x-men: the last stand.... until the next one
i saw x3 last night with humpstar, charlotteann, and our friend steph. it was really good to get out and actually interact face-to-face with people that i'm not related to for the first time in a while. i also managed to run into princessem and ken, who were there to get tickets to the same show as us. unfortunately, they were sold out, so emma and ken went home (sorry!), but luckily, having nothing but time, i went down to the theatre earlier that day to pick up tickets (online tickets weren't working). AND, while i was waiting, my friend diane, from my programme at school, tacklehugged me much to my surprise. i don't see her very often, and it just so happened she was back from the camp she works at over the summer just for the weekend.... craziness. anyhow, all of that synchronicity, along with the people that i'd actually *planned* to be there with, made me feel alot better about the whole recent emoness. thanks guys.
the theatre was packed, and unfortunately the people saving seats for us got their numbers mixed up, so charlotteann ended up having to sit somewhere else (sorry! i felt bad about that... :\). it was the first opening night i'd been to in quite a while, and i'd forgotten how crazy it gets. however, the people that come on opening night are also the people that are really excited for the movie... so, in this case, the theatre was full of geeks. it was great. i could make geeky jokes and the nerds around me would laugh whether they knew me or not. geeks are such a great community to be a part of... i really wish i had a small group of geeky friends. true geeks... the ones that read comic books, and don't just watch the movies.
anyways, the movie itself was great, in my opinion. i think the x-men series, as a whole, is ultimately the finest and most consistent comic book franchise to date. superman jumped ship at number III (although returns will attempt to rewrite that history), batman started it's downward spiral with forever... which was decent, but nowhere near the quality of the first two... and then there was batman and robin *shudder*. that's not to say that the x-men films are the best comic book movies ever made, but i think they stand apart as a series.
the film both catered to and enraged your average marvel fanboy/girl. there were obviously some moments that were designed just for fans to geek out to, but the plot discrepancies between the film and comics were enough to drive a marvel reader to drink. being a dc geek myself, i don't have much vested interest in the x-men characters, and how true the story remains to the books, but having marvel fans on either side of me, all they could do was string together various one-word questions at points... "how!??.... what?.... WHO?!?" personally, as long as characterizations are essentially faithful to their inspirations, comic movie storylines that deviate from those established in the source material don't much bother me. i can appreciate them as an interpretation, instead of picking them apart like a rabid fanboy. that being said, characters are something that should be easy to translate from comic to film... so why the fuck wasn't collussus russian??
halle barry was awful... but she was in the first two movies too, so i wasn't surprised. most overrated actor ever. but kelsey grammar as beast counteracted her... i wasn't sure what to think of that casting decision, but he did a great job.
my only significant qualm was length. as a film that sums up plots and subplots from two previous installments, this could have easily been a 2 hour+ movie, and no one would've been bored. but it only clocks in at around 1h 40min. with such a huge ensemble cast, there were all kinds of characters that could have been featured and further developed without detracting from the pace of the film. i mean, they didn't even delve into juggernaut's er, family history.
but, in the end, i don't think a review of x3 needs to be any longer than four words: "i'm the juggernaut, bitch!"
that line alone was well worth the price of admission. all of us geeks applauded. lines like that are also the reason that i don't actively seek out story details and spoilers for movies that i want to see. i'd much rather be surprised like the majority of the other theatre-goers... if you know what's gonna happen, it tends to lose its impact when you see it.
in summary; it was entertaining, and i got to dork out.
now, i leave you with some of my more notable geeky adlibs, made throughout the film:
"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.... by john stamos."
"so that guy's mutant power is... pointy-ness?"
"hey, that one's got two mutant powers! clapping *and* androgyny!?"
"i think the next movie should be 'How Magneto Got His Groove Back.'"
the theatre was packed, and unfortunately the people saving seats for us got their numbers mixed up, so charlotteann ended up having to sit somewhere else (sorry! i felt bad about that... :\). it was the first opening night i'd been to in quite a while, and i'd forgotten how crazy it gets. however, the people that come on opening night are also the people that are really excited for the movie... so, in this case, the theatre was full of geeks. it was great. i could make geeky jokes and the nerds around me would laugh whether they knew me or not. geeks are such a great community to be a part of... i really wish i had a small group of geeky friends. true geeks... the ones that read comic books, and don't just watch the movies.
anyways, the movie itself was great, in my opinion. i think the x-men series, as a whole, is ultimately the finest and most consistent comic book franchise to date. superman jumped ship at number III (although returns will attempt to rewrite that history), batman started it's downward spiral with forever... which was decent, but nowhere near the quality of the first two... and then there was batman and robin *shudder*. that's not to say that the x-men films are the best comic book movies ever made, but i think they stand apart as a series.
the film both catered to and enraged your average marvel fanboy/girl. there were obviously some moments that were designed just for fans to geek out to, but the plot discrepancies between the film and comics were enough to drive a marvel reader to drink. being a dc geek myself, i don't have much vested interest in the x-men characters, and how true the story remains to the books, but having marvel fans on either side of me, all they could do was string together various one-word questions at points... "how!??.... what?.... WHO?!?" personally, as long as characterizations are essentially faithful to their inspirations, comic movie storylines that deviate from those established in the source material don't much bother me. i can appreciate them as an interpretation, instead of picking them apart like a rabid fanboy. that being said, characters are something that should be easy to translate from comic to film... so why the fuck wasn't collussus russian??
halle barry was awful... but she was in the first two movies too, so i wasn't surprised. most overrated actor ever. but kelsey grammar as beast counteracted her... i wasn't sure what to think of that casting decision, but he did a great job.
my only significant qualm was length. as a film that sums up plots and subplots from two previous installments, this could have easily been a 2 hour+ movie, and no one would've been bored. but it only clocks in at around 1h 40min. with such a huge ensemble cast, there were all kinds of characters that could have been featured and further developed without detracting from the pace of the film. i mean, they didn't even delve into juggernaut's er, family history.
but, in the end, i don't think a review of x3 needs to be any longer than four words: "i'm the juggernaut, bitch!"
that line alone was well worth the price of admission. all of us geeks applauded. lines like that are also the reason that i don't actively seek out story details and spoilers for movies that i want to see. i'd much rather be surprised like the majority of the other theatre-goers... if you know what's gonna happen, it tends to lose its impact when you see it.
in summary; it was entertaining, and i got to dork out.
now, i leave you with some of my more notable geeky adlibs, made throughout the film:
"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.... by john stamos."
"so that guy's mutant power is... pointy-ness?"
"hey, that one's got two mutant powers! clapping *and* androgyny!?"
"i think the next movie should be 'How Magneto Got His Groove Back.'"