Kath and I saw it last night at an advance Marvel screening.
Guys, honest injun–I thought it kicked ášš.
I’m discussing it below, and others are free to join in once you’ve seen it, but I’d like to keep this one as spoiler-free as possible, mainly because of the caliber of certain jaw-dropping moments.
Weaknesses first–The first two films were primarily character-driven stories. This time out, it’s largely plot driven, or even device driven, the device being that a “cure” for being a mutant has been derived from Leech (cast with eerie accuracy; the kid’s eyes are perfect.) This leaves open the opportunity for discussion of matters of free will, of government abuse, but the script is such that you don’t get the feeling of real people interacting so much as characters pontificating.
New characters are mostly either given short shrift (Angel, Madrox) or not developed quite as well as, say, Nightcrawler was in X2 (Beast comes to mind.) The script desperately needed another dialogue pass–Joss Whedon to punch it up, perhaps–to bring characterization more clearly into focus, and to eliminate some stilted and cliche-ridden dialogue.
But to me, the weaknesses were far outweighed by the plusses.
The actors were uniformly well-cast, even those given tragically minimal screen time. I’d been concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to see the Beast as anything other than Kelsey Grammer in blue makeup and fur (he’s simply not an actor who disappears into his characters like, say, Alan Cumming), but I needn’t have worried. He’s fully believable as Hank McCoy, and you have to love the Shakespearean gravitas he applies to his reading of the Beast’s trademark “Oh my stars and garters.”
Storm had enough screen time to still the complaints of Halle “I don’t have enough to do!” Berry, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is as compellingly watchable as ever, and Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart shine as Magneto and Xavier. It’s no coincidence that the best scenes are when these two brilliant British thespians are playing off one another. And Famke Janssen FINALLY has some major meat to chew as Phoenix, although there was one sequence where the passionate Jean wraps her legs around Wolverine and I just kept flashing back to her trying to crush the life out of Pierce Brosnan in a Bond movie.
And, oh my lord, enough major action sequences and set pieces to satisfy the most rabid of comic fans. Whereas director Brett Ratner may lack the touch for deep character and cerebral moments that come so easily to Singer, no one can deny his handling of action sequences.
The film has a sense of epic sweep, a go-for-broke attitude that really makes you feel as if the first two films were building toward all this. Not everybody makes it through in one piece, and there’s more of a sense that absolutely anything can happen and nobody is safe. Which makes for a feeling of a freight train of a film, as if you’re not watching it so much as hanging on for dear life as it continues to build up steam.
Hightlights include the long-awaited Iceman versus Pyro smackdown, and Kitty Pryde versus…Juggernaut?!?!
And you must, MUST remain in the theater until the credits are over. There’s a tag that MUST be seen.
PAD
• 
“On its first day the third “X-Men” film garnered a jaw-dropping $44.1 million, the second biggest opening day for any film of all time, behind only last year’s “Star Wars: Episode III” ($50.0m), and the third highest single day take (behind SW3 and Shrek 2) ever. The amount sits well above the opening day of “X2” ($31.2m) and is more than half again what “The Da Vinci Code” took on its opening day ($28.6m).”
Whatever genius decided to pretty much end the series, instead of gradually nurse into a franchise, needs to have his/her ášš so fired.
So much wasted potential . . . .
Sasha–It’s not the end of the franchise. There’s the Wolverine Film already in the works, a Magneto film disccused, and the movie’s estimated to make a $107 Million this weekend. There will be an X4. I hear Peter David’s gonna write it (might as well start the rumor mill early).
Psylocke’s the one in the church scene and the final battle with the purple hair and Crimson Dawn slash under her eye.
I was thinking the bridge bit was unnecessary, I mean, just steal a ferry…but decided that basicly, Magneto was making a statement.
And boy, Paramount should learn from Fox on how to deal with Patrick Stewart problem!
Sasha, you don’t really believe this was the end, do you? By now, chapagne corks are probably popping over at Fox based on the opening weekend numbers, and some well-paid executive is already spin-doctoring X-Men 3 as ‘the end of a trilogy, not the end of the series.’ Mind you, I’d be perfectly happy seeing a solo film for just about every character, with the exception Storm, who as played by Halle Berry shows all the acting range of, well, Catwoman. If I didn’t know it was the same actress who won an actress for Monster’s Ball, I would be convinced she had a much less talented twin who gets to do all the super-hero stuff.
Well, I’m sure there will be spin-offs and maybe even prequels, but I personally felt they shot their most of their entire load in terms of storylines and such.
They could do a sequel, but the movie was pretty much written (IMHO) as the last of the series.
Sasha I disagree..
The final scene (before the credits) shows that a lot of what they shot this time might be reloaded.
and thus we have coming soon X4: X-Men Reloaded
On another topic, is this the first comic-book movie to make it to a third sequel relatively unscathed? Supes didn’t do it, neither did Bats, as both their third outings were miserable.
