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tellitslant...in which Jean Grey takes a page out of Willow Rosenberg's book, several fights from the comics are re-envisioned, and surprisingly enough, Storm is the best-written character. Yeah, I didn't expect to say that either. *g*
OK, first off, why in god's name did Dark Phoenix look EXACTLY like Evil Willow? The Phoenix Effect from the comics would have been more impressive, probably technically easier to execute, and also NOT LIFTED RIGHT FROM BUFFY. Ahem.
My main worry coming in was how on earth they were going to manage doing the Dark Phoenix storyline successfully in a film where it wasn't the main plot. The answer: they sacrificed most emotional intensity and the actual meaning of the story. So many bits and pieces didn't have the necessary emotional impact. Magneto didn't get a chance to react to losing Charles (well, the bits where he did, the little choked "Charles" in the Greys' house and the bit with Pyro, were of course excellent, but not enough: after all, he lost Charles and Mystique and there needed to be something addressing that). Xavier's death was overshadowed by Jackman and Berry weeping and wailing. Cyclops' death was better, because it was the trigger for Jean. Jean's death was good in theory, but the execution caused it to be outshone by the special effects. I just didn't react to a lot of what I was meant to. Oh, and Rogue abandoning her powers left me flat. Rogue's wandering accent sure amused me, though.
In addition, I don't think the two storylines were tied together as well as they could have been. Thematically the similarities were there, but the relations between them weren't explored at all. Phoenix was made mindless, when she shouldn't have been at all, and there needed to be a connection between Phoenix's rage at being walled off and her stepping in on the anti-cure side. She shouldn't have been used, or if she was, there should have been more repercussions.
Plus, I noticed at least two glaring continuity errors, and no doubt there were more. In the woods, Logan gets two bone spurs in the stomach from the Marrow-type character, but when he's walking towards Magneto and Jean his wifebeater is whole and unbloodied; can he heal cloth now? And I'm sure everyone noticed that between Magneto dropping the bridge on Alcatraz and getting off the bridge onto the island, it went from high noon to pitch black.
The bits and pieces lifted from the comics that I loved included Multiple Man, Beast hanging from the ceiling (and saying "Oh my stars and garters" and PULLING IT OFF), and the adapted fastball special. I hear Psylocke was part of the Brotherhood and I missed it! And, omg, Moira MacTaggert. HEE.
The adapted bits I did not like? Well, the whole bit about Xavier putting barriers in Jean's head to repress her powers and that giving her MPD. Errrrrrrr, no. Barriers yes, them creating "a persona that called itself Phoenix" SO MUCH NO. Also, Phoenix broken down to a lust-addled ball of hormones really didn't impress me, although I loved the scene.
I adored the all-too-brief bits we had of Mystique (although, slave name? Errr, no, again.), especially Magneto's "She was so beautiful" line (and, hello Rebecca Romjin, yum) and her subsequent betrayal of him.
Now, briefly in defense of Storm - that is SO comicverse Storm, I just about fell over. Because she did lead the X-Men, though not without reservation. And she is that solid in her beliefs, which are sometimes radical, and the whole teamwork thing was so her. Just - bits of that struck so true to the character for me - although there were probably contradictions to the previous movies. Ah well, her accidentally losing control of her weather powers made me happy too. Plus, the fight with Callisto - in the comics, Storm knifed Callisto in the heart, so I loved seeing that brutality here.
Magneto and the Golden Gate Bridge was kind of stunning. Magneto in general was just win, especially at the end when the chess piece does move just a little. Angel trying to clip his wings absolutely killed me. The final fight - all of it - was excellent and engaging. There were some stunning bits here, but they were't tied together and the pacing wasn't smooth.
I think... this movie kind of missed the point of the X-Men philosophy. I mean, so much of the importance about the Phoenix force was that it was alien In the movie, yeah, we had the "only love can tame the Phoenix force" bit, but in the comics it was another unifier - humanity's love against the external force, the "different" one making the final sacrifice to save everyone. That's the X-Men's thing, ok? It is at times a wickedly ham-handed message of unity, but that's the way it's done. This movie didn't treat the Other that way. Jean-as-Other was muffled. Mystique-as-Other became the double Other and that was not handled well at all (while I liked the scene, I think it was poorly done for the film). Magneto-as-Other, well, that's a whole kettle of fish.
I have insane amounts of rage over the X-Men, and that it was Beast in particular, stopping Magneto by "curing" him. That is just not part of the X-Men's makeup. (In my ideal version, Jean would have snapped to it, stopped Magneto somehow, possibly with rage over his manipulation of her although without killing him - hey, we could have had mindwiped Magneto again - and then begged Logan to kill her, or something.) Xavier's whole thing is about NOT having to create a desert to reach peace, not to mention that "curing" Magneto (leaving aside the question of permanence) completely nullifies the "accept the Other" message of the franchise. And, oh, the concentration camp tattoo revelation scene was brilliant and chilling - but completely and totally abandoned as a plot point. I mean, can we please emphasise that Magneto has already been part of one group that was considered a disease and nearly eradicated? He's not just cardboard-cutout evil - he has seen this scenario before and is entirely right to be opposing it, especially if the "cure" is being used as a weapon. I can't imagine how Erik must have felt (hey, this is one of those things where emotional intensity could have been better!) because he was fighting against effectively another concentration camp and in the end he's been imprisoned and tortured even worse than before, but by his own side.
I did have several moments of pure fangirl squee, and if you did not stay after the credits then OMGWTF it'll probably be up on YouTube shortly but, awesome. Still, it suffered from, well, lack of depth. It was way too short for what it tried to encapsulate and while it set up several awesome moments, it didn't deliver on them. I enjoyed it, but I didn't particularly like it, especially not as a comics fangirl. Basically, it feels amateur - loads of potential, but not enough followthrough. It should have been better - and longer, given its scope. (ps Ian McKellen was so fantastically camp I think the screen was flaming. So much love.)
Props to the filmmakers for never actually using the phrase "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants," although I possibly would have given a lot to hear Ian McKellen say it.
In other news, I may have accidentally bought "City of Death" and "Pyramids of Mars." I figure I ought to at least show willing to purchase some of the stuff I download. Karma, you know.
I will possibly have more to say tomorrow. Right now I am going to bed.
OK, first off, why in god's name did Dark Phoenix look EXACTLY like Evil Willow? The Phoenix Effect from the comics would have been more impressive, probably technically easier to execute, and also NOT LIFTED RIGHT FROM BUFFY. Ahem.
My main worry coming in was how on earth they were going to manage doing the Dark Phoenix storyline successfully in a film where it wasn't the main plot. The answer: they sacrificed most emotional intensity and the actual meaning of the story. So many bits and pieces didn't have the necessary emotional impact. Magneto didn't get a chance to react to losing Charles (well, the bits where he did, the little choked "Charles" in the Greys' house and the bit with Pyro, were of course excellent, but not enough: after all, he lost Charles and Mystique and there needed to be something addressing that). Xavier's death was overshadowed by Jackman and Berry weeping and wailing. Cyclops' death was better, because it was the trigger for Jean. Jean's death was good in theory, but the execution caused it to be outshone by the special effects. I just didn't react to a lot of what I was meant to. Oh, and Rogue abandoning her powers left me flat. Rogue's wandering accent sure amused me, though.
In addition, I don't think the two storylines were tied together as well as they could have been. Thematically the similarities were there, but the relations between them weren't explored at all. Phoenix was made mindless, when she shouldn't have been at all, and there needed to be a connection between Phoenix's rage at being walled off and her stepping in on the anti-cure side. She shouldn't have been used, or if she was, there should have been more repercussions.
Plus, I noticed at least two glaring continuity errors, and no doubt there were more. In the woods, Logan gets two bone spurs in the stomach from the Marrow-type character, but when he's walking towards Magneto and Jean his wifebeater is whole and unbloodied; can he heal cloth now? And I'm sure everyone noticed that between Magneto dropping the bridge on Alcatraz and getting off the bridge onto the island, it went from high noon to pitch black.
The bits and pieces lifted from the comics that I loved included Multiple Man, Beast hanging from the ceiling (and saying "Oh my stars and garters" and PULLING IT OFF), and the adapted fastball special. I hear Psylocke was part of the Brotherhood and I missed it! And, omg, Moira MacTaggert. HEE.
The adapted bits I did not like? Well, the whole bit about Xavier putting barriers in Jean's head to repress her powers and that giving her MPD. Errrrrrrr, no. Barriers yes, them creating "a persona that called itself Phoenix" SO MUCH NO. Also, Phoenix broken down to a lust-addled ball of hormones really didn't impress me, although I loved the scene.
