X-men

[ShyViolet]

I saw this again last night. (My school had a screening). O.K...I admit I enjoyed the film much more this time, 'cause I wasn't expecting much. (Also I walked in ten minutes late the first time.)


Some of the things that stood out to me are:


1.) Every time Magneto uses his power, he looks constipated.

2.) Pyro's a great character who should have gotten MUCH more screen time. Oh yeah, and he's hot. (no pun intended)

3.) Famke Jennsen does quite a good job considering her character is so incredibly inconsistent from one moment to the next (as well as with everthing that happened in X1 and 2.)

4.) X-Men fans (and comic book/film fans in general) should sign a petition banning Halle Berry from ever coming back as Storm.

5.) Patrick Stewart does his best but this script MANGLES Xavier. He would NEVER tell Wolverine: "I don't need to explain myself, least of all to you." Even if you never read the comics, the brilliant and compassinate Xavier who tried to help Logan in X1 and 2 is nowhere to be found here.

6.) Even though Kelsey Grammer is a joy as Hank McCoy, it's Hugh Jackman that ultimately and pretty much single-handedly saves this film.
Amazing performance, even with this shoddy script. Even with bad one-liners a la Batman and Robin, lines like "G-d help us!" and

that unbelievably cliched scene of holding the dead character while screaming "Noooooooo!"

Jackman makes this film. He IS Wolverine. What an actor.

7.) It's really the core group of actors (Hugh, Kelsey, Anna, James, Ian and Famke--even with Ian's over-acting) that make this film come to life. The directing is just a notch above terrible. Maybe not Michael Bay terrible, but action-movie lame just short of Bad Boys. If this guy had directed Spider-Man, fans would be baying for his blood. The truth is that I've seen episodes of the original X-Men animated series that were far better directed than this. Sorry to say it, but that's how I feel.

8.) I would worship 20th Century Fox forever and ever if they just thanked Ian politely, gave him a check, let him go and hired James Woods as Mr. Sinister. Yup, I would.

[Ben]

Hey, I liked Bay's The Island.

[ShyViolet]

Yeah, and I also kinda liked The Rock and Bad Boys 2. Actually, I just kinda meant bad action films in general....I admit that Bay is a step above most action directors.

BTW Ben, have you seen this yet?

[Ben]

Um, nope.

But the not so good things I've been hearing don't inspire me to jump up and catch it soon. There's still so much else to watch first!

[ShyViolet]

One thing though: people still cracked up at that: "I'm the Juggernaut, b****!" thing. Ha ha.

[ShyViolet]

But the not so good things I've been hearing don't inspire me to jump up and catch it soon. There's still so much else to watch first!

So, what's # 1 on your "gotta watch" list?

[Ben]

I watched "United 93" last night.

Wow.

[Josh]

Good 'wow' or bad 'wow', Ben? I'm guessing the former.

[Ben]

"Wow" wow.

An amazing film. It's still processing through my brain. WTC opens here next week, but my vote for Best Picture next year is already in. "United 93" is an awesome piece of work on many levels, not least that I found it to be a very well balanced film.

There are scenes that, even if they were not based on truth, would still take your breath away. That they are based on true events just hits home harder and Greengrass does a superb job of putting you right on that plane. I certianly felt uncomfortable "being there", and that the other three planes had struck their targets beforehand means that the entire events of that morning can be conveyed without laboring over the already well-worn footage that we all saw. Also, unlike The Perfect Storm, we know what occured due to the telephone accounts the passegners were able to get out. It's all handled exceptionally well, and at the expense of sounding glib, the way events transpired makes strong "storytelling".

"Enjoy" is totally the wrong word to describe it, but the tension that racks up has you glued to it. It's very sensitively handled without ever going overboard or putting in superficial "Hollywood touches" but presents a mainstream movie experience that among other things is expertly made.

Shocking, but in an extremely "positive" way. I think it just came out on DVD in the States, so it's a very highly recommended release.

[ShyViolet]

I'll have to see this one, and WTC too!



I'm glad to hear this about the film. At first I thought it was just exploiting the tradgedy, but if done with respect (like Schindler's List or Amistad) it could be a great work of art.

[ShyViolet]

This is an AWESOME post about what's wrong with Rattner's film from the Superherohype boards:

#77
Nell2ThaIzzay
"X3" Viewing Counter: 7

Nell2ThaIzzay's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 3,422

Default Re: Addressing some concerns, and X3 as a film
I'm sorry, Guard, but you really are turning into an apologist. Just accepting whatever they throw at you because it's what they gave you. And it's ridiculous.

