Nightcrawler was awesome. Also Magneto. Hell, everyone was awesome.
I won’t bitch about the laws of physics here (though we had an instructive hour arguing at one point).
I think Grey’s sacrifice at the end could have been done better. They seemed to ignore dozens of ways they could have tried to save her which made it seem forced. It would have felt more moving if there was obviously a need to do it, rather than everyone saying ‘oh well, someone has to die nobly so we won’t try and save her; let’s hope she morphs into phoenix’
Did you take a trip to the bathroom at the wrong time? Mystique shot a huge syringe of iron into the guards system in the bathroom at the bar. Thats why he had so much in him.
Brilliance. Sheer brilliance. Well, as brilliant as you’re gonna get when the main protaganist could very well be called Ginsu-Knife™ Man. The following shall be my reactions towards the characters and some of the major battles (well, my idea of major in anycase).
Nightcrawler: Fuzzy Elf! But without the fuzzy! But that’s okay! Alan Cumming did a great job with the character.
Colossus: Oooh. Shiney. That’s all I have to say about him.
Jean Grey: Saw this movie with two friends who are non-geeks in the way of the X. One of them was nearly in tears during the finale at Alkali Lake. Myself, I laugh and think ‘Bwahaha! You can’t kill a Phoenix!’
Wolvie vs. Deathstrike: Wow. That’s a lot of pain in a room.
Magneto vs. Prison Guard: Ya see? That’s why he is the Master of Magnetism. And you are not.
Pyro vs. Policemen: See! I knew the twerp was a villain! ::ahem::
Now, correct if I’m wrong but isn’t Mystique actually Jean’s mother? Or was that fact just a cartoon fact, distorted from the actual comic book story line.
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“Because she learned to control her powers at a very young age, Raven Darkholme was able to pass as a normal human being until she gave birth to Kurt Wagner, the blue-skinned mutant who would become Nightcrawler of the X-Men. Hounded by a mob of angry villagers, she was forced to abandon the demon-like infant to save her own life…
Perhaps feeling remorse for abandoning Nightcrawler, Mystique later adopted Rogue – but then forced the troubled teen to serve as a member of the Brotherhood.” From marvel.com about Mystique connection with Rogue and Nightcrawler.
Another reason why Scott Marsden’s acting seemed a bit off was probably because his eyes were covered. It’s always a bad idea to cover an actor’s eyes, because so much expression is done with them. Unfortunately, those are the limitations of his character.
When Prof. X is in Cerebro with Jason Stryker, why aren’t they affected when he’s focusing on the mutants? Is it because they’re inside Cerebro and that’s protecting them? Also, in order for Prof. X to use Cerebro, they had to take that metal thing off his head (the one that prevented him from using his telepathy). Given the awesome telepath that he is, wouldn’t he have woken up from his trance?
I don’t think they intened that at all. rather, I think they meant to show that Magneto, in essence, is absolutely just like Stryker. In the end, they are both monsters who use others merely as ends to their dreams. Magneto used Rogue in the first flick, Stryker uses, well… several in this one. Even the scene where Magneto reveals that:
spoiler below
He and Stryker are the only two he knows of that could ever use Adamantine for anything! It is meant to evoke the idea that they are alike in some distinct ways. They are both intent not only on fightin a war between genetic stocks, but igniting one, even if it costs a billion lives (or more). And you’ll note both of them have their own super cool tech toys, and a beautfiul female accomplise who says little and kicks the crap out of Wolverine (who still beats them both by wits and luck).
Disclaimer: I’ve never read a single panel of the comic books.
However, I believe people are referring to the folder on Stryker’s computer labeled, IIRC, “Project Wideawake,” which, apparently, is the name of the Sentinel project. If that’s wrong, someone will angrily denounce me shortly.
I’m only familiar with the plotline from watching the animated series, but that at least gave me enough to get all giddy when I saw Jean’s eyes glowing.
And, since I loved the animated series, it was nice to hear the Jubilee reference.
But Magneto’s escape scene… Holy Shit! The theater went NUTS when he stepped on that iron plate and levitated across the gap, looking like, well, a god among insects (agreed, that was the best line of the flim). Man, I want mutant powers SO bad.
That’s what I was thinking. Kind of a shame that Prof. X, supposedly the most powerful mutant in the world (back in the day, anyway), could be reduced to simple plot point, but them’s the breaks.
Speaking of that sequence, what was Magneto doing w/ Cerebro Jr.? I mean it looked freakin’ amazing, but I was under the impression that all it would’ve taken for Xavier to kill all us lowly humans would be to focus on it, not any gross recalibration of Cerebro.
And to those of you who are still puzzling over the Sentinels reference, going way back to the OP, the Sentinels were apparently given the codename “Project Wideawake” in the comics. (Not something I remember, but then the Sentinels were already around and being "Fastball Special"ed to death by the time I started reading X-Men.)
Loved the movie and am going to see it again shortly, with an eye towards a lot of the things some of you all have pointed out that I missed the first time around, but I’m left with a couple questions.
[spoiler]Why did Mystique still have scars from where Wolvie stabbed her? I’d think one of the benefits to being a shapeshifter is a flawless complexion…
Why, other than as a plot device, was the psionic death via Prof. X so darn slow in coming rather than instantaneous? Wouldn’t his targetting all mutants include himself, as well as the guy controlling him, thereby interrupting his attack and/or the control being held over him?[/spoiler]
I didn’t love it as much as all of you. I thought the opening sequence with Kurt in the White House set a precedent for action that was so high it made the rest of the film seem weak in comparison. Also, I thought the ending was kind of lame. Once again there is a doomsday device of some kind and the X-Men have to shut it down before it’s too late. Show me the whole team in a badass knock down-drag out, muto brawl where Jean gets killed in plain sight of Scott and Wolvie proceed to go berserk, thats a finale.
That reminds me - was there ever any explanation as to why the plane suddenly stopped working just at the wrong moment? It was kind of like deus ex machina, but in reverse.
I just got back from this and my god, it was friggin’ awesome. Nightcrawler and Collossus were always my favorites and I was as giddy as a preteen girl at a Britney concert from seeing them. Now all I need is Archangel and I can die happy.
Now I can’t wait for the DVD so I can get all the references that I missed. The only ones I really caught in the movie was Remy LeBeau’s name and seeing Hank McCoy at the scene in the bar.
OK, I really liked the movie, but I have never read the comics so I need some help here on identifying peripheral mutants in this movie. WHo are…
THe gitl who could go through solid objects?
The girl who’s scream was debilitating to everyone?
The muscle-bound kid who became covered in steel or something?
The kid who could change channels with his eyes?
The kid with the forked tongue?