| Author | Message | ||
     Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.2 |
Well amid watching 1 and 2 we went to see the new one last week. I have to say, that first half is FANTASTIC - almost classic stuff, and surely as perfect a Bond film as you could get - absolutely gripping and thrilling etc etc. But then... something happens and the ball is dropped. It's when we see the students in the school, and they sit around too long goofing and something happens that splits them in a way I didn't buy, and we start seeing costumes, and it sort of becomes...pedestrian. I do so wish it had kept the earlier promise up because I was thinking, for craft alone, 'Oscar winner'. Seriously. Then last night I put on X Men, Last Stand, on the projector, supposedly the stinker of the series ('it wasn't by Singer' people sniffed), and f*** me if I now don't think it's my favourite in the series. It's just so moving and rousing, has that moving thread about the guy with the wings that could be the soul of the whole franchise. What an actor that was, sketched so unforgettably in three scenes. Several scenes in the film stand out more than any in the other films, really hit you; Mystique's being rejected, Magneto losing his powers, X's demise... these moments are strong, made me and my kids gasp aloud (and yes, they were complex moments- we talked about them, wondered who was right or wrong in the film. There can be no higher praise than that, surely.) I don't know if these films will stand the test of time at all, on the whole, but they were real to me while i watched them and they're in my heart a little, and for that I am grateful. somethimes a thing does not need to be great but rather add - even fleetingly - to the quality of the fabric of life. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.2 |
Oh, balls. So good I posted it twice, again. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.2 |
'Matthew Vaughn, who was attached as director for the film before dropping out, criticized Ratner's direction. "I could have made something a hundred times better than the film that was eventually made. It sounds arrogant," he continued, "but I could have done something with far more emotion and heart. I'm probably going to be told off for saying that, but I genuinely believe it."' - then why didn't he, with First Class, which was merely good in the end? Sometimes we don't need to see huge emotions in a piece for it to be good. It's enough that we feel them in ourselves, like the way we react to a Grimm fairy tale. Anyway, I was more moved by Ratner's film. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.145.130.47 |
I have to disagree with you on this. X3 does indeed have some great scenes in it. But you have to remember that Singer did direct about half the film before leaving it in the not so capable hands of ratner. I would be willing to bet my left wotsit that ALL the best scenes were bits that Singer made before he quit. Killing Professor X was a brave step but then there was that ridiculous last scene where his identical twin/cousin in the coma wakes with professor x inside him - just to totally invalidate the earlier scene. X-men first Class was first class IMO. It had the usual flaws that prequels do. If you know anything about the story in question you know who'll turn to good and bad. But I left the cinema feeling much more entetained than at the end of X3. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.145.130.47 |
If you watch X3 closely you can almost see the joins where Singer stopped and ratner started. the difference in quality is so much in places. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 220.138.162.200 |
I'm with Weber on this one - and I'll wager my right wotsit that the majority of the good stuff was filmed before Ratner came on board. I haven't seen the new one yet, but by most accounts it's a very strong entry. I liked the second film most. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I really enjoyed the first two, but the thgird one seemed all over the place - and what Weber says about Singer directing half of it kind of makes sense of that. I have no great urge to see the current X-Men film. Hollywood bores me. I'm much more excited about the release of Cold Fish on DVD later this month: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/apr/10/cold-fish-review-shion-sono | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.28.1 |
Everyone's wagering their wotsits. Either everyone's very confident or nobody's getting any use out of them. I'd love to see that Tales of the Unexpected episode. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
Oh, here it is... | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 81.100.112.31 |
I wasn't planning to see the new X-Men film but me and my mate were at a loose end last week so we went in. It's actually pretty good. It's not perfect but it chugs along with a brisk momentum to try and stop you spotting too many of the plot-holes. And McAvoy's words on the beach stirred more emotion in me than all of the original trilogy combined. Plus, you know, January Jones and Rose Byrne in their underwear. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 82.18.202.76 |
Dug out the mini-review I did of X-Men: The Last Stand a few years back: After the panning this film got from the critics I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it. Granted, it's no masterpiece and it's riddled with plotholes and bad acting but it never seemed to become truly awful. Yes, Cyclops is criminally underused yet again. Yes, Vinnie Jones cannot act to save his life. Yes, Magneto's characterization veers inconsistently from one scene to the next. Yes, the film has not one but two cop-out endings (watch right to the end of the final credits). Yes, it expects you to care about characters who have bugger all screentime (the Beast, Angel, Kitty Pryde, Collossus and a cast of what seems like thousands). But somehow it captures the spirit of the comics better than Singer's efforts. While Singer made the better films they felt more like SF films than X-Men films. X3 feels more like the comics. Not the best of the comics to be sure but it did capture that sense of leading inexorably to a massive super-battle that is pretty much the cornerstone of superhero comics -- "We're dealing with complex ethical issues here which should be discussed in a mature and rational ... oh, sod this. FIGHT!!!" | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.2 |