David: depends on what you think of Blade 3, I suppose.
“”It’s just a popcorn flick” doesn’t work anymore in the world after the first two X-Men and Spiderman movies.”
Which ARE “just popcorn flicks.” There’s nothing artistic about them (although X2 comes close), and in fact I think the Spider-Man movies are about as popcorny as they come, emphasis on the corny (especially the second one, which had many moments that were laughably bad). The first X-Men movie was pretty cheesy too, especially in the action sequences, but I still like it.
You’d be better off saying the phrase doesn’t work anymore after Raiders of the Lost Ark, but since that was 25 years ago and clearly the phrase still works, I can’t agree with you.
Then again, I’m not really a fan of the expression. A movie is a movie, and it has to rise or fall on its own merits. If I like a movie, I would never defend it by saying it’s “just a popcorn movie.” I’d defend it by saying it’s a good movie. So in that sense I agree with you.
Really? You liked this movie? I’m shocked. You’re an amazing writer that always dealt with characters and character development… I thought the movie was lacking any sort of depth and loyalty to the previous movies or comics with every character being one-dimensional or contradictory (Magneto especially). Nothing on Wolvie’s origin, no Cerebro, Angel’s plot arc literally had no contribution to the drama whatsoever… I would have loved if Cyclops and Wolverine continued to fight against each other/for Jean up until the bitter end, but alas, no such luck.
As far as the action sequences go… I wasn’t too excited. Iceman vs Pyro was a battle of jazz hands. Didn’t Pyro make flame constructs? How awesome would it have been if Pyro sent flame dogs and animals against Iceman? How about Juggernaut vs Colossus? Nope. The other things that bothered me about the movie would have to reveal spoilers, so I’ll keep that to myself (and my own blog post).
Feh… I’m gonna go read some old X-Factor issues; I’ll feel better after that. (Victor Chalker: best villain ever created)
but where the hëll was Psylocke that she’s in the credits!?
Background mutant for Magneto.
Also, I completely disagree with Dave – Wolvie wasn’t Cyclops with claws, at all, and I think that it fits very well with comic history. But I’ll leave it at that til a spoiler thread pops up around here.
That said, I really enjoyed this movie. I clapped, I laughed, I cried (oh, I fûçkìņg cried, those bášŧárdš), and have been chewing over it for the last 24 hours. I thought that the questions being asked were profound and handled brilliantly, and I especially loved the highlight of Charles and Eric’s relationship, and how they’re very much two sides of the same coin. The ethical consideration of their choices and the effcts of those choices was just awesomeness on film.
But, perhaps I should put a standard me disclaimer, in noting that I study medicine and ethics, particularly bioethical issues, so really, they couldn’t have made a movie more perfectly tailored to what I find mentally fascinating if they’d read my mind.
The day after i saw the film, describing Juggernaut for my wife, who doesn’t read comics, i suddenly flashed on “What if Juggernaut and the Blob came up against each other?”
I mean, Juggy can’t be stopped once he gets moving, and Blob can’t be moved once he gets set…
No spoilers, but I found it sadly ironic that Magneto became the thing he most hated – someone who wanted to commit genocide in order to head off a perceived threat to his kind. For someone who was thrown into a Nazi concentration camp, you’d think someone would have pointed out to him what he was turning into. Especially after he demonstrated why he doesn’t have a tattoo. It was really his big speech in the woods where this all becomes apparent.
I like how Magneto’s been portrayed in these films; you can actually sympathize with his cause, but it’s clear that his actions are reprehensible. Hard to pull off a lot of the time, so I give the writers and McKellen many props for letting that aspect of his character come through.
XMEN THE LAST STAND….
I fraking LOVED IT!!!!
I saw this movie yesterday and as the proud owner of nearly every Xmen comic book in existence I can honestly say that any true FANBOY will be thrilled with this movie.
The special effects, the shocking twists at the end.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for the people that haven’t seen it but you have to stay to the end after all the credits are run and then see the true fate of an Xmen.
4 out of 5 WSJ3 stars.
And lest I forget the new Superman Returns and the Super Ex-Girl Friend trailers were WELL worth the price of admission.
Regards:
Warren S. Jones III
I saw this movie yesterday and as the proud owner of nearly every Xmen comic book in existence I can honestly say that any true FANBOY will be thrilled with this movie.
I gotta admit, this is a contradiction in terms since fanboys are also the ones who will be most up in arms over this film due to the changes and so forth. 🙂
And lest I forget the new Superman Returns and the Super Ex-Girl Friend trailers were WELL worth the price of admission.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend looks like it could be a lot of fun, and it’s about time somebody took a more interesting approach to superheroes besides the stuff Marvel & DC have been putting out.
But Superman Returns? Still not seeing a reason to watch it.