You talk about the inaccuracies of the first 2 films. Were they there? Yes. But they aren't nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

So Wolverine is taller than he is in the comics. Big ****ING DEAL! He's still the SAME CHARACTER. Adapted, with some changes, yes. But he is still the SAME CHARACTER. He's still the nomadic loner, who finds a home and a purpose with the X-Men. He's the one who will do his own thing, but will do whatever is neccesary to protect the ones he loves. I don't see much in the way of inaccuracies in his character, save for some stupid crap like his height, or the fact that Hugh Jackman is considered a handsome man. I don't think Jackman looks all that classically appealing with his "everyday is a bad hairday" do (taken from Premiere magazine) and those long sideburns.

Changing the uniforms? Oh, big whoop dee do, because we all know that these characters are ALL ABOUT THEIR COSTUMES and nothing deeper than that. And yes the change was made for the better of the movie. More colorful costumes were tried out, and they JUST DIDN'T WORK on a real life human being.

Rogue hasn't been changed that much. She always has been insecure about herself, and her powers, and even in her sassy invulnerable, flying, super strength form, she STILL would consider the cure, because she can never touch the people she loves.

Sabretooth wasn't that bad. He didn't have enough time to develop into the fuller character that he really is, but what was there was pretty accurate; a merciless, viscious, brutal, killing machine.

Here are the changes that I will agree with:

Storm: WTF is she angry about? The comic Storm I know doesn't run around talking about how anger helps you survive. She has a purpose, and is a soldier willing to fight for that purpose. And she is also a very compassionate person, who wouldn't tell a dying man that she hates humans sometimes... she'd give him the insight of what mutants are really about, and why she fights the fight she does, to enlighten those uninformed about mutants.

Iceman: He's not a jokester at all in the movies.

Lady Deathstrike: In appearance, all Yuriko Oyama. But character-wise, no resemblance at all.

But wait a minute, Guard... weren't you the one arguing with me a long time ago about how these characters WEREN'T inaccurate? About how someone like Storm should rightfully, and justifiably be angry? And all that? Yes... you were. Make up your mind, man. Don't start flipping your arguements when it suits you. These characters are either all done justice, or inaccurate from the beginning. Not one when it suits you, only to go to the other in another arguement later on.

You can make your excuses all you want. But Bryan Singer was not as inaccurate as people want to make it out to be. The reason why his vision was "perfect" (and that's in my opinion, mind you, and I have the right to think something is done perfectly if I damn well please), was because he found the balance between comic book accuracy, and bringing it to the big screen in a believable way for the masses. And the way I see it, his serious take on the X-Men, and making these world seem as believable as possible, is a very respectful thing to the source material and it's fans.

I think making such a major deviation, like what's being made with Cyclops and the Phoenix Saga, is not respectful. And yammer on and on as much as you want about how this isn't the "PHOENIX SAGA" it's just "The Dark Phoenix appearing in the movies"... there is still a storyline to how the Phoenix / Dark Phoenix comes about. And there is still a story to how it's resolved. And unlike something like the cure storyline, or something like that, the entire story arc is totally character driven... it's what these characters feel for each other, their relationships with one another, that drives the story, and brings it to it's resolution. It's not just some "Oh ****, there's some pissed off ***** that wants to blow up the world" storyline. And that's why it's so well loved. Because of it's depth.

Throw the planets and galaxies and suns and Shi'Ar Empires out the window. Bring it down to earth. Ground it in reality. It gives it more emotion that way.

But don't ruin the essence of what this story is about... the undying love and unbreakable bond between a man and a woman; Cyclops and Jean.

The essence of this world, and the characters, has never been in question in this franchise up until this point. Cosmetic changes may have been made to the characters, and some very minor, non defining character traits maybe left out. But the foundation for this world is the foundation for the comic books. The foundations of who these characters are are the same foundations of who they are in the comic books.

But now, all of a sudden, the movies decide to break that foundation, and make up a totally new story. These may be different takes, a different universe, on the X-Men and it's characters, but it's STILL THE X-MEN! You lose the foundation of the characters, and it ceases to be the X-Men anymore. Do you mean to tell me that Batman & Robin is a perfectly valid take on Batman, just because it's a "different" take and was never meant to be the comic?

Because that's what you're saying in your arguement. That it's okay to change, and forsake the source material, just because it's "not the comic", which is the lamest excuse I've ever heard.

Watch it and accept it for what it is, yes. But if it's BASED on something, keep it accurate to what you're basing it on. Are you saying that Peter Jackson shouldn't have gone through the trouble of remaining true to the Lord of the Rings movies, just because it's a different take? Give me a ****ing break.
__________________

[ShyViolet]

Hmmm.....apparently there were THREE alternate endings to this film!


