as Senator Kelly. Yet she enacts this convoluted plan, filling this dufus prison guard with enough iron “
See, I thought this bit was GOOD. One, it’s SIMPLE, not convoluted. It’s the REAL guard, who won’t be tripped up by friendships and relationships. Second, less chance of blowing your cover identity that’s useful…because you’re using a pawn. Third it’s less traceable.
SPOILERS!! saw it yesterday. was a good movie, not great, not a classic, but a good movie. there so much in this film for those who know X-men and those that don’t that i’m quite satisfied with the whole endeavor…mostly.
1 major plus – Mystique!!! so so bad!!!! love her! cinematography was great, most of the acting was on par, great effects that didn’t feel cheap.
a few quips and 1 gripe:
– Storm was left out in the cold. we still know nothing about her, really, or the extent of her powers. in the first movie, she couldn’t levitate but in this one she can pull 30 tornadoes out of the sky???
– yea, loved the Colossus scene and yes, would have loved to see more of him and his group of kids he was hiding with
– was rather let down by Xavier lack of nobility at the end of the movie but i guess i’ll chaulk it up to his being exhausted by the whole affair.
Gripe – the flood. between Bobby and Storm, i’m certain some sort of solution could have been found. Jean having to go outside was not set up very well. i’ll go with the idea she was too weak to levetate herself and the plane (which she didn’t levetate at all, just powered up). tho it doesn’t explain how the plane kept aloft after she “died”.
but like i said, still a good movie and worth every penny i spent. 12 DAYS UNTIL MATRIX!!!!!
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Well,if X3 IS the Phoenix storyline, then I imagine that Cyclops will have a much bigger part in it.
I applaud Singer and everyone for having an ending that, realistically, is just for the true comic fans. No one who is only familiar with the X-Men from the movies is going to understand just how important that last image is.
Spotted Remy, missed Franklin and some of the other inside stuff. But I will go back and see it again. Second viewings always allow savoring the details.
I was surprized by how dark this movie was. And though it seemed long to me, the pacing was dileberative enough to keep me involved.
Most under-used character? Charles Xavier, hands down. For most of flic, Patrick Stewart had little to do but avoid drooling.
Sold out at 10:00 and 10:30 at my multiplex. Definately a hard core crowd at the late show I attended. Hank McCoy’s brief appearance got quite a reaction from this bunch
høŧ-dìgìŧŧÿ-dámņ, that was a kickin’ movie.
not only did they have hank mccoy and colossus, but they dropped names like “Jamie Madrox,” “Remy LeBeau,” set up for what should be a kick-ášš pair of sequals (since i see no other way of doing the “pheonix saga” and giving it the time it deserves)
gonna take the girlfriend to see it; she just saw the first movie today, so it should be an interesting experience.
Spoilers, and not going to bother using inviso-text since it’s about stuff in the movie, and why are you reading this thread if you’ve not seen it yet?
Guess no one else sat through the extremely long closing credits (I’m wondering who’s left to do any special effects for the other summer films); there’s a batch of credits for folk who did the “Phoenix effect”, which is confirmation of the end.
In general, I think Singer is taking good advantage of realizing there will be a very limited number of X-Men movies, and so is doing scenes showing the characters use their powers to maximum effect; Nightcrawler in the White House, the stab and cut between Logan and Deathstrike, Magneto’s use of three ball bearings, etc.
Two nits though; the big one is that I couldn’t buy Jean’s sacrifice for a moment, because it’s dependent on her, for no reason at all, getting off the plane. She’d previously manipulated the missle from inside the plane, so her powers can affect things from inside it. So why not stay on the plane to power it up and hold back the water, instead of going outside and suiciding?
The other bit was Kurt’s midair rescue of Rogue. I can just barely buy his managing to port next to her in both space and quickly enough that their velocities were about the same. But how the heck did he port back into a very small and crowded space that he couldn’t see into. With said space also travelling *very* fast? And he can’t just port back to where he was before; that’d leave him in mid-air looking at where the plane is *now*, instead of where it was when he bamfed.
In general a good, fast-paced, movie though.
SPOILERS here, so look away:
My biggest X2 gripe: Wolverine fell for Mystique pretending to be Jean? He should have smelled her a mile away.
Did anyone else see a faint outline of a bird in the sunlight glistening off the water during the final shot? Or was that just wishful thinking?
(Oh, and I personally LOVE to read when PAD bashes the Bush admin. Or Republicans in general. )
And if you’re looking to use Inviso-Text, instructions are below the Comment form.
Except the Inviso-text doesn’t work! I put in the tags, but use of any HTML must be disabled, because they were stripped out. Glenn??
SPOILERs (still needed?)
I loved the movie. Already saw it twice (first time april 30, the premiere day in spain, and also yesterday) to clear some doubts and be amazed of how weel they did Nightcrawler, among many others.
Some things to say about it.
Luigi novi said:
Jean’s dilemma at the very end was incredibly contrived. First, with her power, she could levitate herself over the water. If the plane had reactivated, they could lift off, and she could let Nightcrawler port her into it. There was no reason for her to stop him from doing so. In addition, Nightcrawler could’ve ported Bobby out there to freeze the water, or depending on the limits of his power, a good portion of it.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
1-First, i might be wrong, but i think that the reason the jet fails is Jean itself. all the sequence reminded me of the first scene in the musem when she loses control of her powers for a moment, provoking a disfunction in all the tvs from the museum. It’s the same that happens in the jet. That’s the reason she goes out. With the fight with cyclops, she begins a chain reaction. She knows it, like she knew that something very bad was going to happen at the beggining of the movie. She has to go out and let the process end, while tries to save his friends from the inminent danger.