My wife won’t see Ghost Rider, and I’m still undecided as to whether I’ll go see it. So far, the only Marvel flicks my wife and I have missed are Punisher and Elektra, and it took some convincing to get her to go to Hulk and Fantastic Four.
I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard all kinds of stuff about it both good and bad, im hoping it will be good but my all-time favorite character nightcrawler has gone missing.im planning on seeing it this Friday and I can’t wait to see the scene after the credits
Here’s me review for my paper I write for (www.viewmag.com/film.php ! Pimp!) Mild to moderate spoilers throughout. Short of it is, I really liked it – it reminded me of big anniversary issues (kind of like Avengers Disassembled) when NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME! Pretty gutsy move for a superhero flick.
And, as a bonus, I also shoehorned in a plug for PAD’s “Madrox” mini-series as well. (Kickbacks, dude. Kickbacks.)
—
**** out of *****
4 out of 5
In comics, sometimes when they hit anniversary issues (say issue 50 or 100), there is a kind of housecleaning of several characters – people die, or are changed, or new characters are introduced, and general craziness abounds. These issues are always hot sellers and argued about amongst fans. X-Men: The Last Stand plays out like one of those “special” issues. And in the, at times, generic genre of superhero movies where everything ends up okay, The Last Stand’s dedication to shake things up is refreshingly original and pretty daring.
Yes, one could look at it from a more cynical perspective – as the salaries of the ensemble cast continues to skyrocket, the producers need to cut costs somewhere so mass wiping out of the characters seems like the way to do it. But one must remember that this is the X-Mutant universe we’re talking about – there are a plethora of different characters to choose from. To change the landscape is actually more true to the spirit of the X-Men comics than just having everything hunky dory when the credits roll.
For the third X-Men outings, the subtler tones of the earlier films have been abandoned for a more guns blazing, “unleash Hëll!” final fight. This time around, the mutant population is aflutter because a mutant “cure” has been released, potentially signifying the end of mutant-kind. While Magneto (Ian McKellen – excellent as always) rallies his Brotherhood of mutants to put an end to this, good guy Xavier (Patrick Stewart) has to contend with the reappearance of the no-longer-dead Jean Grey (Famke Janssen).
Like most zombies, Jean doesn’t come back from the dead all that happy, so the X-crew has to contend with her dangerous “Phoenix” personality. The movie “Phoenix” plot is admittedly way different from the comic book source (that “Phoenix” had to do with aliens and lots of gobbely-gook that still being sorted out today) – but the spirit of “Bad Crazy Jean” still remains in The Last Stand. With a lesser actress, Phoenix’s theatrics would seem like a lame Carrie rip off, but Janseen is good enough to make all the bombast seem creepy, otherworldly, and scarily powerful.
There are many new mutant characters introduced throughout the film – newbies to the X-Universe will probably feel a little lost. Kitty Pride (Canadian Ellen Page), the mutant who can walk through walls, finally joins the ranks of the X-Men after two previous non-speaking cameos. Either intentionally or unintentionally, Page manages to convey a sort of fragility that makes the character of Kitty Pride so interesting in the comics.
One of the movie’s best moments has to come from the character of the Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones). Months ago an audio re-dub of an old X-Men cartoon became a minor internet sensation (search “Juggernaut” on http://www.youtube.com). In the video, the character of the Juggernaut repeatedly said, “I’m the Juggernaut, bìŧçh!” Flash forward to the release of X-Men 3 . . . and in the 3rd act fight Juggernaut yells out, “I’m the Juggernaut, bìŧçh!” It’s a bizarrely 4th wall moment that signifies how self-admittedly crazy this movie is.
Another newcomer is Jamie “Multiple Man” Madrox (Eric Dane). He isn’t in it too much, but I got a pure geek charge just out of seeing him (pick up the “Madrox” comic for a great read with this character). Unfortunately, Madrox is taken out of the movie way too early to make any impact. Logistically speaking, it really doesn’t make much sense to not have Madrox involved in Magneto’s climatic action-packed showdown. Considering how most of the Brotherhood fights like complete wimps, the self-replicating mutant would be handy to keep around. Maybe that’s the reason why Madrox was sidelined – because he’s simply too awesome.
Two of the previous X-movie alums get the short end of the stick – Rebecca “Don’t Call Me Stamos” Romijn as Mystique and James Marsden as Cyclops. Both their scenes are limited, but their bits are memorable and involve lots of scenery-chewing moments. Truly disappointing is the criminal under usage of Anna Paquin as Rogue; for someone who had the whole 1st movie centered her, and is a good actress to boot, Rogue merely fades into the background in The Last Stand. All her character “arc” really does is make her boyfriend, Bobby Drake/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), seem like an áššhølë.