Maybe I will get the DVD after all. (It also has ten deleted scenes)

[ShyViolet]

I know I linked to the Editing Room before, but this script is SOOOO funny I just had to paste it. I can't stop laughing every time I read it.


WARNING: LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!


I bleeped out the few obsenities with ****, but if it's still not appropriate, feel free to delete.

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND: THE ABRIDGED SCRIPT™
By Rod Hilton
FADE IN:


EXT. SUBURBS - 20 YEARS AGO


YOUNG PATRICK STEWART and YOUNG IAN MCKELLEN enter the home of YOUNG FAMKE JANSSEN.


YOUNG PATRICK STEWART
I'm really surprised they bothered to use digital effects to make us look younger rather than just hire younger actors that look like us.


YOUNG IAN MCKELLEN
What's even more surprising is that they apparently did it without watching movies we were in 20 years ago. You'd think it'd be easier to make you look like Picard than it is to make you look like an alien.


YOUNG PATRICK STEWART
At least I don't look like a transvestite.


YOUNG FAMKE JANSSEN
I am a very strong mutant.


She proves this by lifting cars in the neighborhood, which apparently is something the residents are used to.


INT. PROFESSOR PATRICK STEWART'S SCHOOL


PATRICK is giving a lecture about ethics.


PATRICK STEWART
...as I was saying, would it be ethical for me, as a telepath, to insert my mind into the body of a person in a persistent vegetative state if I were to, say, be killed by a super strong mutant that lifts cars?


STUDENT
What a completely random question that absolutely isn't being asked so that it can be used later on in the film.


Suddenly, KELSEY GRAMMAR enters.


KELSEY GRAMMAR
Patrick! There is a "cure" for being a mutant!


HALLE BERRY
A cure? But there's nothing wrong with us!


KELSEY GRAMMAR
...


HALLE BERRY
I mean, unless you count being covered in bright blue fur, being unable to touch someone, or having mental powers so uncontrollable that you are a danger to the entire world.


KELSEY GRAMMAR
What the hell do you do, again?


HALLE BERRY
My mutant power is being able to manipulate people into giving me the lead in this movie despite being a shockingly bad actress.


PATRICK STEWART
In any case, this cure could lead to a giant mutant war. Not so giant that it involves any of the interesting characters from the X-Men comic books, but definitely giant enough for a small handful.


Meanwhile...


HUGH JACKMAN confronts JAMES MARSDEN.


HUGH JACKMAN
Hey man, what's your problem?


JAMES MARSDEN
Look at me! I'm stubbly! It's one full day since I've shaved! I'm a f****** wreck.


HUGH JACKMAN
Look, I know you're having a tough time with the loss of Famke...


JAMES MARSDEN
What? No, I'm p*****d off because Halle Berry managed to negotiate her way into being the team leader instead of me. Halle Berry, man. F******* Catwoman.


JAMES speeds away on his bike.


Meanwhile...


INT. UNDERGROUND LAIR


A bunch of mutants are gathered around, arguing about the cure. IAN MCKELLEN and his henchman AARON STANFORD enter.


IAN MCKELLEN
They're going to use the cure on us and remove our powers! Then you'd be able to come out of hiding, how much would that s***k?


DIANA RAMIREZ and KEN LEUNG approach.


DIANA RAMIREZ
I'd join your group, but I saw what you supposedly looked like 20 years ago and couldn't stop laughing.


AARON STANFORD
(lights a fireball)
Do you know who you're talking to?


KEN LEUNG
(spikes protrude from face)
Do you?


AARON STANFORD
Er, wait. I just made fire in my hands. Did you really just try to intimidate me by turning into a porcupine?


KEN LEUNG
Don't f*** with me, or I'll trick you into giving me a hug and then kill you.


DIANA RAMIREZ
I can detect other mutants and their powers.


IAN MCKELLEN
How convenient to the plot. You're hired. Let's go pick up some more mutants, since both of your powers are basically s***.


They pick up REBECCA ROMIJN, VINNIE JONES, and ERIC DANE.


IAN MCKELLEN
Welcome back, Rebecca. So what are everyone's powers?


VINNIE JONES
I'm big. And dumb. And I wear a stupid-looking helmet, just like you.


ERIC DANE
I can make copies of myself.


REBECCA ROMIJN
Juggernaut and Multiple Man? Wow, we're really scraping the bottom of the f****** comic book barrel here.


IAN MCKELLEN
Oh well, I'm sure the writers will figure out a way to awkwardly shoehorn in a use for your powers.


Suddenly, REBECCA is shot with a CURE BULLET. She turns into a regular human


IAN MCKELLEN
Oh. Well, f**** you then, human.


