Xtf? (Spoilers for X-Men movie)

Cafe Society
101

[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
X-2 was on TV about a week ago. It established that Magneto can’t manipulate the normal level of iron in Human blood, but:

Mystique injects a prison guard with an enriched-iron solution. Magneto feels the elevated iron levels in the guard, extracts the iron, and uses it to break out of prison.

I liked X-3, though (as other people noted) it did skimp too much on the various characters. Rogue in particular – she isn’t as useless as people are saying; she could neutralize any mutant, especially a certain out-of-control psychokinetic mutant.

I don’t see why everybody’s dissing Angel – yeah, feathery wings are a lame power in comparison to regeneration, teleporting, and various methods of walking through walls. But Angel’s mutation is the wings, not the flying – when he’s airborne, it seems to me that he’s not using mutant powers at that point, so power-wise he might be undetectable. So he has great use as arial recon, transport, and fire support. One example, discounting the events of X-3: Have Angel carry Cyclops over a battlefield, providing Cyclops with a clean shot at just about any adversary.

Keep in mind that Mystique’s power isn’t immediately useful in combat, either; as far as I could tell, her combat ability is simply excellent conditioning and training. Her strength lies in infiltration, espionage, and similar tactics. The key point: A weak power used creatively can be more effective than a strong power used stupidly.
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Even if there wasn’t enough iron in a person’s blood for Magneto to make those little orbs that he shoots around in X-2, he could still prevent any heme iron in the blood from reaching the brain, rendering them unconscious or killing them.

Also, Angel has some degree of super strength. The guy has to fly under his own strength, and getting, oh, let’s say 160 pounds in the air by flapping wings is hard work. On top of that, he is able to carry other people. So, while he’s no Wolverine, he’s also no slouch in combat.

102

[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]
He got the metal wings when he was working for Apocalypse; I don’t think they shot anything, but I could be wrong.
[/QUOTE]

His metal wings were able to fire feathers which were razor sharp and coated in some sort of neurotoxin that paralyzed whoever they hit and were also able to be used as really large blades in their own right.

Goofy power or not, Archangel’s always been a favorite X-Man of mine. He, Colossus, and Nightcrawler would definitely be on any team I were in charge of.

103

I was disappointed to hear Nightcrawler wouldn’t be in X3. He was spectacularly badass in X2, using his acrobatic abilities and teleportation to make him nearly unstoppable, and bamfing the crap out of the Oval Office. His character was always one of my faves.

104

[QUOTE=wolf in second hand clothing]

Also, Angel has some degree of super strength. The guy has to fly under his own strength, and getting, oh, let’s say 160 pounds in the air by flapping wings is hard work. On top of that, he is able to carry other people. So, while he’s no Wolverine, he’s also no slouch in combat.
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As I understand it, his bones are actually lighter than a regular person’s to allow him to fly. Therefore they may be more fragile. In a world where no one else can fly and there’s no anti-air weapons, he’d be great. In “our” world, not so much. However, he would be good for city-based adventures.

The image of Angel carrying Cyclops is amusing though. Would he ride on his back?
Angle is Catching Man!

105

That woman in the movie totally looks like Prince. Prince would make an awesome Xman by the way. He doesn’t have any powers or anything but it doesn’t matter, he just walks around headbutting people in the face like he doesn’t give a shit. Then he headbutts Storm in the face and Halle Berry is all “Prince, what are you doing? That wasn’t in the script and I think you broke my nose” and then he headbutts her again and goes and eats a salad or something. Script for X4 maybe?

106

[QUOTE=BabaBooey]
That woman in the movie totally looks like Prince. Prince would make an awesome Xman by the way. He doesn’t have any powers or anything but it doesn’t matter, he just walks around headbutting people in the face like he doesn’t give a shit. Then he headbutts Storm in the face and Halle Berry is all “Prince, what are you doing? That wasn’t in the script and I think you broke my nose” and then he headbutts her again and goes and eats a salad or something. Script for X4 maybe?
[/QUOTE]

That’s funny. In the theater I said to Mrs.Nic “Prince is an mutant! Should’a known!”