The lineup behind the camera has changed; the first two installments were by Bryan Singer, but The Last Stand was directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon). Ratner’s X-film doesn’t have the pure visual imagination that Singer’s movies did – those were great to watch because the previous director knew how to work a camera with simple things like framing interesting shots. Ratner’s visual take seems very… workmanlike. It still looks good, but it doesn’t pop off the screen like Singer’s X-movies.
Last Stand’s final 3rd act fight is supposed to deliver the goods promised, and, for the most part, it does. The scene opens spectacularly cool with Magneto “building a bridge” to humanity. In fact, it opens so strong that the rest of the fight feels a little limp. Most of the Brotherhood of mutants end up being reduced to nameless fodder. But it still ends strong with a great showdown between two main characters of the series, in a scene chock full of comic-book-y pathos.
The film moves along at a brisk pace that some may complain as being too rushed. But what others see as rushed, I see as getting your money’s worth. While it doesn’t pay off the trilogy in a sublimely perfect way like Revenge of the Sith did, its Last Stand is still pretty good. Watching it, I felt like I was watching a big, honkin’ CAN’T MISS issue come to life. If X-Men: The Last Stand were a comic, it’d be a hot item one.
When I say popcorn, I mean a movie devoid of emotional resonance. This might be any movie with Vin Diesel or your average Michael Bay “explosion pørņ” movie. Movies try to have emotional resonance (note the awful Daredevil movie) but it takes a skilled director to do it.
The Rush Hour guy is not that director. During crucial, emotional moments I laughed out loud. I wanted to like this movie. I was pulling for it to be good. But the “impactful” moments designed to evoke emotions were flat for lack of involvement in the story. The pacing was off and so we never get to connect with the characters. It just takes off running so when it falls and scrapes its knee, it’s more funny than poignant.
Finally, it’s chock full of stuff that is included merely to “look cool.” The bridge is the most glaring example of that because it doesn’t hold to logic, physics or the characters that Magneto bends the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz. I recall someone being thrown through a ceiling and then falling back through that ceiling in a way that completely defies physics but is supposed to “look cool.”
We can expect better from our comic book movies now. We’re all grown up now. We expect better from the funny books and we should expect better from their adaptations.
“Truly disappointing is the criminal under usage of Anna Paquin as Rogue; for someone who had the whole 1st movie centered her, and is a good actress to boot, Rogue merely fades into the background in The Last Stand.”
And this was my big disappointment as well …
I’ve no real interest in seeing this movie, but I can’t imagine this being the last one. Does anyone know if there’s been a film series in which the sequels each did better than the original? There’s usually diminishing returns.
Bride of Frankenstein is such a better film than the original.
I wondered whether Rogue was under-used or if they just forgot about her, the way that Cyclops pretty much vanishes for a big chunk of film two. It reminds me of the scenes from Seinfeld where Jerry and George are writing the pilot, and they’ve just got too many characters to keep track of.
Hope this isn’t too close to being a spoiler, but for the Rogue fans out there, the way she is in the movies, there just wasn’t a whole lot more they could’ve done with her. And she does have one of the most powerful sequences in the movie. Now, if she’d met up with Ms. Danvers, whole new movie unwinds.
Really liked Hank’s initial reactions to, well, everything he was exposed to.
My stars and garters. Perfect.
Only problem I had with it was not showing more of Warren’s father’s backstory. But hey, it’s not his movie.
Seen it twice now. Enjoyed it the first time, although I had this nagging feeling that it sucked and I didn’t realize it yet. I guess I chalk it up to two things.
First, what PAD said about the movie being more plot-driven than character-driven. Not necessarily anything wrong with that, except I realized I missed all those little character moments that were in the previous movie. I didn’t get a strong sense of any character arcs in this one.
Second, the cliched writing. If I can predict what the characters are going to say before they say it, it’s either because I’m attuned to that character’s personality (not bloody likely) or it’s a cliche.
Spoiler-free example:
“It’s what we want.”
“No… It’s what you want.”
I wondered whether Rogue was under-used or if they just forgot about her, the way that Cyclops pretty much vanishes for a big chunk of film two.
Yeah, but at least he got captured and had an excuse. Rouge spent 50% of the movie standing in line.
You complain about Madrox not having enough screen time, but to be honest, I was thrilled that Madrox was in an X-Men movie at all. When they’re leaving out more high profile characters completely, like, say, Gambit, it’s great Multiple Man managed to squeeze through the door. Using him as a villain was strange, but if he had been a hero, it certainly would have ruined the “Six of us against dozens of them” aspect of the last battle. He only had two lines, but he managed to do One Cool Thing, which is more than I could have hoped. (I’d assumed he’d just be Wolverine fodder). If there is a next movie, they could easily say the Brotherhood Madrox was just an evil duplicate, after all.
Hi.
