No, it wasn't a marathon of war or Godzilla movies, we went to the theater last night. Since my parents declared that it had been awhile since I got to pick the movie, and they're not kidding, we went to see X-men 3. If I pretend I've never read the comic, I thought the movie was very entertaining and will go in the collection when it comes out on DVD.
But let's face it: I grew up on the comic and loved it in the '80's. I also read reprints of the '70's issues and loved those as well. True, I stopped reading it during the Gambit-Psychlocke-Jubilee era of the '90s but I kept abreast (After all, Storm's and Jean Grey's boobs were the size of their heads!) of what was going on and read the "Generation X" comic.
The movies have never followed the comics, or at least not as well as the Spider-man or even Fantastic Four movies have, but this new one tops, or "bottoms" them all in this department. Why did Juggernaught keep taking off his helmet? That's how you stop him! And did anyone notice Omega Red in the film? Of course you didn't because his make-up was so off from what he looks like in the comic. So too the Morlocks, Callisto and Leech. Callisto is supposed to look like a alcoholic Chrissie Hynde with an eye patch (I did love the fights between her and Storm, however, as it references the their battle for control of the Morlocks.) and Leech basically looks like a young Gollum with a knit cap.
The other comic reference I really enjoyed was when Colossus would toss Wolverine in the air. I remember them doing that all the time in the comic. I also thought the casting of Kelsey Grammer as Beast was perfect but the script really didn't give him a chance to really show it.
I understand wanting to do the whole "cure" plot if this is indeed the final movie but having the set up for the Dark Phoenix saga then just brushing it aside with some explanation of "telekinetic cocoons" and split personalities is way too lame. Not only would Professor X and Cyclops not have died, they would have had decent storylines to boot!
I was reading somewhere that the reason Gambit wasn't added to the film was because their choice Josh Holloway felt the character was too close to his "Sawyer" character on Lost. Ok, yes, they're both con men but Gambit has a Cajun accent and blows shit up. Of course Peter's Russian accent is mysteriously missing so we'll never know... I do think he would have been out of place anyway as Beast and Angel are two characters known for their need to be rid of their mutantness.(Can I point out here that Beast was not born with blue fur so his fur shouldn't have receded near Leech. His feet should have shrunken.) I do not recall that about Gambit at all so he'd merely be eye candy for some producer anyway.
Now that the series is over, for now anyway, can someone finally explain to me why the ages and costumes were changed so much from the comic in this series? Really only Professor X, Storm (What was up with the Tina Turner hair?), Cyclops, Beast, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Magneto and Mystique where done all that accurately. Ice Man was one of the original X-Men as was Angel. Why couldn't they make them older? Why are they all in black leather? Spider-man, Fantastic Four, the upcoming Ghost Rider and even Daredevil looked like the comic and looked just fine on the big screen.
But let's face it: I grew up on the comic and loved it in the '80's. I also read reprints of the '70's issues and loved those as well. True, I stopped reading it during the Gambit-Psychlocke-Jubilee era of the '90s but I kept abreast (After all, Storm's and Jean Grey's boobs were the size of their heads!) of what was going on and read the "Generation X" comic.
The movies have never followed the comics, or at least not as well as the Spider-man or even Fantastic Four movies have, but this new one tops, or "bottoms" them all in this department. Why did Juggernaught keep taking off his helmet? That's how you stop him! And did anyone notice Omega Red in the film? Of course you didn't because his make-up was so off from what he looks like in the comic. So too the Morlocks, Callisto and Leech. Callisto is supposed to look like a alcoholic Chrissie Hynde with an eye patch (I did love the fights between her and Storm, however, as it references the their battle for control of the Morlocks.) and Leech basically looks like a young Gollum with a knit cap.
The other comic reference I really enjoyed was when Colossus would toss Wolverine in the air. I remember them doing that all the time in the comic. I also thought the casting of Kelsey Grammer as Beast was perfect but the script really didn't give him a chance to really show it.
I understand wanting to do the whole "cure" plot if this is indeed the final movie but having the set up for the Dark Phoenix saga then just brushing it aside with some explanation of "telekinetic cocoons" and split personalities is way too lame. Not only would Professor X and Cyclops not have died, they would have had decent storylines to boot!
I was reading somewhere that the reason Gambit wasn't added to the film was because their choice Josh Holloway felt the character was too close to his "Sawyer" character on Lost. Ok, yes, they're both con men but Gambit has a Cajun accent and blows shit up. Of course Peter's Russian accent is mysteriously missing so we'll never know... I do think he would have been out of place anyway as Beast and Angel are two characters known for their need to be rid of their mutantness.(Can I point out here that Beast was not born with blue fur so his fur shouldn't have receded near Leech. His feet should have shrunken.) I do not recall that about Gambit at all so he'd merely be eye candy for some producer anyway.
Now that the series is over, for now anyway, can someone finally explain to me why the ages and costumes were changed so much from the comic in this series? Really only Professor X, Storm (What was up with the Tina Turner hair?), Cyclops, Beast, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Magneto and Mystique where done all that accurately. Ice Man was one of the original X-Men as was Angel. Why couldn't they make them older? Why are they all in black leather? Spider-man, Fantastic Four, the upcoming Ghost Rider and even Daredevil looked like the comic and looked just fine on the big screen.
Comments
Because they chose Rogue and Wolverine as the vehicles to introduce us to the X-Men, all the ages and stuff shifted according to tell the story, which was FINE. Rogue was a better choice than Shadowcat or Jubliee in terms of personality and mutant power. And she needs a love interest...Iceman was a good choice because even though he's an original X-men, he's notorious for his immaturity and whining. May as well cut the whining, make him actually immature in age, and use him as a direct foil to Pyro.
Personally, I thought the only reason they brough Angel into these movies was the amazingly striking special effects awesomeness when he was onscreen. He was really too tenative too briefly onscreen to divine any other reason he'd be there.
I loved X-Men I, and thought X-Men II was merely serviceable, and you know what I thought about X-Men III. I'm sick of ppl who are like, "as an action movie, it was great". Well, then just make an action movie then. Don't mess around with an American icon that has decades of rich storytelling and genuine heart and strip it down as an excuse to blow stuff up in interesting new ways and use mutants as metaphors for whatever minority cause we're championing this time around...
I loved the first two movies myself actually but I was just questioning the need for most of the changes they made within them. Yes, Rogue's back story is hella more interesting than Kitty's...
I don't look at the third one as good enough because of the action. I thought the plot was passable enough, if inaccurate, and the little references I mentioned already were cool as was digitally de-aging Prof. X and Magneto.