05-27-2006, 04:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2006, 04:18 AM by 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?:)
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?:)
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London