Just saw it with my son (wife doesn’t care about anything related to “those dámņ funny books”). I’m not an “X-geek”. In general, I don’t buy any X-books if I can help it (I got hooked on Wolverine during the JRJr. run starting with issue 20 or 21). I loved this movie. So many unexpected moments and what I thought was a good story with great effects. I am going back to see the tag at the end of the credits (I wish I had read PAD’s post first!) and to watch Halle Berry walk. That alone was worth the price of admission. Oh my stars and garters, the woman *reeks* with sex appeal!!!
Bel
Why the hëll were the villains running away at the end when Psylocke could simply have teleported them? (The film’s version of Psylocke teleports through shadows.)
In fact, why have Psylocke in the movie at all if you’re not gonna have her do anything? The worst part is, it will now be almost impossible to have Psylocke appear in any future X-films (at least in the current continuity).
Great movie. Great trilogy. It’s not easy to make all three movies in a trilogy shine, especially with different creators, so kudos to the creators and to Marvel for pulling it off. (Speaking of different creators, does anyone know why imdb lists no screenwriter for this movie? Was there an Alan Smithee incident, or something?)
I really liked the coordination of the action plot, the bigotry allegory, and the development of the characters and the interpersonal relationships. I liked how once again, we got to see more mutants appear, and with this film, now all five original X-Men have appeared.
I was also very interested with the adaptation of the non-mutant comic material. While I was a bit skeptical of the possession of solid-hologram technology in the Danger Room (which is harder to pull off in a series that does not reference premises outside of the main mutant/bigotry one), I really liked how they adapted Juggernaut into the story as a mutant. Mostly, however, they way they adapted the Phoenix entity in the story (and the “Dark Phoenix Saga” as well) was a stroke of genius, though the resolution between Wolvie and Jean more closely mirrored a story with him and Mariko.
I thought that the cure, for example, was a genuinely terrifying premise, both from the point of view of mutants who were proud of their powers, and of the audience, who wouldn’t want Wolverine or some other good guy to be neutered. I wonder if anyone has tried this premise in the books since I stopped reading them on a regular basis (they’ve always had power neutralizers but not, when I was a reader, a permanent, irreversible cure), and it goes to show you how good the movie’s creators are that they can make a story not only as good as any in the books, but even better. When I was a reader, the books never addressed the fact, for example, that the angst of Rogue’s inability to be physically intimate with anyone would’ve been moot if they simply utilized the power neutralizer technology possessed by numerous people or groups in the Marvel Universe, such as Magneto, Forge, the Hellfire Club, etc., which at one time or another were all allied with the X-Men. In this movie, they’re not so obtuse as to try and pretend that it’s not an issue that they can explore.
I liked how certain aspects of the story played out vis a vis my expectations, such as the final revelation about the cure, though I suppose one could say that it mirrored a storyline in the books.
NITS & NOTES: (Just for fun.)
Wow! Not only has Hank McCoy undergone his blue and furry transformation since the last film, but he’s developed a British accent too!
If Hank’s furry form is not part of his prenatal mutation (much as it is in the comics), then how can Leech’s neutralization power affect it? Or does Leech’s power affect any mutation?
How can Leech’s power, which seems to work on the basis of some type of proximity field effect, be synthesized as an injectable antibody? Roger Ebert speculated that it was pheromonic, but do pheromones really work when someone is standing as far away from you, as Hank is when he first meets Leech?
At one point during the Danger Room sequence, Colossus is in his flesh form, and then armors up. But then, a moment or two later, he’s back in his flesh form, and has to armor up again. Shouldn’t he stay in his armored form until the simulation is over?
Poor Anthony Heald. He just can’t get a break! Either he’s been taunted by Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, or attacked by Mystique in this movie. Is there some law requiring him to be paired off with dangerous psychopaths in his movies? Casting him in the film was ingenious, even if it probably stemmed from the fact that he had a prior working relationship with Brett Ratner, who directed Red Dragon.
Similar kudos for casting Ken Leung as Kid Omega (the spike-faced guy), having previously worked with Brett Ratner in Rush Hour and then in Red Dragon.
When Callisto tells Magneto that she can detect mutants, he asks her if she can detect a particular one, referring to Mystique. But what is the basis of her ability, and how can she detect Mystique if she’s never met Mystique? Me, I would’ve left out the idea that Callisto is a mutant detector, not simply because it was not in the comics, but because it’s unnecessary. Magneto’s tracking down of Mystique can be explained by virtue of his access to Cerebro technology, or it could simply be left up to the viewer to chalk it up to his general resourcefulness. His presence at Jean Grey’s house could also be explained this way, along with the fact that he is acquainted with her and her childhood residence.
In addition, Callisto’s telling Magneto that she detected a huge electromagnetic disturbance confused me, because I wasn’t sure if this was a reference to Jean, or an indication that Polaris would be introduced. Since when is telekinesis electromagnetic in nature?
Transporting mutants in vehicles made of metal, especially known accomplices of Magneto, was not wise. They know that Magento might’ve tried to free them. They should’ve created trucks, weapons, restraints, and clothing made from non-ferrous composites, something they’ve done in the books.