107

[QUOTE=BabaBooey]
That woman in the movie totally looks like Prince. Prince would make an awesome Xman by the way. He doesn’t have any powers or anything but it doesn’t matter, he just walks around headbutting people in the face like he doesn’t give a shit. Then he headbutts Storm in the face and Halle Berry is all “Prince, what are you doing? That wasn’t in the script and I think you broke my nose” and then he headbutts her again and goes and eats a salad or something. Script for X4 maybe?
[/QUOTE]

Ummmm…no. I ordinarily don’t find her super-attractive, but Halle Berry as a platinum blonde makes me hot! Especially with the new haircut. Rowrr!

Prince can play the mutant that gets blown away in the teaser.

108

Anyone who complains about how movies based on comic books differ from the source material is overlooking one thing: in many instances the source material is unbelievably silly. I mean come on, have you looked at what’s gone on with Jean Grey? She’s an avatar of the Phoenix God? She’s the White Phoenix of the Crown? She comes back from the dead but sometimes it takes her longer because she’s hanging out in “the White Hot Room”? Does anyone in their right mind think that a bunch of popcorn-munchers who aren’t fanboys are going to plunk down ten bucks for that? I mean really.

Overall I liked the movie. i went in unspoiled with the exception of knowing Cyclops was going to die, but not knowing when. I thought the bridge scene was cool and I was willing to accept it for what it was, an ostentatious display of power intended to intimidate the hell out of everyone. I could’ve lived without the whole Dark Phoenix plot in its entirety but if they were going to have it I think they needed to develop it just a little differently. Something more like how it happened in the book initially, with Jean getting “talked down from the ledge” and then have her be attacked and lash out, thus realizing she needs to be destroyed. As it was presented there was a step missing for me.

The note that rang the falsest for me was Magneto’s “what have I done” line. I think he knew what he’d done and he knew the potential consequences, and having him give that line rang a little too hollowly of repentance. Setting up the possibility of Magneto’s working with the X-Men in X4 if there is one, the way he went to work with them in the books for a while.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the X-Men using the “cure” on Magneto. Part of me thinks there should have been something more on-screen about the philosophical implications of it but I know it would’ve slowed down the action. It still seems off to me somehow.

As for Pyro’s flame units, yes it’s true he can’t create fire but once there is some already he can manipulate it. Unless you manage to disable his units literally before he can spark them, it’s not going to help.

109

[QUOTE=silenus]
Ummmm…no. I ordinarily don’t find her super-attractive, but Halle Berry as a platinum blonde makes me hot! Especially with the new haircut. Rowrr!

Prince can play the mutant that gets blown away in the teaser.
[/QUOTE]

No no, Berry looked great, I’m talking about the one that looks like Prince.

110

Does anyone associated with either these movies or the comics ever bothered to do the slightest bit of research on what genetic mutation actually is? How could there possibly be a cure? How can a shot of serum magically alter the DNA in every single cell of an individuals body and instantly alter their hysical structure? How does the serum know which parts of the DNA strands are mutations and which are normal? How could these mutations possibly occur in the first place? Shooting fire? Controlling the weather? Steel claws? WTF? Has anyone who writes this shit ever been made aware that everything in it is impossible? Has anyone ever told them what the word “mutation” actually means?

I know it’s a superhero comic and they’re ALL impossible (radioactive spider powers anyone?) but this one gets the science so wrong it’s jarring and insulting.

I admit that I’ve never read the comics so maybe that lack of inculcation with the characters and universe makes the absurdity seem that much more obvious and confusing.

There were a lot more logical gaps than that, too. Like supposedly they were using plastic guns to fire syringes full of “cure” at the mutants so Magneto couldn’t zap them or whatever, but the needles themselves were still metal, were they not? So he still should have been able to deflect them, right?

And when that Juggernaut dude smashed into that kids cell, he charged at that girl and knocked himself out on another wall. I’m guessing it was supposed to be some kind of smash-proof cell or something but then how did he smash through the first wall?.

