The Last Stand... Hopefully
Friday afternoon i was filled with anticipation... I was going to get to see the latest installment of the X-Men franchise. My girlfriend and I had gotten out of work early, so after lunch we walked to the nearest theater a few blocks away. As we get there we realize the movie is completely sold out till 1:30 AM. Thats just a little too late for me to watch this film. So we head back to the office to find a movie theater in the city where I can watch this film. I'm a huge and passinate comic fan, so a movie like this is a big deal to me. Luckily my girlfriend understands.
We finally find a movie theater in Battery Park City playing it. Thats basically on the other end of the island and will take us just about till the start of the movie to get there. It doesn't matter to me, I'm just excited we got tickets. We get our seats in this sold out movie theater, and I'm so excited... then unfortunately the movie starts.
Now let me start out by saying I'm a huge fan of the first two films, but I absolutely hated this film. The casualness and carelessness with which they killed major characters was off-putting to a fan like myself. Now granted its a comic film, so who really stays dead, but the deaths of three major characters in the X-Universe was handled with barely a whimper. These were the leaders of the mutant population, and we are supposed to deal with their deaths and move on. That was my main overall gripe with the film, but it gets much worse that that.
When Professor X explains to Wolverine about Jean Grey's split personality i wanted to throw up. It was just absurd. The fact that I had to see every special effect basically twice (seeing the fastball special once... cool, twice, a little too much. Storm spinning around again and again... her eyeballs turning white), I was looking for something much more original. Jean killing Cyclops and then Professor Xavier, both border on the ludicris. Vinnie Jones in a muscle suit to play the Juggernaut was comical. Plus any scene in the Mansion looked like a scene from any of the Harry Potter films, just not done as well. I mean c'mon mutants flying their paper airplanes in the hallway with their mind. You would never have seen that in a Bryan Singer film, and that right there is the root of the problem.
How Marvel let Bryan Singer get away and then replace him with Brett Ratner, who has done very commercial films, but never a film as cerebral as anything that Singer has put together is beyond me. Singer's X-Men film while huge stories, were always told more intimately with a much more delicate touch. Ratner tried to smack you over the head with mutants and ended up with something that felt (Harry) Potter-esque.
While I was a huge fan of the franchise, I hope they stay true to the tile and this really was The Last Stand. I think a Wolverine spinoff movie would be a lot better than furthering the X-Men franchise. As long as it's not directed by Brett Ratner.
While Bryan Singer is a huge loss for Marvel and the X-Men, I love the fact that he didn't do this film. It allowed him to work on Superman Returns (which I can't wait to see), which works for me, because Superman is my favorite character of all time. Judging solely from the previews of the film, this has all the trademarks of a Bryan Singer film. It seems emotional, thought-provoking and action packed. He may be dealing with characters from the funny books (a term my good buddy Drew Thompson uses to descibe comics) but in very adult ways that we can all relate to. I think this film will be the biggest blockbuster of the summer. For the first time ever the audience will get to see an emotional story about Superman—who even with the powers to be a god—deep down just wants to be one of us. I can't wait.
We finally find a movie theater in Battery Park City playing it. Thats basically on the other end of the island and will take us just about till the start of the movie to get there. It doesn't matter to me, I'm just excited we got tickets. We get our seats in this sold out movie theater, and I'm so excited... then unfortunately the movie starts.
Now let me start out by saying I'm a huge fan of the first two films, but I absolutely hated this film. The casualness and carelessness with which they killed major characters was off-putting to a fan like myself. Now granted its a comic film, so who really stays dead, but the deaths of three major characters in the X-Universe was handled with barely a whimper. These were the leaders of the mutant population, and we are supposed to deal with their deaths and move on. That was my main overall gripe with the film, but it gets much worse that that.
When Professor X explains to Wolverine about Jean Grey's split personality i wanted to throw up. It was just absurd. The fact that I had to see every special effect basically twice (seeing the fastball special once... cool, twice, a little too much. Storm spinning around again and again... her eyeballs turning white), I was looking for something much more original. Jean killing Cyclops and then Professor Xavier, both border on the ludicris. Vinnie Jones in a muscle suit to play the Juggernaut was comical. Plus any scene in the Mansion looked like a scene from any of the Harry Potter films, just not done as well. I mean c'mon mutants flying their paper airplanes in the hallway with their mind. You would never have seen that in a Bryan Singer film, and that right there is the root of the problem.
How Marvel let Bryan Singer get away and then replace him with Brett Ratner, who has done very commercial films, but never a film as cerebral as anything that Singer has put together is beyond me. Singer's X-Men film while huge stories, were always told more intimately with a much more delicate touch. Ratner tried to smack you over the head with mutants and ended up with something that felt (Harry) Potter-esque.
While I was a huge fan of the franchise, I hope they stay true to the tile and this really was The Last Stand. I think a Wolverine spinoff movie would be a lot better than furthering the X-Men franchise. As long as it's not directed by Brett Ratner.
While Bryan Singer is a huge loss for Marvel and the X-Men, I love the fact that he didn't do this film. It allowed him to work on Superman Returns (which I can't wait to see), which works for me, because Superman is my favorite character of all time. Judging solely from the previews of the film, this has all the trademarks of a Bryan Singer film. It seems emotional, thought-provoking and action packed. He may be dealing with characters from the funny books (a term my good buddy Drew Thompson uses to descibe comics) but in very adult ways that we can all relate to. I think this film will be the biggest blockbuster of the summer. For the first time ever the audience will get to see an emotional story about Superman—who even with the powers to be a god—deep down just wants to be one of us. I can't wait.
Labels: movies
posted by LEV at
7:30 PM
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