The guy who plays Jamie Maddrox/Multiple Man not only looks like him, he has the same smart alecky personality that Peter David gave him! Seeing him serve as a ruse for the soldiers in the forest was cool!
That guy who shot darts from his forearms at Wolvie was one bad dude. When we saw the darts emerge from his wrists, I thought at first it was supposed to be a version of Omega Red, but when I realized that he was throwing them, I wondered if it was supposed to be some male version of Marrow. (Interestingly, imdb contains a credit for “Omega Red”, so it must be him.)
The X-Men costume that Beast wears is just dorky-looking. It would’ve looked better if he just wore the pants, and went topless.
In the comics, when Shadowcat/Kitty phases, the molecules of her body pass in between the molecules of the object she’s passing through. If she were to de-phase while in the middle of doing so, it would kill her, as it would anyone else she did this to. But in the movie, she phases Juggernaut into the floor, and it doesn’t kill him; Instead, it just seems to squeeze him into a hole in the floor. (Granted, an issue of Thor treated her power this way, but that was inconsistent with how phasing was treated in the mutant books—either that, or Thor didn’t die because he was a god.)
Iceman fully formed! Yeah!!!
Hey, was that Olivia Williams as Moira MacTaggart? Wow, I didn’t realize it was Williams until that last scene after the closing credits!
DIFFERENCES FROM THE COMIC: (Just for fun.)
The Phoenix is a multiple personality within Jean, and not a cosmic entity.
The Juggernaut is a mutant.
Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man is a criminal.
Callisto and Arclight are Latina instead of Caucasian and Vietnamese. This has the effect of distancing Arclight somewhat from the original reason for her name, since “Arclight” became a popular term for B-52 Stratofortress bomber missions flown during the Vietnam War in support of ground operations.
Callisto is a speedster, and can detect other mutants (like Caliban), whereas in the comics, she simply had heightened senses. The fact that she has two totally different powers in the movie would suggest that she’s a second-generation mutant who inherited a separate ability from each of her parents (much like Nightcrawler in the comics). And rather than having been disfigured/ugly, she’s quite beautiful.
“The Phoenix is a multiple personality within Jean, and not a cosmic entity.”
I was thinking after seeing it, the movie is actually closer to the pre-retcon story, in which all the Phoenix *was* Jean, but Jean utilizing her absolute full potential as a psi.
“The Juggernaut is a mutant.”
To be fair, Claremont once made the mistake of identifying Juggernaut as a mutant. (See Spider-Woman 37-38.)
“Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man is a criminal.”
Wasn’t Madrox a criminal in his very first appearance? I haven’t read it, I just remember them saying that he “fought the Fantastic Four to a standstill” in that issue. I always thought he debuted as a bad guy.
Mostly, however, they way they adapted the Phoenix entity in the story (and the “Dark Phoenix Saga” as well) was a stroke of genius
Thinking back on it, I think the Phoenix story of the movie was utter crap and completely wasted.
It deserved it’s own film from the cure story.
That, and she just stands around as eye-candy for most the movie.
Not only has Hank McCoy undergone his blue and furry transformation since the last film, but he’s developed a British accent too!
Except, Kelsey Grammer isn’t British (he was born on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Also, amusingly, David Hyde Pierce was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. Yet, because of their upper-class? accents, people think they’re British.
Me, I would’ve left out the idea that Callisto is a mutant detector, not simply because it was not in the comics, but because it’s unnecessary.
Only, once you take into account the fact that Callisto in the movie is nothing like the Callisto in the comics, she’s entirely unnecessary period.
Jason-
Yep Maddrox did start as a villian but very briefly. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Madrox is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Kath
I always liked the pheonix story, in the comics so i hope it doesn’t suck too bad but im going to have to agree with the cure being another movie as well as some other rumors I’ve heard, I still have’nt seen the movie, but what’s this Im hearing about sentinals and Apocalypse in this movie, if they are I think that Ratner is moving way too fast, he should have spread such major villians out and gotten tons of money. I mean why not take Callisto or Marrow and make the Morlocks another movie, and if they’re not in the movie(excluding morlocks because I already know they are), well these are some ideas for some sequals.
“Jason-
Yep Maddrox did start as a villian but very briefly.”
Thanks, Kath. So the movie isn’t really a deviation. (I think you could describe Madrox’s appearance in the film as “brief.”)
In the comics, when Shadowcat/Kitty phases, the molecules of her body pass in between the molecules of the object she’s passing through. If she were to de-phase while in the middle of doing so, it would kill her, as it would anyone else she did this to. But in the movie, she phases Juggernaut into the floor, and it doesn’t kill him; Instead, it just seems to squeeze him into a hole in the floor. (Granted, an issue of Thor treated her power this way, but that was inconsistent with how phasing was treated in the mutant books—either that, or Thor didn’t die because he was a god.)