I felt for Ian McKellan. He must feel a right arse in that ridiculous helmet and cape.

111

[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
And when that Juggernaut dude smashed into that kids cell, he charged at that girl and knocked himself out on another wall. I’m guessing it was supposed to be some kind of smash-proof cell or something but then how did he smash through the first wall?.
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It wasn’t a smash proof cell. Kitty kept close enough to the Leech that when Juggernaut charged he came within range of the mutant supression field and was knocked out.

112

[QUOTE=BabaBooey]
No no, Berry looked great, I’m talking about the one that looks like Prince.
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I know. Arclight, I believe. I was voicing an objection to Storm getting head-butted and marring that beauty. :wink:

[QUOTE=DtC]
And when that Juggernaut dude smashed into that kids cell, he charged at that girl and knocked himself out on another wall. I’m guessing it was supposed to be some kind of smash-proof cell or something but then how did he smash through the first wall?.
[/QUOTE]

Nope. Leech’s range is quite limited. Juggernaut plowed through the first wall, ran into the “Leech Field” about a foot from the back wall and knocked himself silly. Ceramic needles are also a possibility.

113

[QUOTE=Otto]
I’m not quite sure how I feel about the X-Men using the “cure” on Magneto. Part of me thinks there should have been something more on-screen about the philosophical implications of it but I know it would’ve slowed down the action. It still seems off to me somehow.
[/QUOTE]

I actually thought they covered it pretty well—just with the silent stares between Storm, Beast, and Logan when they find the cure needles, ready for the taking. At least two of them were vehemently opposed to weaponizing the cure, or the cure’s simple existance in the first place…but you could see them realizing that, then at the very least, it really was the only way to save the day. Idealism falling softly dead to sheer pragmatism.

114

That shows what I know. I didn’t know anything about the kid having powers. He said to the walks–through-walls girl (I don’t remember her name) “your powers won’t work in here” (or maybe he said "your powers won’t work around me?). I thought he was saying something about the cell. I really had no idea who the kid was even supposed to be.

115

Did you go to the bathroom about 52 minutes earlier? There was a scene with Beast in the lab where he reached out to Leech and watched his hand change as it entered the field. Kitty also tried to walk him through the wall to escape, which is where he noted that her power wouldn’t work near him.

116

Were you not paying attention during the scene where Beast attempted to shake his hand, making it normal in the process? Or in the earlier scenes where he is explained as the genesis of the cure, thus prompting their meeting in the first place?

117

[QUOTE=silenus]
Did you go to the bathroom about 52 minutes earlier?
[/quote]

As a matter of fact, I did. That explains a lot. Thanks. I was kind of lost about who that kid was supposed to be.

118

[QUOTE=Aesiron]
Were you not paying attention during the scene where Beast attempted to shake his hand, making it normal in the process? Or in the earlier scenes where he is explained as the genesis of the cure, thus prompting their meeting in the first place?
[/QUOTE]

I went to take a leak about a half hour in and I guess I totally missed that scene. That’s what I get for tanking myself with bottled water on a 100 degree day.

119

Eh. Thinking back on it, those’re the only scenes I can remember that explain who he is and his relevance to the plot of the movie so it’s understandable that someone may have missed it even if they didn’t have to take a restroom break. I don’t think it was even outright stated so much as shown so if someone was distracted for as little as thirty seconds, they might have missed his significance. For someone so important to the plot of the movie, he was severely under-utilized.

I like this movie less and less the more I think about it.

120

Saw the movie tonight. It’s my least favorite of the three, but it was passable. It needed to be about half an hour longer and include more character-building. A lot of the main characters were little more than cardboard cutouts.
It also needed a new soundtrack BADLY. The musical score sucked. It sounded like the make-do score they put on movies when they sneak-preview them before the effects and score are finished.
Also, there were some scenes that rang false, particularly the aforementioned one where Magneto mumbles “What have I done?”
But it was okay. Not a bad movie, worth watching. If the first two movies hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t feel it was disappointing at all, but given that I know how good X Men movies CAN be, I am a bit disappointed.