X-Men Movies Thread

[Vernadyn]

I'm glad you like it; the only track I like is "Welcome Back - End Titles," especially when Charles's theme plays in counterpoint to the main theme (absurdly, the main theme only appears here, in the Main Titles, and in fragmented form in one of the later tracks). I personally didn't care for anything else; Charles's theme reminded me a bit too much of "Time" from Inception, which I'm not too fond of in the first place. I would have loved to hear John Powell or Henry Jackman return to the franchise. Ottman can do decent work, as Astro Boy and The Usual Suspects prove.

Right now, though, I'm enjoying the heck out of James Newton Howard's awe-inspiring score to Maleficent. And John Powell's HTTYD 2 had me in raptures when I first heard it; it's that good.

[Ben]

Maleficent is excellent, though the main recurring theme is reminding me of something else I can't put my finger on. The movie itself is pretty nifty too!

[Dacey]

Wow, really? Everything I've heard about the movie so far has made me think I'll hate it.

Oh, well, expectations raised a bit now.

[Ben]

We didn't have a thread but I was going to post some comments at somepoint.

Of course, its not the 1959 Sleeping Beauty, and any movie with such a big star was always going to retool the story to make her sympathetic, but Angie is just so good in this. For a summer blockbuster retelling of a classic movie that strides the balance of pleasing fans and providing 2014 moviegoers with a movie they can relate to, Maleficent is very impressive for the most part.

[ShyViolet]

I'm glad you like it; the only track I like is "Welcome Back - End Titles," especially when Charles's theme plays in counterpoint to the main theme (absurdly, the main theme only appears here, in the Main Titles, and in fragmented form in one of the later tracks). I personally didn't care for anything else; Charles's theme reminded me a bit too much of "Time" from Inception, which I'm not too fond of in the first place. I would have loved to hear John Powell or Henry Jackman return to the franchise. Ottman can do decent work, as Astro Boy and The Usual Suspects prove.

Right now, though, I'm enjoying the heck out of James Newton Howard's awe-inspiring score to Maleficent. And John Powell's HTTYD 2 had me in raptures when I first heard it; it's that good.

Thanks Vernadyn. That's great to hear about the HTTYD 2 score, I'm really looking forward to hearing it. I love the Usual Suspects score too!

[Vernadyn]

Maleficent is excellent, though the main recurring theme is reminding me of something else I can't put my finger on. The movie itself is pretty nifty too!

It sounds very similar to Isabelle's theme (Chloe Moretz's character) from Hugo. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other similar themes from elsewhere, though. It is a very simple theme, especially compared to others that JNH has written, but he does such great things with it.

Thanks Vernadyn. That's great to hear about the HTTYD 2 score, I'm really looking forward to hearing it. I love the Usual Suspects score too!

You're welcome; I've found that it's unsatisfying for me to deride others for liking something I don't, provided that they present their opinions respectfully (which I know I don't always do myself). Yeah, Ottman kind of came charging out of the gate with Usual Suspects…would that he could write like that more often. And if HTTYD 2 the movie is half as good as its score, we'll be in for a real treat.

[Ben]

So I saw this on Tuesday night...and was quite impressed!

Much better than expected, even given the goodish reviews, and the battles against the Sentinels were excellently realised. Whatever's going on with Singer right now, and I'm not a great fan in general, he puts himself back in the superhero movie game with this, a series that he rightly should never have left. I can't ever forgive Superman Retard, but if the next X is as good as this then he'll at least have some begrudging respect.

I didn't think we needed more Sentinel fights at all, though I was worried, as some people have said, about the talky nature of the script. But there was enough action and, dare I say it, visual invention, to see it all through well, though I didn't see why Magneto needed to cordon off the White House like he did, and there were, as usual, a good couple of plot holes. But it skated through it all and after reading comments here I did make a point of listening out for Ottman's score, too, which is indeed a good one, and his editing was very tight too, unlike SR which was loose and flabby even within scenes. Not sure it's a score I need to have though...as always with him, I find he can come up with good themes and motifs but then struggles to provide a throwaway underscore to the more mundane moments. It's telling when the best use of music in a film's score is when a popular song is used - such is the case here with Time In A Bottle, easily the most memorable scene in this film.

Not a great all-round wide-audience pleaser like Superman or Spidey 2 (my wife thought it was a load of old balls, for one!), but it was a very decent superhero flick for that demographic. The tease for the next one didn't really seem to promise much, to me, but here's hoping it builds on this and makes it a must-see. The X films seem to be following a stronger path than the not-so "amazing" Spider-Man series at the moment, and Disney seems pretty content to let the Donners and Fox continue along the present line. It'll be a shame to say goodbye to the original crew, especially since no-one directs Hugh Jackman's Wolverine like Singer, but I did like how all the previous films were tied in (and not just the Singer ones). Even with discrepancies, it's clear the correct viewing line is First Class, Origins: Wolverine (such a shame they never did the other characters), X-Men, X2, The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and Days Of Future Pass (given the time lapsed), then Apocalypse.

As with Harry Potter, I'm happy to wait until this cycle of movies comes to an end before I get the inevitable all-in box set, but DOFP will be a big reason to get it when it eventually comes.

[ShyViolet]

Really glad you liked it Ben! I loved, loved, loved it and saw it twice. Was amazing both times. Can't wait for X-Men: A!

[ShyViolet]

Precise setting of X-Men:A revealed:

http://www.cinemablend.com/m/new/X-Men- ... 43461.html

Spoilers!!!!if you haven't seen DOFP.

[ShyViolet]

Actually (because of the legal stuff) still not totally a go that Singer's going to do XMA. Not trying to open up controversy here or anything, just a news update:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Bryan-Si ... 43392.html

[Dacey]

As I said when the scandal first broke out, all hopes of him returning for Apocalypse pretty much went down the drain that day. We can only hope they find a replacement quickly so things can get back on track at a smooth pace (as opposed to them having to rush to find someone at the last minute).

[ShyViolet]

Hope they get someone good, Singer's a tough act to follow when it comes to X-Men (IMHO). Just please please please, as I said before, not Michael Bay or anyone resembling him! DOFP and X2 had real resonance and themes going on under the surface. Anyway, it's still not official that he's not doing it (after all DOFP was a gigantic success) so let's wait and see how it plays out.

[Ben]

"Visionary"...? Wow, really? No...no...

Even I, with my "insider knowledge" of what Singer got up to on the set of Valkerie, of all things, would like to see him back in the chair for X-Men: Apocalypse. If that's not possible for whatever reasons, then I wonder if Vaughn would be interested in coming back...

[Dacey]

I'm sure that Vaughn would be interested...until he decided that he wasn't (which, unfortunately, is what happened with Kick-Ass 2, resulting in....blech, I'm still not ready to talk it about it).

[eddievalient]

Even I, with my "insider knowledge" of what Singer got up to on the set of Valkerie...

Don't believe the hype, Ben. Singer's lawyer presented evidence proving that neither he nor the accuser were in Hawaii at the time he was claiming they were. Cased closed, right? Sadly, no. Less than a month later, the same troll of a lawyer filed yet another lawsuit on behalf of "John Doe" (which is a BS way of making Singer's team have to work harder to prove that this guy is lying too). Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, because generally I'm not, but come on. This is a witch hunt. I don't know why someone would be out to get Singer, but it has become obvious to anyone with a functioning brain cell that someone is. This has gone beyond a nuisance suit. Whoever it is that has it out for him, it's personal.