Once she gets out of the jet, the energy comes back. She helps to lift the jet and stops the tide for a while, the effort ending the process that should transform her in phoenix.And you see what’s she thinking, thanks to the many first planes she gets in the jet.
2- when xavier attacks the humans, we get to see a lot of people with very obvious looks of pain. we get to the white house, we see people in the floor, in fetal position due to the pain, but then we see the presindent, the camera upside down. and, IMHO, his expresion is more of relief than pain. just like if he has just felt an incredible pain that at least for him, has now sttoped…
Anybody sees where i’m going…?
(the second time i saw the movie, i was ready and tried to look the at him in the right way. the upside down camera is not casual.)
3-we’ve created a rivalry between scott and logan that at the pace it’s getting, will end with a bloodshed, each one trying to kill the other. How do we fix it? We kill the reason for them to be enemies, and create a bond with their lose. Wonderful.
4-to some friends, jean doesn’t speak to cyclops trough Xavier. They say that it’s in fact xavier who’s in love with Scott, and sees the moment to tell to him.when after all he goes away from him, his face changes to obvious deception. The true origin of the villain for X3, Onslaught, the gay telepath
Alfredo Tarancon
SPOILERs (still needed?)
I loved the movie. Already saw it twice (first time april 30, the premiere day in spain, and also yesterday) to clear some doubts and be amazed of how weel they did Nightcrawler, among many others.
Some things to say about it.
Luigi novi said:
Jean’s dilemma at the very end was incredibly contrived. First, with her power, she could levitate herself over the water. If the plane had reactivated, they could lift off, and she could let Nightcrawler port her into it. There was no reason for her to stop him from doing so. In addition, Nightcrawler could’ve ported Bobby out there to freeze the water, or depending on the limits of his power, a good portion of it.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
1-First, i might be wrong, but i think that the reason the jet fails is Jean itself. all the sequence reminded me of the first scene in the musem when she loses control of her powers for a moment, provoking a disfunction in all the tvs from the museum. It’s the same that happens in the jet. That’s the reason she goes out. With the fight with cyclops, she begins a chain reaction. She knows it, like she knew that something very bad was going to happen at the beggining of the movie. She has to go out and let the process end, while tries to save his friends from the inminent danger.
Once she gets out of the jet, the energy comes back. She helps to lift the jet and stops the tide for a while, the effort ending the process that should transform her in phoenix.And you see what’s she thinking, thanks to the many first planes she gets in the jet.
2- when xavier attacks the humans, we get to see a lot of people with very obvious looks of pain. we get to the white house, we see people in the floor, in fetal position due to the pain, but then we see the presindent, the camera upside down. and, IMHO, his expresion is more of relief than pain. just like if he has just felt an incredible pain that at least for him, has now sttoped…
Anybody sees where i’m going…?
(the second time i saw the movie, i was ready and tried to look the at him in the right way. the upside down camera is not casual.)
3-we’ve created a rivalry between scott and logan that at the pace it’s getting, will end with a bloodshed, each one trying to kill the other. How do we fix it? We kill the reason for them to be enemies, and create a bond with their lose. Wonderful.
4-to some friends, jean doesn’t speak to cyclops trough Xavier. They say that it’s in fact xavier who’s in love with Scott, and sees the moment to tell to him.when after all he goes away from him, his face changes to obvious deception. The true origin of the villain for X3, Onslaught, the gay telepath
Alfredo Tarancon
Best Comic book movie ever made. Nothing else need be said.
Cool thought on the camera angle and the president … my favorite bits were Nightcrawler (get him a sword in the next film, and it’ll be perfect!), Colossus and Kitty’s scenes, and bit with the X-Men in the White House at the end. That last one gave me goosebumps. I saw it at 1 p.m. today with a friend from work, going to see it at 9:45 with my childhood friends.
This blew the first one out of the water. Wow.
Does the color code on the Inviso-Text need to be changed? As I remember, the background of this column used to be light blue; now it’s white, so the text coloring of the Inviso-Text doesn’t match the background anymore.
Let me try this test:
Charles Foster Kane is actually Luke Skywalker’s father.
If I’ve done that right, you won’t have seen the startling shock ending of “The Empire Strikes Back”…er, “Citizen Kane,” unless you highlight the text. I’ve swapped Glen’s font color code from bdc4df to “ffffff”–all white.
If it doesn’t work, i’m wrong, and I apologize to everyone who hasn’t seen “Citizen Kane” yet. Go rent it now! Watching parodies on “The Simpsons” doesn’t count.
Okay, so it didn’t work. Sorry for taking up space. (Please feel free to delete these).
One thing no-ones pointed out yet, but Bobby’s brother’s shirt has a phoenix on it.
Also, maybe I’m going mad, but could swear that when the Jet lands outside his house you can hear a snippit from the cartoon theme.
Inviso-text is back. Sorry, we’d lost it during a rebuild. Fixed now.