AARON STANFORD
Seriously? That's pretty d***. You sure that won't come bite you later?


IAN MCKELLEN
What can she possibly do? She's only been my most trusted confidant and sidekick for the entire series, making her privy to a wealth of information on how I think and what my plans are.


They also recruit FAMKE JANSSEN, who has killed the s*** out of JAMES and PATRICK.


INT. PROFESSOR PATRICK STEWART'S SCHOOL


Everyone sees on TV that IAN and his group are heading to ALCATRAZ in order to destroy the cure.


KELSEY GRAMMAR
We have to stop him, even though we basically want the cure destroyed too.


HALLE BERRY
Well with Patrick and James gone, I guess I'm the leader. Let's suit up and save the day!


HUGH JACKMAN
I can't believe we're being led by the woman whose best quip was that a toad dies when it gets struck by lightning.


HALLE BERRY
Alright, everyone! Mutant roll call!


KELSEY GRAMMAR
Beast, with the power of being strong! Also acrobatics skill that I won't use in the movie.


DANIEL CUDMORE
Colossus, also with the power of being strong!


SHAWN ASHMORE
Iceman, with power to make things cold.


ELLEN PAGE
And me, Shadowcat, with power to walk through things. I'm basically a lamer version of Nightcrawler, who isn't in the movie for some reason.


HUGH JACKMAN
This is it? This is the big team for the climax of the movie? Why the hell did we even bother making this thing?


EXT. ALCATRAZ


There is a long battle. IAN MCKELLEN throws cars at people and AARON lights them on fire.


AARON STANFORD
Couldn't you just use the metal in the cars as bullets like you did in the last movie? What's the point of me lighting them on fire?


IAN MCKELLEN
Well, what's the point in bothering with any of this when Famke can just destroy everyone with her mind?


AARON STANFORD
Um.. To needlessly pad the scene with superfluous action in order to compensate for the lackluster script?


IAN MCKELLEN
Attaboy.


They FIGHT more. Eventually, most of the new characters are killed and IAN is "cured". FAMKE goes f****** BATS**** CRAZY on everything.


HUGH JACKMAN
The only way to stop you from killing everyone is to kill you, Famke!


FAMKE JENSEEN
Well, you could throw the cure mutant kid at me.


KELSEY GRAMMAR
Or we could have saved a few of the cure vials for Famke, rather than stick all four of them in Ian for no reason.


HUGH JACKMAN
Nope, it's definitely the thing where I kill her.


He DOES.


INT. PROFESSOR PATRICK STEWART'S SCHOOL


There is a funeral for FAMKE.


HUGH JACKMAN
So, James and Famke are dead, Anna Paquin is cured, Nightcrawler is absent, Ian McKellen is cured, Rebecca Romijn is gone, most of the memorable villains have been killed, and the X-Men are being led by the star of Gothika.


HALLE BERRY
Yep. I can't wait to see how great the fourth movie is!

[/b][/i]

[Ben]

Fun.

[ShyViolet]

This is the script from X1: I'm hiding it so it doesn't take up too much space.

BTW I mostly like X1, but it does have quite a few flaws.

X-MEN: THE ABRIDGED SCRIPT™
By Rod Hilton
FADE IN:

EXT. SNOWY ROAD

HUGH JACKMAN discovers ANNA PAQUIN

ANNA PAQUIN
I am a mutant too! You should take me under your wing as a pseudo father figure for my dejected self. Perhaps I can develop a crush on you later that makes the tension between us kind of weird.

HUGH JACKMAN
Sure, bub. What's your power?

ANNA PAQUIN
I can pout.
(pouting)
See? I am so alone and rejected from this world. Boo hoo.

Suddenly, TYLER MANE arrives.

TYLER MANE
MEOW! Someone forgot to empty my damn litter box! Grrrrr!

He throws HUGH around a bit until JAMES MARSDEN and HALLE BERRY show up and blast TYLER MANE.

HUGH JACKMAN
Who the hell are you?

JAMES MARSDEN
We're X-men. I have the ability to take up part of any given frame of a movie yet seem like I'm not here at all thanks to my zero dimensional personality.

HALLE BERRY
I am a master of the script. I can recite lines word for word from the screenplay without any emotion at all.

JAMES MARSDEN
Join us at Picard's mansion.

INT. PATRICK STEWART'S MANSION SCHOOL

PATRICK wheels around, watching gifted children with special powers whose names allude to other x-men characters to come of age in sequels.

ANNA PAQUIN
I am young, take me in! Help!

HUGH JACKMAN
I am a loner, a rebel. I reject the rules of this school. What are your powers, anyway?

