ok, ill admit it, i liked this movie. when i first saw it, my reaction was "sensory overload"; i thought there was way, way too much screen time which was an explosion or something. it was kinda like there were so many characters(they wanted to introduce most of the comics characters becuase this was the last film) and plot lines to hit that the only way to keep people attentive was to blow something up every 2 minutes. that said, its very well-done action. i like how so many mutant powers were used in interesting ways. and having a different line-up of x-men for the final battle was interesting. visually the film was impressive. and each character did have an emotional arc of some sort, and the story of every mutant tied into the overall theme of the movie very well and drove it home.
Agreed.
reading some of the criticisms, im kinda blown away. its like having the stereotype of the basement-dwelling comic nerd comfirmed. what woudl be the point of just making exact adaptations of everything in the comics? that would be silly.
Gee, I don't know, what was the point of making a relatively faithful movie adaption of 'Gone with the Wind'? Or 'Jurassic Park'? Or 'Harry Potter'? Or frakking 'Twilight'? No I'm not saying that comic books are necessarily of a similar literary caliber, but when it comes to
ADAPTING A SOURCE MATERIAL why they hell shouldn't they at least try to keep it resembling what they're adapting, especially when they seemed to 'stray' for reasons rather lacking motivation?
one of the reasons why i like the ultimate x-men is that i dont have to have encyclopedic knowledge of the history to enjoy the book. same for the movies. personally, having the same plot elements and characters arranged differnetly shakes it up a bit. and i cant honestly imagine a blue spandex outfit with yellow briefs worn on the outside translating very well to the big screen.
'Ultimate' is exactly what it sounds like - an 'Ultimate' version of the history, for, among other things, the purpose you cite - bringing in new or casual readers who fear getting into the history of the characters. I'd argue, however, that if you were to try to start reading an 'Ultimate' series from mid-way through it you might have a hard time without understanding the history of those particular characters.
the comic-book geeks also have to admit that the reason so much shit was thrown in the last film was becuase if it wasn't they would bitch about this/that being left out. the reason the pheonix story was in there was becuase it was such and important part of the comics.
You're right and wrong. They had a weak story and felt that by padding it out with fanwank they could appease enough people to get them to come see the movie/buy the DVDs.
i guess the biggest problem of the film was the two story arcs: pheonix and the cure. but even there i feel they were woven together thematically. the question posed by the cure concerns human diversity: are differences gifts which we as a society benefit from, defects which must be cured; or as magneto thinks, the cure itself. the pheonix fits into this well; xavier thinks that jeans gifts are valuable and worth keeping, but that to live peacefully with others the pheonix cannot be unleashed. magneto thinks it should and its only natural. so thematically, if not so much in the plot, the two stories tie together.
I agree. That's why the adaptation of the Phoenix, while lacking in some respects, worked for me.
and the whole movie was a metaphor for gay rights. that was subtle enough to get by on a concious level but present enough to be felt. very well done.
In fact, that was one of Bryan Singer's original goals with the first film. Bryan is an openly gay director, and as such, those rights are very personal for him. He saw the idea of being a mutant as a good metaphor for homosexuality and similar issues, and ran with it, to pretty good success IMO.
