X-Men revisited

[selenak]

I hadn't watched the first X-Men film for ages, mostly because the movieverse and I had drifted apart somewhat after X3 until First Class. But today I rewatched the film that originally brought me to the Marvelverse, both for research and fun, and lo, it is still good and a joy to watch. Thoughts with XMFC awareness, below a spoiler cut for those

Comments

[amenirdis]

Oh yeah! Rogue as Iphigenia! That's an awesome idea.

And I love the way RR plays Mystique. I will never, ever get tired of that either, and the way she and Erik are in their first scene with Kelly. And ok, the way she kicks the hell out of Kelly in the helicopter? Just pure wish fulfillment for me, though I know it's wrong, wrong, very wrong....

[selenak]

*cough* Somebody recently brought Iphigenia to my mind, so when I watched the film just now, the parallel with Rogue struck me completely unexpectedly and yet so much sense-making.

Oh, I think we all root for Mystique when she kicks the hell out of Kelly (and see every bigoted politician ever in him). Which at the same time is why I love that the film doesn't let Kelly die from his fall from the lair (which I think 98% of all films would have done) but gives him the death he gets at the mansion. He's loathsome and all too familiar. He's human. Both. And no one should die like this. (Otoh, getting beaten up by Mystique... :)

[amenirdis]

Ah! I suppose I did, didn't I?

There were certainly plenty I would have liked to kick at that point in my life! At least I don't have to deal with them on a daily basis anymore. But yes, no one should die like that, no matter how loathsome.

Apropos of nothing, did you see the new piece of Sword Queen today with Sir William and Pompeii?

[selenak]

I did not! Still don't see it - where was it posted?

[kskitten]

Dammit, my X-Men box is loaned out and I can't rewatch and I really want to now.

[selenak]

I sympathize and advise the use of a rented dvd...

[buffyannotater]

This is a great post. Absolutely love what you say about the Iphigenia/Rogue parallels, as well as the parallels and continuity links between X-Men and First Class. Not to pimp my own stuff, but I thought you might be interested...I actually recently rewatched and did a post on the first two X-Men movies on my blog before watching/reviewing First Class... http://www.robwillreview.com/?tag=x-men

[selenak]

Thanks for linking, those two reviews were great to read. Like you, I always felt the heart of the films was the Erik and Charles relationship, which is why even if X3 hadn't been a let down I would not have been tempted to watch Wolverine - that was not the prequel about what interested me in the X-verse.

[zahrawithaz]

our heroes win the day through a true team effort and the coordination of their abilities.

This is what I love about the X-men. I'm such a sucker for this trope, and it's so hard to find...

[selenak]

True. Hooray for team work and everyone contributing!