Okay, so I just saw it and wrote my review...here it is:
The story of "X-Men 3's" production is perhaps even more interesting than the story for the film itself, and it explains a bit, so I'm going to discuss that for a moment.
Each of the classic Marvel superhero properties appeals to the average geek in some way, and that's why superhero films are considered "geeky" films. Spidey's a total looser who's got a complete fixation on one girl even though he can't friggin' talk to her. Hulk can't control his rage, but somehow is able to use it to both save the world and blow s**t up. Daredevil is severely disabled but uses what he DOES have to save the world...or at least beat the s**t out of bad guys. And the Fantastic 4...yeah, I can't really figure out what's up with them, because they're all about being a family and geeks don't really get along well with their families most of the time. And then you have the X-Men, who are lonely outcasts, hated and scorned by the rest of the world because they're different. X-Men have had a much stabler transition to the screen than the average Marvel hero, with two films that have been widely loved by fans of kickass movies and the comic book geeks alike. Hell, the first "X-Men" film made superhero movies cool again, and sparked Marvel to come out with a flawed but still pretty great "Spider-Man" series, as well as more hated adaptations like "Hulk" (which in my opinion is the best, most mature superhero movie ever made, but it's hated by most everyone else) and "Daredevil" (which might've been great if the story was better, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner weren't so terrible, or just hadn't been brought in as the leads). "X2: X-Men United" is considered by many to be near-perfrect. Personally, I liked the first one a bit better because X2 lost that great feeling of loneliness, that feeling that almost everyone else in the world hates you and the only people who don't are those who are as f****d up as you are. As both an aspie and a semi-goth (not to lable myself, but let's face it, it's true--complete with the near-constant depression, black outfits, and love of Tim Burton movies), that was something I could really relate to. Plus, Storm forgot to use her accent after the first one. But, then, I never read the comics so I wasn't as pissed off about the liberties taken in the original.
I wasn't really sure what to expect from "X3." I really liked the trailers for it, but the rumors of a troubled production (a lot of director changes after Bryan Singer, who directed the first two, bowed out to direct "Superman Returns"), an awful script review, and the discontent about the choice for the guy who wound up being the new director (Brett Ratner, who directed "Money Talks," "Red Dragon," and the "Rush Hour" films), not to mention Tom Rothman's vile influence, had made everyone pretty skeptic. Rothman, a Fox executive who hates X-Men even more than Mick LeSalle (if you've read the San Francisco Chronicle's reviews for the "X-Men" movies then you know what I'm talking about--they're all negative, and usually the reasons given sounds a bit like anti-mutant prejudice), had tried messing up the first "X-Men" as much as possible, and was apparently furious when it wound up not being that bad at all. I don't know how "X2" got away from his filthy paws, but "X3" apparently didn't. Rothman reportedly was responsible for limiting the budget and giving the film only 15 months to be completed--15 months for ALL of it. 15 months to write and rewrite the script, shoot the picture, and do the extensive effects work. In the hands of the man who directed "Red Dragon." And then came the reviews, which were mixed. Anyone who was a fan of the comics, it seemed, hated the film's guts to no end. See, while the main plot of the film focuses on a cure for mutants, one of the sub-plots is based on the famous Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix story arc--well, okay, not really. More like, you have Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix but no other elemts from comic story arc. Here's the thing: the Dark Phoenix story arc isn't just a classic Marvel storyline. It's more like THE classic Marvel storyline. It's the comic fanboy holy grail. It's apparently completely epic, combining entire planets being destroyed with all the hallmarks of a Shakespearian classic and all the hallmarks of a superhero comic classic. And not only does "X3" apparently completely desecrate this source material, it makes it impossible for any future X-Men films to do that story, either.
Well...with all that in mind...I really, really, really, really really liked what I saw of "X-Men 3." The Last Stand? Pssh. More like, "One scene of completely awesome superhero powers after another." Now, I saw "what I saw" because of what happened about an hour in. We were in the middle of a scene that was a critical character moment, a critical story moment, and a big action sequence. Awesome stuff was starting to happen...Jean Grey was being all evil, and Professor X was trying to convince her not to be even as Magneto's interrupting him, while Wolvie is starting to fight Juggernaut...oh, man, you just know that this scene's going to be so f*****g awesome...and then...and then...
The screen went black. We could HEAR what was going on--a lot of sounds of destruction, claws, etc.--but we couldn't SEE a thing. This went on for about two minutes, and then the sounds stopped and the lights went on. People looked up at where the projection was coming from, yelling for a rewind. Well...there was no rewind. The film resumed, the lights dimed, and yet it was clear that it had picked up AFTER the two minutes or so that we'd missed. No rewind. f**k! But we watched anyway, content that we'd almost undoubtedly get our money back. And you know what? I almost forgot that it happened at all until the movie was over. My anger at the projectionist faded as the film played on, because it was just so much damn fun. All the time, there were great details--character bits like Wolverine using a piece of flaming junk to light his cigar, effects bits like characters disintegrating and water droplets rising off of leaves due to telekinesis, and general awesomeness all around. It's a true testament to how cool this film is that I had a really enjoyable time at the movies even despite the fact that I missed a few minutes of the film. What put the icing on the cake was that we got all our money back--so, basically, my brother and I had a really fun time at the movies for free.
I'll even go so far to say that in a way, this is my favorite of the "X-Men" films. Yes, it's not nearly as good as it could have been had it actually followed the Dark Phoenix story. Yes, it's plot and characters aren't developed as well as they could have been. Yes, the film's pacing is at times too fast. Yes, there is some camera-shaking during the big end battle. And yes, the script goes crazy with character deaths without ever making any of them have any real emotional impact. But you know what? I don't care that much--the film basically comprises of one extremely cool scene (or at the very least, one extremely cool detail after another), leaving no room for fat. It's entertainment--not without some substance but focusing mainly on being fun as all hell. And it is fun as all hell. I'm definately buying this one.
25 May 2006, 3:15 pm