PATRICK STEWART
My mind-reading abilities allow me to know exactly how to say my absurd lines in a way that doesn't cause people to lose respect for my acting abilities. If you stay at my school and help us in our sequel-inspiring adventures, perhaps one day you will discover the identities of the men behind your experiments.

HUGH JACKMAN
Will my discoveries be anything like revelations in the comic book in which all of the main mutants happen to be related to all of the others in some obscure way that is only revealed when storylines are running dry?

PATRICK STEWART
Only time and sequels will tell.

INT. SENATE HEARING

BRUCE DAVISON
I am a bigot! I am very much against mutants! Mutants should die! Do you want mutants in our schools? Do you want mutants raising your children? God commands that mutants are abhorrent! I propose a bill which will immediately outlaw the Mutant Pride Parade and blow up San Francisco, home to many mutants!

FAMKE JANSSEN
Mutants are just like regular people. Except with powers. They should have the same rights as everyone else.

HUMANITY
Boo! Mutants suck! Outlaw mutant marriages!

DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER
Gosh, humans are AWFULLY INTOLERANT of other people. Like gay people, who the mutants in this movie do not symbolize, I swear.

IAN MCKELLEN abducts BRUCE and ANNA PAQUIN and takes them onto a helicopter where REBECCA ROMIJN guards them and shapeshifts.

BRUCE DAVISON
Oh my Holy God, creator of all humanity and hater of mutants! You can shapeshift!!

REBECCA ROMIJN
Yeah. You wouldn't know how to transfer powers, would you? I'd kill to turn John Stamos into someone else.

BRUCE DAVISON
Hey, I've been wanting to ask you, did it ever kind of creep you out that he spent his career calling his wife on the show Full House "Rebecca" and then married you?

REBECCA ROMIJN
(kicking Bruce repeatedly)
F*** you! At least he's not David Copperfield!

BRUCE DAVISON
Ow! Ow! Ow! I had to go after mutants, didn't I? I couldn't just attack Napster, nooooo. I had to attack freaks that know kung fu.

RAY PARK
We're here.

IAN MCKELLEN
Muahaha. I shall first turn Bruce into some kind of water mutant.

He does this.

IAN MCKELLEN (cont’d)
For my next trick, I will use Anna Paquin to turn all of the world's leaders into mutants on Ellis Island. Either that or I will kill them, whatever.

INT. PATRICK STEWART'S MANSION SCHOOL

PATRICK STEWART
We must get Anna back. Everyone go to the statue of liberty to have an anti- climactic battle. Use the high-tech, CGI jet.

Everyone piles into the jet.

HUGH JACKMAN
This is stupid.

HALLE takes the wheel and flies the jet to Ellis Island. On the way, she hits another jet and speeds away as quickly as she can.

They arrive and battle bad guys.

RAY PARK slimes FAMKE and p****s off HALLE a whole lot. She flies up, cape whipping behind her, making a very intimidating entrance.

HALLE BERRY
Do you know what happens to a Ray Park when he's struck by lightning?
(pause)
The same thing that happens to everything else!

RAY PARK
What? That was lame.

She zaps him into the water. JAMES zaps the RAY PARK GOO off of FAMKE.

DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER
Please notice that these mutants, rejected by society for being different, are doing battle on the Statue of Liberty. Symbol of equality. Eh? EH?

HUGH tries to save ANNA, strapped into an EVIL MACHINE, but IAN uses his powers to stop him.

HUGH JACKMAN
Shoot him, dammit!

JAMES MARSDEN
I can't! I..uh.. I'll get you and Anna.

HUGH JACKMAN
You blasted Ray Park Spit off your girlfriend's face! You have to have some pretty good control of that thing.

JAMES MARSDEN
Um, no, sorry, I can't shoot to help you.

The expanding bubble of mutant-making radiation from the machine is getting closer to the RICH, IMPORTANT PEOPLE.

JAMES MARSDEN (cont’d)
Okay, now I can shoot him.

He shoots him and saves the day in the nick of time!

INT. PLASTIC JAIL CELL

IAN and PATRICK are playing chess.

IAN MCKELLEN
This chess game is civilized and dignified, yet with an undertone of strong competition and battle, much like our typical interactions.

PATRICK STEWART
Astute of you to notice that, old friend and also arch-nemesis.

IAN MCKELLEN
This plastic prison can't hold me until the sequel, Patrick.

PATRICK STEWART
Obviously. Hell, you could just use your powers to control the iron in a guard's blood to kill him and steal his most likely metal keys to escape.

DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER
Um, quiet. See you in a few years, everyone!