I saw X-Men: The Last Stand on Friday and hated it. I wasn't going to blog about it, since I already feel that I've wasted enough time watching it. (There was no point--everything that happened gets overturned by the end of the movie.)
If you're interested in reading thought-out reviews or discussions check out the May 29th links from When Fangirls Attack.
Just a couple of observations from when I was watching the movie: (Spoilers apply)
--I was already prepared for the deaths, but not at the way they were handled. How come Professor X seemed so ridiculously weak?
--I burst out laughing when they explained Jean's Xavier-induced schizophrenia. Classic case of the hysterical woman.
--The depiction of Storms powers and fighting abilities were terrible. (And that's just the tip of the iceberg.)
--I didn't even realize "Callisto" was in the movie until I talked with some friends --if you can even call her Callisto.
--X-Men killing people?
--I agree with others out there that the movie should have just been "the cure" storyline. A Dark Phoenix storyline is too big and should have had it's own flick.
I could go on, but it was utterly disappointing to watch such a messy and misogynistic movie when the first two of the series were so close in portraying the essence of the comics that I grew up with.
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9 comments:
Unfortunately, we can never expect movie makers to remain true to the original, especially for something that has as much history as the X-Men books.
This can't be considered the Dark Phoenix saga at all. It's a complete injustice to what happened in the real Dark Phoenix Saga. Even the original original origin of the Phoenix (a powerful Jean Grey being corrupted by others) was better than what we got in the movie.
Having said that, I was entertained for what it was.
I've been allowing myself to be all ranty about this movie. But exactly--I was so excited to see a movie adaptation of the Dark Phoenix saga. The old X-Men cartoon's Phoenix saga was what originally got me into comics, so it has a special place in my heart.
I guess too, what really frustrated me was comparing it to the first two movies, which had plots that weren't necessarily in the comics--maybe it would have been better for the third to be like that too.
I liked watching the fight scenes. (Though I have a problem--this goes for the comics too--wanting to see characters use their powers in new and interesting ways. Plus I kept on thinking about Magneto flying, but I suppose having him move the Golden Gate Bridge is a good way to show the extent of his power.)
Not to beat a dead mutant, but god it angers me when super powers are misused, I mean come on, why does Colossus need to hide from a burning car?
Despite the obvious flaws in the storyline of the movie, I enjoyed watching action/fight scenes. Seeing Beast in action was pretty rockin' as well as the battle between Wolverine and Juggernaut.
One thing you forgot to mention was Rogue losing her powers for some dude. I haven't read too many issues of the comic but I think it's pretty lame that it occured in the movie. She has one of best powers of all but her willingness to sacrifice it for "love" shows just how much of a team player she really is. It's typical movie ploy: perpetuating the myth of romance.
Heh, and she did it even after that whole Wolverine "don't do it for a guy" lecture.
What made it especially sad too was how Bobby was flirting with a seemingly adolescent Kitty.
Hi, I found this through When Fangirls Attack. This is the first post I've read which completely summarizes how I feel about the movie. I left the theater feeling like I had been punched in the gut (okay, maybe I get into my comics a little too much...). I agree with your interpretation that the movie was "Messy and misogynistic movie." Also, I had the same reaction to the explanation of Phoenix's power - she's TOTALLY shown as the hysterical woman.
Good post!
Ugh. beyond the most horrific and brutal scene in recent memory in seeing a young Warren W III cutting out his own wings (I thought i was going to vomit right there)...yea, i agree the dark phoenix thing was just too much. i think dark phoenix wouldve made a great X4 or something but i guess they didnt have time actors getting old and all which makes me more frustrated because they should've just done a LOTR on it and made 2-4 all at once..
Then again, it's perfectly understandable for Rogue to want to get rid of her powers. Perhaps it's weak and stupid to do it for some boy, but she's a teenager in this film...
They shouldn't have tried to do Dark Phoenix. Big mistake.
The deaths didn't seem to have any meaning.
I haven't seen enough posts about it to really be sure, but the impression I get is that X-Men readers hate the movie and non-X-Men readers liked it. I think it's a mistake to see the movie characters as being the ones in the comic; the movie Rogue is most clearly not the comic one, being a lot younger and an entirely different personality.
You can't look at the movie rogue and complain that she behaves differently from the way the comic version would, that's the whole point. Ditto everyone else in the cast. Even Wolverine, who got the most characterisation in this film, gets further removed from the comic version the more we get to know him.
Biggest problem for me was that it was so compressed to fit all the story in that there wasn't time to give any characterisation to the large cast.
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