Well, not really, I had a planned post, but I don't know if I'll have time to get through it all. I'm getting to this approximately 6 hours later in the day than I'd initially expected, so I'll likely have to pick up the torch where ever it is that I end. Standard assortment of mini-posts to follow.
Your stop, sir.
So, I've discovered that being the only person in the family to have a car with more than 2 doors has pretty much pidgeonholed me into the lovely duty of family chauffeur. Not a serious issue, but this certainly wasn't originally as planned (in my defense, all the vehicles in the family minus my father's had 4 doors when I got the CRV).
X III, the Last Stand (Yes, Spoilers)
So, I went with the family to see X-3. Preface to this, I must admit that I did not go into the movie expecting to see my comic book re-portrayed on the screen as it played out there. I'd have to have been a fool if I expected this, because honestly, you know from the first that certain elements have changed. What did I want out of this movie? I wanted some good explosions, convincing characters, and at least as much side-line showboating as I got in the second movie. If you're asking yourself what side-line showboating I'm speaking of, I mean the scene where William Striker's forces are storming the academy. We get to see Siren (it's a girl, so it's not Banshee), Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat, Colossus, Arcade (I can only assume based on his interactions with the television) and even a glimse of a girl with giant square earrings whom one can only conjecture must be Jubilee, even if she's not wearing the traditional flourescent yellow raincoat. So, bearing this in mind, how does the movie stack up:
Are the characters true to their comic book selves? Yes, all their actions fit what I'd expect. No one does anything that had me questioning motives or reasoning. Is it fully satisfactory? Not quite. There are a lot of things that don't totally add up across the pages. Mystique selling out Magneto after he abandons her for becoming human? Totally within the realm of both their characters. Magneto getting angry at Pyro when the latter suggests he'd have killed Xavier, again fits, though it leaves an odd juxtaposition of ideals that never gets resolved properly (though taking them both out and ending the Brotherhood does alright).
The dialogue could've done with a bit more. Not in any specific venue but across the board there are exchanges that could've been intensified. Kelsey Grammer as Beast? Wonderful, and he has some of the best lines in the movie ("I cannot believe this once fit me"). Juggernaught and Kitty? Not so great. Senseless pandering and namecalling. Though I fully concede that Shadowcat's mocking of Juggernaught was justified, Juggernaught isn't really much of a comedic relief character. Magneto was great, wonderful. He was everything Emp. Palapatine should have been. Phoenix was great too, angry, conflicted, powerful (to continue, I always hated Phoenix. She was trite for far far too long in the comics/show, and served as a consistant annoyance in my opinion).
The effects are wonderful, with exceptions. I've gotta admit I was a bit miffed at the family in the car on the bridge scene. They get such attention, yet when it comes time to the be hurling cars and blasting them with flame, it seems to have completely been forgotten. The moon rising up over the Alcatraz complex? Despite a bright, midday battle? Every car with it's lights on? Those sorts of oversights are not forgivable, though they can be overlooked. The lack of a response from Angel's father post-recue by his pariah son? Again troubling, but at least not out of character that time.
Where I really feel the show needed help was the characters. Did Magneto's secondary wave of minions (Ie, not Multiple Man, not Jugger, not Pyro, but the lesser Brotherhood members) have any real identity? No, they did not. Spike was a recoignizable, if foolish and shortlived character. The rest of them, while appropriate, were virtual nameless plot devices. Mainly the Mutant-Senser, the other two were just there to show the type of brutes the Magneto employed (Well, at least blowfish was, the other one, the Chameleon, didn't even do much except help throw Angel's father out of the window). The Shockwave one (I don't even know what gender he/she was supposed to be) was again just used to destroy the guns that had been modified to stop Magneto, as opposed to having him rip up a bridge girder or defensive tower and smashing in through the weapons in an arcing blow (Ignoring the question of why there were no weapons inside the building).
Watch the credits (not the post-credits, that's another discussion in and of itself) and you'll note credits given specifically to Psylocke and Jubilee. Did either of them manifest their powers, prove their identity, no. Did my favorite X-man make a show, of course not, if he hadn't by the second there was no way to have him make much of a magical appearance. Iceman becoming truly Iceman was great though, and the combat tactics of our team of 6 was fitting and fun ("Don't ever do that again"). Exavier's unnecessary foreshadowing, not needed.
The post credits is interesting, and anyone who doesn't stay through the credits is a fool at any movie in general, extras or not. I don't think they'll make another movie. Honestly, I'd love one, get some different characters some screentime, but I don't think it's likely. I'm just biding time for Pirates II now, although the Snakes on a Plane trailer was amusing, mostly for audience reaction.
