Observations on the new X-men film.
*In a film based on a scenario that was originally roughly allegorical of the 60s civil rights movements in the US, the one black character of note dies a 3rd of the way through. Nice work, guys.
(I was going to put a picture of the cast here and ask "Guess who's going to die?", but it turns out Black Guy wasn't even important enough to put on the poster)
*Young professor X mainly uses his telepathy to seduce younger women. By knowing what drink they usually order. And possibly by convincing them that he looks just like James McAvoy.
*Magneto has an Irish accent at times for no apparent reason.
*Mutations (the super kind) are now either caused by nuclear radiation, or the villain Shaw just thinks they are. If the latter is the case, then there was at least one opportunity in the script for Xavier to prove himself clever by saying "Well, actually, that shows a profound misunderstanding of how this branch of genetics works...". And that opportunity was sadly missed.
*The central relationship in the film is the one between Magneto and X, which is probably as it should be. It's compelling enough an antagonism, even though there are a few clunkers dropped when Xavier briefly turns into Yoda. But it leaves a lot of the other stuff two dimensional - most notably the villain of the piece, Shaw, who really doesn’t seem to have any real motivation other than he is a villain. Having Magneto’s philosophy fed to him by someone so cacklingly dull as Shaw really undermines the credibility of his end point. Why couldn't Magneto be smart enough to come up with his own conclusions? Or at the very least base them on his view of Xavier's philosophy? No, he has to get them from the guy he spent his life trying to kill. He even kind of shrugs off this paradox at the end - you're right about everything, he says, but you did kill my mother so... - before finally exacting his vengeance.
(I was going to put a picture of the cast here and ask "Guess who's going to die?", but it turns out Black Guy wasn't even important enough to put on the poster)
*Young professor X mainly uses his telepathy to seduce younger women. By knowing what drink they usually order. And possibly by convincing them that he looks just like James McAvoy.
*Magneto has an Irish accent at times for no apparent reason.
*Mutations (the super kind) are now either caused by nuclear radiation, or the villain Shaw just thinks they are. If the latter is the case, then there was at least one opportunity in the script for Xavier to prove himself clever by saying "Well, actually, that shows a profound misunderstanding of how this branch of genetics works...". And that opportunity was sadly missed.
*The central relationship in the film is the one between Magneto and X, which is probably as it should be. It's compelling enough an antagonism, even though there are a few clunkers dropped when Xavier briefly turns into Yoda. But it leaves a lot of the other stuff two dimensional - most notably the villain of the piece, Shaw, who really doesn’t seem to have any real motivation other than he is a villain. Having Magneto’s philosophy fed to him by someone so cacklingly dull as Shaw really undermines the credibility of his end point. Why couldn't Magneto be smart enough to come up with his own conclusions? Or at the very least base them on his view of Xavier's philosophy? No, he has to get them from the guy he spent his life trying to kill. He even kind of shrugs off this paradox at the end - you're right about everything, he says, but you did kill my mother so... - before finally exacting his vengeance.