I adored the all-too-brief bits we had of Mystique (although, slave name? Errr, no, again.), especially Magneto's "She was so beautiful" line (and, hello Rebecca Romjin, yum) and her subsequent betrayal of him.
Now, briefly in defense of Storm - that is SO comicverse Storm, I just about fell over. Because she did lead the X-Men, though not without reservation. And she is that solid in her beliefs, which are sometimes radical, and the whole teamwork thing was so her. Just - bits of that struck so true to the character for me - although there were probably contradictions to the previous movies. Ah well, her accidentally losing control of her weather powers made me happy too. Plus, the fight with Callisto - in the comics, Storm knifed Callisto in the heart, so I loved seeing that brutality here.
Magneto and the Golden Gate Bridge was kind of stunning. Magneto in general was just win, especially at the end when the chess piece does move just a little. Angel trying to clip his wings absolutely killed me. The final fight - all of it - was excellent and engaging. There were some stunning bits here, but they were't tied together and the pacing wasn't smooth.
I think... this movie kind of missed the point of the X-Men philosophy. I mean, so much of the importance about the Phoenix force was that it was alien In the movie, yeah, we had the "only love can tame the Phoenix force" bit, but in the comics it was another unifier - humanity's love against the external force, the "different" one making the final sacrifice to save everyone. That's the X-Men's thing, ok? It is at times a wickedly ham-handed message of unity, but that's the way it's done. This movie didn't treat the Other that way. Jean-as-Other was muffled. Mystique-as-Other became the double Other and that was not handled well at all (while I liked the scene, I think it was poorly done for the film). Magneto-as-Other, well, that's a whole kettle of fish.
I have insane amounts of rage over the X-Men, and that it was Beast in particular, stopping Magneto by "curing" him. That is just not part of the X-Men's makeup. (In my ideal version, Jean would have snapped to it, stopped Magneto somehow, possibly with rage over his manipulation of her although without killing him - hey, we could have had mindwiped Magneto again - and then begged Logan to kill her, or something.) Xavier's whole thing is about NOT having to create a desert to reach peace, not to mention that "curing" Magneto (leaving aside the question of permanence) completely nullifies the "accept the Other" message of the franchise. And, oh, the concentration camp tattoo revelation scene was brilliant and chilling - but completely and totally abandoned as a plot point. I mean, can we please emphasise that Magneto has already been part of one group that was considered a disease and nearly eradicated? He's not just cardboard-cutout evil - he has seen this scenario before and is entirely right to be opposing it, especially if the "cure" is being used as a weapon. I can't imagine how Erik must have felt (hey, this is one of those things where emotional intensity could have been better!) because he was fighting against effectively another concentration camp and in the end he's been imprisoned and tortured even worse than before, but by his own side.
I did have several moments of pure fangirl squee, and if you did not stay after the credits then OMGWTF it'll probably be up on YouTube shortly but, awesome. Still, it suffered from, well, lack of depth. It was way too short for what it tried to encapsulate and while it set up several awesome moments, it didn't deliver on them. I enjoyed it, but I didn't particularly like it, especially not as a comics fangirl. Basically, it feels amateur - loads of potential, but not enough followthrough. It should have been better - and longer, given its scope. (ps Ian McKellen was so fantastically camp I think the screen was flaming. So much love.)
Props to the filmmakers for never actually using the phrase "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants," although I possibly would have given a lot to hear Ian McKellen say it.
In other news, I may have accidentally bought "City of Death" and "Pyramids of Mars." I figure I ought to at least show willing to purchase some of the stuff I download. Karma, you know.
I will possibly have more to say tomorrow. Right now I am going to bed.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-27 08:10 pm (UTC)As per Jean, I don't think it's lifted straight from Willow. What it did appear to look like is imagery pulled right off of The Rage: Carrie 2, which, IIRC, preceded the BtVS Willow-turns-evil storyline.
Either way, it's obviously powerful if it keeps reappearing.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 12:43 am (UTC)ACK
Date: 2006-05-27 11:13 pm (UTC)Re: ACK
Date: 2006-05-28 12:42 am (UTC)Re: ACK
Date: 2006-05-28 03:08 am (UTC)Hubby and I were discussing that possibility
Re: ACK
Date: 2006-06-05 02:22 am (UTC)