Reviews Double Header - And It's a Doozy...!
Review - X-Men First Class Blockbuster season continues - and this time, we get to something of a dark horse; a movie that hasn't had the hype, or much of the buzz some features manage to generate. Maybe it's because the last two X-movies - ...Last Stand and X-Men Origins - Wolverine didn't exactly set the world alight. People have the doubts...
More fool them...
It may be the Sixties, but Austin Powers And The X-Men this isn't. What could have been a swinging disaster instead quickly defines itself as a top-drawer addition to the Marvel movie catalogue. This may not be the "official" origin of the X-Men - they don't even get called that until the end of the movie - but it paints a solid, entertaining story in which a major historical event provides the background for the start of a legend, the end of friendships, the claiming of revenge... you name it, it's here.
The cast is uniformly excellent - James McAvoy is a great choice for young Professor Xavier (before and during his earning of the title), and Michael Fassbender makes a coldly vengeful young Ian McKellern, and the young X-Men are an ensemble that make the "Tracy Brothers" from the live-action Thunderbirds look like nobodies... oh wait, they were nobodies! But seriously, the young "almost X-Men" do get sufficient screen time to assert themselves as characters, rather than powers that require someone on screen to generate them.
The only negatives... - Not enough of Emma Frost in her White Queen gear. Lacking the opera gloves, but still fabulous, mind.
- Could have done with more of Angel Salvadore. I'm not familiar with the comic character, but this one I liked. She survives to the end of this movie, so hopes are high we'll see her again...
- There are a few continuity questions when you (try to) fit this into the existing move X-Men "mythos" - in particular those flashbacks of Professor X (and Magneto) that show them interacting with younger versions of characters from the first three movies. Not an issue if you haven't seen them, and you won't need to to enjoy this one.
Sit back and enjoy this one, folks. With any luck, this will not be the last of our dips into the past of the X-Men. I smell trilogy, at the very least - now let's all go out and make that happen by supporting this excellent effort!
The Final Score: A brave effort, and one that pays off splendidly. Set aside any continuity concerns, and immerse yourself in a fabulous vision of how it all came to be... 9/10
BUT the day isn't done yet! Home, dinner, and comfy just in time for The Big One...
Review - Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes To War (607) Okay, BIG possible spoiler warning right now - the US will have to wait a whole week to get this, so I'm warning you now. Step back, for the sake of your own sanity...
You WILL punch the air when the Cybermen get an unexpected visitor (cue "The Ecstasy Of Gold" from Metallica's "S&M" album). You will delight in the debut of a new and potential-laden acquaintance from Victorian times. You'll be intrigued by a Sontaran with a different view of the world...
...and the action's barely started. Someone's out to get The Doctor, and someone dear to him is apparently the perfect weapon - bad idea. It all seems too easy, however, but that's all part of the plan.
Steven Moffat has been concocting something special these past six episodes, and as far as one plot-thread is concerned, even before that - tonight, we see "the flop" in this particular hand of poker, and we are expecting answers. We don't get everything, but we do get one heck of a pay-off - THE TRUTH ABOUT RIVER SONG.
People have been speculating like crazy about the answer to this enigma, especially after the events of The Impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon, so maybe the impact of the Big Reveal is blunted just a little by that - but seeing Rory front up against the Cybermen, with a Cyber-fleet getting blown to hell behind him as he utters the fateful words "Do you want me to repeat the question...?", absolutely makes up for any of that.
It's close to blasphemy to say that "Autumn can't come soon enough", with Summer apparently just started - if we're lucky - but damn
The Final Score: The Moff spins the reels of several storylines, including "Who Is River Song?", and comes up with a jackpot... 9/10
More fool them...
It may be the Sixties, but Austin Powers And The X-Men this isn't. What could have been a swinging disaster instead quickly defines itself as a top-drawer addition to the Marvel movie catalogue. This may not be the "official" origin of the X-Men - they don't even get called that until the end of the movie - but it paints a solid, entertaining story in which a major historical event provides the background for the start of a legend, the end of friendships, the claiming of revenge... you name it, it's here.
The cast is uniformly excellent - James McAvoy is a great choice for young Professor Xavier (before and during his earning of the title), and Michael Fassbender makes a coldly vengeful young Ian McKellern, and the young X-Men are an ensemble that make the "Tracy Brothers" from the live-action Thunderbirds look like nobodies... oh wait, they were nobodies! But seriously, the young "almost X-Men" do get sufficient screen time to assert themselves as characters, rather than powers that require someone on screen to generate them.
The only negatives... - Not enough of Emma Frost in her White Queen gear. Lacking the opera gloves, but still fabulous, mind.
- Could have done with more of Angel Salvadore. I'm not familiar with the comic character, but this one I liked. She survives to the end of this movie, so hopes are high we'll see her again...
- There are a few continuity questions when you (try to) fit this into the existing move X-Men "mythos" - in particular those flashbacks of Professor X (and Magneto) that show them interacting with younger versions of characters from the first three movies. Not an issue if you haven't seen them, and you won't need to to enjoy this one.
Sit back and enjoy this one, folks. With any luck, this will not be the last of our dips into the past of the X-Men. I smell trilogy, at the very least - now let's all go out and make that happen by supporting this excellent effort!
The Final Score: A brave effort, and one that pays off splendidly. Set aside any continuity concerns, and immerse yourself in a fabulous vision of how it all came to be... 9/10
BUT the day isn't done yet! Home, dinner, and comfy just in time for The Big One...
Review - Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes To War (607) Okay, BIG possible spoiler warning right now - the US will have to wait a whole week to get this, so I'm warning you now. Step back, for the sake of your own sanity...
You WILL punch the air when the Cybermen get an unexpected visitor (cue "The Ecstasy Of Gold" from Metallica's "S&M" album). You will delight in the debut of a new and potential-laden acquaintance from Victorian times. You'll be intrigued by a Sontaran with a different view of the world...
...and the action's barely started. Someone's out to get The Doctor, and someone dear to him is apparently the perfect weapon - bad idea. It all seems too easy, however, but that's all part of the plan.
Steven Moffat has been concocting something special these past six episodes, and as far as one plot-thread is concerned, even before that - tonight, we see "the flop" in this particular hand of poker, and we are expecting answers. We don't get everything, but we do get one heck of a pay-off - THE TRUTH ABOUT RIVER SONG.
People have been speculating like crazy about the answer to this enigma, especially after the events of The Impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon, so maybe the impact of the Big Reveal is blunted just a little by that - but seeing Rory front up against the Cybermen, with a Cyber-fleet getting blown to hell behind him as he utters the fateful words "Do you want me to repeat the question...?", absolutely makes up for any of that.
It's close to blasphemy to say that "Autumn can't come soon enough", with Summer apparently just started - if we're lucky - but damn
The Final Score: The Moff spins the reels of several storylines, including "Who Is River Song?", and comes up with a jackpot... 9/10