He survived because he’s the Juggernaut, bìŧçh. 😛 Even without the magical origin from the comics, he’s still unstoppable (as long as his power’s active).
The wife and I saw the movie on Saturday. (Don’t have to drag her 🙂 She saw part of the original on FX, became interested, and watched my copy of X-Men several times, and X2 MANY times 🙂 We were both greatly looking forward to this one.) We both very much enjoyed it. I’ll have to see it a couple more times to decide if it replaces X2 in my mind as “greatest comic book movie ever”, but… Man, was this a shocking movie! (Of course, even PAD’s introduction to this thread contained more than I wanted to know going in [so I only skimmed that until after seeing the film], so I may have gone in with more potential to be surprised than some; but I think I can safely say that there are several pretty dámņëd surpising occurrences in this film.)
I really do need to see it again to fully process it, but I’ll mention a couple of thoughts… (No big spoilers – no more content than many have talked about here, less than some. But, if you don’t want to have ANY moment given away – like I was – don’t read my post, or most of this thread, actually.)
Glad to see I’m not the only one confused by Psylocke. I was wondering if the speedster/hound was supposed to be her – I must’ve missed the Callisto name being mentioned. I did catch Arclight’s name and had the “OH” moment for her…
And yeah, Beast was pretty cool! The “Stars and Garters” moment did have, as noted above, such gravitas that it took me a second to think “Oh yeah, that’s Hank’s saying!” And Kitty was also very cool 🙂
Yeah, I was surprised at Rogue’s lesser amount of screen time. But since, on an A-F scale of truth to the comic version of the characters, I’ve given Rogue a C- to D thus far anyway, I wasn’t that truly disappointed by it. No offense to Paquin, who has done very fine work with what she’s been given; the wimpy, seat-belt troubled “Marie” (uck) of these films just has never much reminded me of the Rogue I grew up reading. On the other hand, prize for most improved character goes to Storm! Hallie Berry should be happier now – maybe still not perfect Ororo, but getting there.
In “Ultimate X-Men”, Jamie Madrox was a member of the Brotherhood, so I think its alright to see him as such. Jamie’s a complicated man, and nobody understands him but his woman.
Count me in as one who thought the editing wasn’t anything to write home about. The screwup with the time on the bridge/island for one. They tried to do too much in too little time. Didn’t work as well as it might.
Oh and *P*E*W* for the scene with Magneto just before the credits. What was the point of … well, never mind. Don’t want to spoil it.
The best comic book movie? Not even close. Try the two ASTERIX live action France/Germany collaborations. Wow.
Count me as one of the folks who (1) was disappointed with X3, and (2) was surprised PAD enjoyed it so much.
The problem IMO is that they should have made two movies — one with the cure and one with Phoenix — which would give both stories room to grow and to include the depth and nuance we got in the first two. Instead, by jamming the two together, everything was crammed for space, and the only thing that didn’t get smooshed out were the pyrotechnics. Having every plot point and characterization note spelled out merely insulted my intelligence further.
X3 might have been a fluffy but vapid “cotton candy” movie on its own, but as the third movie of a trilogy, it was a disappointing bookend.
(My full review is here.)
–R.J.
For David up above, Gambit does at least exsist in the movie continuity, one of the files Mystique pulls up on Yuriko’s computer is for Remy LeBeau. I saw that the first time I saw the movie, but it took me WEEKS after getting the DVD to spot Franklin’s name up there.
Madrox a bad guy? A good guy? See, that’s one of the thingies I think this series has done right. Even when you think the lines are clearly drawn, no one knows where they are and you can cross them at any time.
BTW, did anyone catch just how long was supposed to have passed between the end of X2 and beginning of Last Stand? If it was in the movie, I might’ve been too excited by A)having a Brian-less date with my wife and B)watching a new X movie.
BTW, did anyone catch just how long was supposed to have passed between the end of X2 and beginning of Last Stand?
I don’t think it says.
But considering there’s a new president, you gotta figure some months had passed.
Oh, and we’ll just try and forget McCoy’s appearance in X2… it’s just easier that way. 🙂
While the movie doesn’t specify how long passed between X2 and THE LAST STAND, the LAST STAND videogame is set between those two movies and, according to the game developers, explains the events that lead to THE LAST STAND (or at least why Nightcrawler isn’t in the third movie).
I understand Rogue’s limited role in this movie, simply because her powers aren’t that impressive. In the comic books she had permanently absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers, giving her flight, super strength, and a fair amount of invulnerability. In the movies all she can do is absorb the powers and memories of people she touches. Considering how many mutants could strike from a distance (to say nothing of anyone with a gun or “cure weapon”), her combat effectiveness would be pretty limited.
Speaking of effective, I’m also glad that Angel wasn’t a great combat asset. To paraphrase the Seanbaby.com website, flying might be great around you or me, but when you’re surrounded by Magneto, Juggernaut, and Storm it kinda pales in comparison.
