X-Men: The Last Stand
Verdict: It's pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't thrill me like X2 did, but there were more than enough geeky cool moments (red-hot electrified labret piecing, anyone?) to keep me interested. I'm worried that it won't do well at the box office, though, and will be, indeede, the last stand.
The gripes I have are not major.
Why spend so much money on such a short movie? I wanted more. And not filler; i think there was room for more story, more character.
Famke Jannsen, and the effects they use to augment her appearance are really something to see. She's actually frightening during one scene in particular when she atomizes Professor X. Not only was it creepy as shit, it was really sad. I got pretty misty. Shut up, don't judge me! But all said, would it have KILLED them to use some of the fiery effect they had already established in X2? Or at the end, when she's destroying everything around her, and the ocean is rising up as if there were no gravity, could they not have thrown us a bone and had some of the fire from the burning cars all around her rise up in the image of flaming wings behind her? I mean, they give us a "fastball special" and Beast saying "Oh my stars and garters", but no flaming phoenix effect?
Editing: How does it go from pretty bright, well before actual sunset, to pitch black night from one cut to the next in the same scene?
Editing and/or writing: Where the hell was magneto's camp? It sure seemed like it was supposed to be northern California. So how did Wolverine ride his motorcycle there from Westchester, NY and back in like a day? For that matter, how did Cyclops ride his motorcycle from Westchester to Alaska? How did the X-Jet fly across the country in a matter of what seemed like minutes? HOW DID ANGEL FLY ON HIS BIRD WINGS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ALMOST AS QUICKLY??? OK, both of those can be explained (the X-Jet is just that fast, and Angel is rich and chartered a jet?), but it was still something that throws you a little.
No matter how hard they try, they can't make Storm really matter much in these movies. The way they have her using her powers is pretty great, but the character still seems wasted, and they also have her pretty ruthlessly kill at least one person, something (GEEK ALERT) Storm would never do in the comics.
Beast's makeup really isn't very good. I liked the character a lot, and his fight scenes were thrilling, but when he's just standing around, he looked cheap. Like, man in blue gorilla suit and blue wig.
It was cool seeing Iceman "ice-up" his body, but the effect looked pretty Playstation.
But the good outweighs the bad. Ian McKellen is, as always, phenomenal. Patric Stewart, in a small role, is great. Famke! I had read that she basically has a silent role. I was surprised by how right that was, but how she remains a huge presence in the movie and how effective her screen time is. Kitty Pryde was awesome. They did really inventive things with the mutant powers in this movie, and Kitty Pryde was no exception.
I don't know. I'll definitely see it again. I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't insist that people should see it, as I did with X2.
So, here's a my revised ranking of the recent crop of super hero movies:
Edited. Thanks, Harry! Thanks, Jason!
1) X2
2) V for Vendetta/Batman Begins
3) Spider-Man 2
4) Spider-Man
5) X-Men: the Last Stand
6) X-Men
7) Hulk
8) Blade
9) Fantastic Four
10) Blade: Trinity
11) Blade 2
12) Daredevil
13) Odious Elektra.
Am I missing any?
The gripes I have are not major.
Why spend so much money on such a short movie? I wanted more. And not filler; i think there was room for more story, more character.
Famke Jannsen, and the effects they use to augment her appearance are really something to see. She's actually frightening during one scene in particular when she atomizes Professor X. Not only was it creepy as shit, it was really sad. I got pretty misty. Shut up, don't judge me! But all said, would it have KILLED them to use some of the fiery effect they had already established in X2? Or at the end, when she's destroying everything around her, and the ocean is rising up as if there were no gravity, could they not have thrown us a bone and had some of the fire from the burning cars all around her rise up in the image of flaming wings behind her? I mean, they give us a "fastball special" and Beast saying "Oh my stars and garters", but no flaming phoenix effect?
Editing: How does it go from pretty bright, well before actual sunset, to pitch black night from one cut to the next in the same scene?
Editing and/or writing: Where the hell was magneto's camp? It sure seemed like it was supposed to be northern California. So how did Wolverine ride his motorcycle there from Westchester, NY and back in like a day? For that matter, how did Cyclops ride his motorcycle from Westchester to Alaska? How did the X-Jet fly across the country in a matter of what seemed like minutes? HOW DID ANGEL FLY ON HIS BIRD WINGS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ALMOST AS QUICKLY??? OK, both of those can be explained (the X-Jet is just that fast, and Angel is rich and chartered a jet?), but it was still something that throws you a little.
No matter how hard they try, they can't make Storm really matter much in these movies. The way they have her using her powers is pretty great, but the character still seems wasted, and they also have her pretty ruthlessly kill at least one person, something (GEEK ALERT) Storm would never do in the comics.
Beast's makeup really isn't very good. I liked the character a lot, and his fight scenes were thrilling, but when he's just standing around, he looked cheap. Like, man in blue gorilla suit and blue wig.
It was cool seeing Iceman "ice-up" his body, but the effect looked pretty Playstation.
But the good outweighs the bad. Ian McKellen is, as always, phenomenal. Patric Stewart, in a small role, is great. Famke! I had read that she basically has a silent role. I was surprised by how right that was, but how she remains a huge presence in the movie and how effective her screen time is. Kitty Pryde was awesome. They did really inventive things with the mutant powers in this movie, and Kitty Pryde was no exception.
I don't know. I'll definitely see it again. I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't insist that people should see it, as I did with X2.
So, here's a my revised ranking of the recent crop of super hero movies:
Edited. Thanks, Harry! Thanks, Jason!
1) X2
2) V for Vendetta/Batman Begins
3) Spider-Man 2
4) Spider-Man
5) X-Men: the Last Stand
6) X-Men
7) Hulk
8) Blade
9) Fantastic Four
10) Blade: Trinity
11) Blade 2
12) Daredevil
13) Odious Elektra.
Am I missing any?