I liked the rotundity of Last Stand; the others, including the latest, have an incompletion of vision about them. Singer's voice is great scene-for-scene, but Ratner (such a sad name with it's knock-off jewellery connotations) keeps the story in shape. I liked the little asides with Angel, and feel Kitty was just rightly used. It made for a rich x-men universe I felt. Me and the kids gasped when Magneto got 'cured'. My youngest said 'I feel sorry for him' but said he didn't understand why, because he knew he was generally 'bad'. I have to say I really disliked it first time but really liked it this last watch. As an aside, where do comics and comic films fit in 'fantasy' and folklore'? Are they an extension of Machen, an exploration of the lives of changeling children? Are they mythic, like Greek literature? I wonder where they really come from. And is it proven that Singer directed some of these scenes? | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.134.253 |
It was on the interweb it must be true | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
All three of the 'X-Men' movies are well made entertaining nonsense, elevated somewhat by the presence of Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen (enjoying themselves immensely). I tend to appreciate all the recent Marvel adaptations on the same level. Didn't like the look of 'Thor' at all though. I still think Del Toro's 'Hellboy' films and the first couple of Raimi's 'Spiderman' movies are the best superhero flicks of the modern era. But of all time I still go for Christopher Reeve as 'Superman' and I'm beginning to veer back in favour of Tim Burton's 'Batman' adaptations - as much as I enjoyed Nolan's take on him. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.82 |
Stevie - I watched the start of Batman Returns the other night and was absolutely thrilled by it. It's just so atmospheric and strange. Nolan, God bless 'im, can't do that. I even preferred the Kilmer version. We always think there's a right kind of voice. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 82.11.88.183 |
I can't stand the Burton Batman films. The Nolan reboot isn't perfect but it channels the Denny O'Neil/Frank Miller Batman stuff quite nicely whereas Burton produces a weird mix of Bill Finger/Dick Sprang/The Killing Joke, all lumped together with Burton's contempt for Batman as a heroic figure. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
The Burton Batman's are much much better than the Schumacher Batmans. Batman and Robin is - to this day - the only film where I've walked out of the cinema halfway through. It was dire in every possible way - and incidentally almost killed the superhero genre in Hollywood for several years. It was either Batman Begins or Spiderman that really kickstarted the genre again. I watched batman begins again the other day on ITV3 - I think it may well be better than the Dark Knight. It's certainly the only version where you walk away truly understanding why he became the Bat. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Batman and Robin is officially the least successful film ever in a superhero franchise. The studio actually had another 3 lined up and shelved them when they saw BAR. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 82.11.88.183 |
Green Lantern appears to be challenging it for the title. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
There isn't a franchise of movies for GL yet... The trailer makes it look quite cool... I want to see it Yes I am sad. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 82.11.88.183 |
Apparently GL was intended as the first of a trilogy. And it was supposed to help set up a proposed Justice League film in the same way that Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America are setting up The Avengers. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 82.11.88.183 |
Apparently Shane Black is directing and co-writing Iron Man 3. Should make it an improvement on Iron Man 2. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.82 |
Iron Man 2 was AWFUL. I fell asleep. I haven't seen such a dreary action film in all my life. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.16.13.77 |
Not even the Burton Batman films? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.19.77 |
Tim Burton's 'Batman' movies create their own surreal comicbook world instead of trying to shoehorn the very idea of costumed superheroes into real life. That's why they work so well imo. Del Toro's 'Hellboy' movies have much the same strengths. Nolan's adaptations are entertaining action movies but take themselves way too seriously for what is a patently daft idea. It may seem counter intuitive but the superhero genre needs a certain amount of wide-eyed innocence and campy overacting to be taken any way seriously. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.24.14.122 |
>>the superhero genre needs a certain amount of wide-eyed innocence As a general rule, yes, I agree. >>and campy overacting Hell no. Not unless you're doing a spoof. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.24.14.122 |
Green Lantern's reaction to the reviews of his film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2n3OTGkuQ&NR=1 | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.49.244 |
I really liked the way Nolan introduced some of the lesser-known villains from the Kane comic, like the Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul. I'd like to see his take on the that trio of masked evil scientists called the Fox, the Shark and the Vulture aka the Typical Trio. And a good Robin would be welcome too, someone along the lines of Burt Ward, not Chris O'Donnell. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.82 |
Kurt Hummel! | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.24.19.152 |
Ra's al Ghul was created by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. I've not read any Terrible Trio stories so can't comment on the characters. I think Nolan has said he doesn't want to use Robin in his films. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.82 |
Poo! Not up to a challenge. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.19.77 |
I'd like to see Nolan do The Penguin half as successfully as the nightmare creation Tim Burton came up with. Danny DeVito's finest hour (outside of OFOTCN) imo. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.71.155 |
But Burton's Bat-films never achieved the things that Nolan's did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxgNjMTPIs | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.19.77 |
 | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.71.155 |
Thinking about it I have an incredibly tenuous connection with both the Burton and Nolan Bat-films. Years ago I used to do martial arts and the chief instructor had a photo up on the wall from when he taught some Filipino stick fighting to Dave Lea who was Michael Keaton's stunt double in the Burton films. And my instructor (and HIS instructor) both had a hand in teaching Andy Norman, one of the martial artists who acted as fight advisor on the Nolan films. An even more tenuous connection is that one of the martial arts extras on Batman Begins lives round the corner from my parents. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.70.61 |
Green Lantern and Magneto discuss their respective films. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reQL5TU9VFA&feature=channel_video_title |