Well, not only does Angel pale in comparison to virtually any combat oriented mutant out there, you have to wonder(Well, I do, anyway) does he leave feathers lying all over the house? And can you imagine if he was allergic to down? Eeesh.
Yeah, I have just a LITTLE too much time on me hands.
But just think! He could make his own pillows! How’s that for a romantic setting, huh? “For your birthday, dear, I made you a pillow. With all natural feathers. Trust me on this one.”
Yep. Just too much time.
As someone who is familiar with the comic but never followed it closely, I was able to enjoy the film for the acting, and to a certain extent, the story.
Could anyone say if the storyline with Rogue was consistant with the comics? It felt almost like something they just threw in to have her in the film.
Also, a big thanks for the heads up on the tag at the end of the movie! 🙂
“The X-Men costume that Beast wears is just dorky-looking. It would’ve looked better if he just wore the pants, and went topless”
Much more involved and expensive appliances.
As far as sequels that were even better than, or built upon the success of the previous, in addition to “Bride of Frankenstein” as Kath mentioned–
Godfather II
Lethal Weapon II and III (but not IV so much)
Superman II (but God knows not III and IV)
Star Trek II and every other Trek film after that
Toy Story II
Dr. No was followed by Goldfinger, still believed to be one of the best Bond films ever
Some say Spider-Man 2, although I prefer the first one.
PAD
…and the Empire Strikes Back over the first Star Wars.
Could anyone say if the storyline with Rogue was consistant with the comics?
I would say, at a glance, yes.
I’m not all that familiar with the specifics of the late 80’s and much of the 90’s (what I’ve read has mostly been forgotten), although an episode or two of the FOX X-Men cartoon stands out in my mind.
Of all the X-Men, Rogue would obviously be the one that would want to give up her powers. It’s all becoming a little fuzzy now, but I’m sure she has spent quite a bit of time in the comics lamenting the fact that she can’t touch anybody.
>As far as sequels that were even better than, or built upon the success of the previous, in addition to “Bride of Frankenstein” as Kath mentioned–
Godfather II
Lethal Weapon II and III (but not IV so much)
Superman II (but God knows not III and IV)
Star Trek II and every other Trek film after that
Toy Story II
Dr. No was followed by Goldfinger, still believed to be one of the best Bond films ever
Some say Spider-Man 2, although I prefer the first one.
PAD
Back to the Future II is the best example of a sequel building on its predessor to become heads and tails above the original film.
Fred
“Could anyone say if the storyline with Rogue was consistant with the comics?”
Kind of a hard call to make, considering that movie-Rogue is one of the biggest deviations from the source material.
As someone pointed out, Rogue in the comics debuted on-panel with Ms. Marvel’s powers (having absorbed her permanently during an off-panel fight), so she always had two sets of powers: the absorption deal, and also a set of “Superman”-type abilities — flight, strength, invulnerability.
She also debuted as a villain, working for Mystique, who was later explained to be her foster mother. And for years, we never learned her name — she was always just “Rogue.” Even after defecting to the X-Men, she always had a tough streak, because of her powers and her background as a terrorist.
And the movie — besides giving her an apparently normal childhood (rather than having her be raised by a blue-skinned mutant terrorist), a normal first name to be called by, and no other powers besides absorption — also made her a softer character, and gave her a relationship with Wolverine whose comic-book equivalent would’ve been the Kitty-Wolverine dynamic, or the Jubliee-Wolverine stuff from the late ’80s.
There has probably been a story in which Rogue sought a cure for her powers, but certainly there was no comic book where she did it because her boyfriend Bobby Drake was flirting with Kitty Pryde. I stopped reading the comics after Claremont left, but I’m confident that there has never been a Rogue-Iceman-Kitty love triangle in the comics!
Coming in late to the discussion but…
… thought the movie was alright while watching it, but would have liked to have gotten more absorbed. It just didn’t grab me the way my 43-year-old fanboy heart would have liked to have been grabbed.
I did like some of the moves in the final fight. The way each person gets down from the roof in their own way, the Kitty/Juggy chase and the move Kitty pulls (shown in commercials) of phasing, spinning and pulling. It’s those little bits that leave a “Oh, yes! That is so totally how someone with those powers would fight. (Aside: It’s what bugged me most about the big Jedi battle in “Clones”. All these Jedi Masters, you’d expect some seriously cool moves and seemles working together rather than just a bunch of guys wading into a mod waving sabers around.)
But what really kinda spoiled it for me was my being an avid comic reader. Not the rabid “Hey, that’s not like the comics” jerk type we all know and don’t love. But being familiar enough with the genre to know that changes aren’t permanent. I kept expecting the events in Jean’s house and in the prison truck to be reversed by the end of the movie. Which lessened the intended impact considerably.