After last night's kerfuffle I got to bed later than intended, hence also woke up later than intended, and we were later going to the Showcase than I'd intended - in fact, I timed it so awkwardly we ended up missing the 2.15 showing and had to catch the 2.45. Which Kai didn't mind, as it meant he could go and look at trains for twenty minutes. I was less happy though, as it meant we and the other people there to see the film were subjected to a bunch of 5 or 6 young louts of the sort you wish had been drowned at birth. If they'd been mine I'd have banished them to their rooms until they learnt a little consideration for others, but given their appalling behaviour it's a fair bet their parents wouldn't have given a damn anyway.
But I - and Kai - have learned to fade out extraneous sounds when necessary, and therefore were able to focus on the film without much difficulty...
Sooo...
X-Men 3: The Last Stand. OK. We're talking about a fantasy continuum here, in which the impossible happens all the time, so it helps to completely suspend disbelief. It's also useful to remember that there are three distinct versions of the X-Men: the comic/graphic novel form, the cartoon
Evolutions, and the films. I've loved the first since I read my brother's comic (haven't a clue which one) waaaaaay back when I was a sprog of... oooh, seven? About that. This was the original X-Men, of course - Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast. And the Angel. (Ah, Warren Worthington III. Those
wings... Yummm...) At Uni I collected the new X-Men comics (and a number of the spin-offs. Remember Kitty Pryde and Wolverine? Illyana Rasputina's Soulsword? Tch - can't remember what that series was called) as far as the Dark Phoenix Saga, at any rate. You could say I grew up with the X-Men (though I managed to miss the cartoon version).
Evolutions was effectively an AU (Alternate Universe) version of the original. I thought it was OK - the young version of Kurt Wagner was cute, at any rate - though the animation was somewhat crude and the stories less than engaging for me.
So by the time the films started being made the X-Men continuum already had several versions, several different histories, and a variety of side-universes and crossovers (and that's only to my knowledge. I'm now so far behind with the various stories/characters I'd never catch up, even if I wanted to, and I no longer have the time to make the attempt.)
When it comes to the X-Men I have no particular affiliation with any specific version, and therefore approached the films with no particular expectations, as far as the stories went anyway, as long as the characters were accurately portrayed. Which they are in the main, I think. Where was I? Oh yes - the film...
It's a mess. A beautifully cg-ed mess, but a mess nonetheless. There's
far too much in it,
far too many characters given the absolute minimum of characterisation and screen-time, and I don't really think mixing the Brotherhood and the Morlocks was a particularly good idea to start with. The plot is forced, with far too many 'wt
F??' moments: Magneto may be a bastard, but I can't believe he'd be
that much of a bastard! And I really
don't like characters being introduced purely as plot devices... heh, that sounds daft in context, but you'll see what I mean: there are two particular instances. (There's more but I'm not going to give spoilers: not everyone's seen the film.) And it's much too short and the action is far too
fast - though that's perhaps fortunate given the flaws! And the first ending was just so pat it was cringeworthy, and the second and third endings were predictable, laying the foundations for a potential fourth film.
And you know what? Even after all that, my immediate reaction on leaving the cinema was to want to watch it again. Right
now. It could have been that fabulous bridge scene, which had Kai and I laughing aloud with glee and which is almost worth the price of admission itself. It could have been the Beast (always had a soft spot for him), played to absolute perfection by Kelsey Grammer (I have no idea who he is, don't think I've ever seen him in anything, but what a gorgeous voice!). It could have been Storm, now a strong, competent and powerful leader. It could have been the Angel (those wings, those big beautiful
wings. But oh, the angst of child-Warren. That
hurt) although the tiny amount of screen time he had made me want to spit.
Or it could have been Wolverine, because let's face it, a half-naked Hugh Jackman is bound to please even under
those circumstances. Can we say 'fanservice'? Yes, I thought we could. (I'm a little concerned about his being typecast though:
cf.
Van Helsing...)
It's on the list to buy as soon as it's available. Then I shall sit and
savour it.
#
Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 12:44 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment