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Hey guys, kanna here! So, with Days of Future Past out today and iMovie being downright annoying, I figured I'd bring you another installment of my X-Men review series! Yay! So, let's go over the rules just one more time. These reviews will be in order of continuity to the best of my ability (because, as we all know, The Last Stand screwed up continuity), and we will be ignoring the spin-offs (Origins and The Wolverine).
If you haven't read my First Class review, check it out: X-Men: First Class. You don't need to have read it to understand what's going on here, but if you have, great!
So, without further ado...X-MEN!!!!
We have a pretty good cast for this one. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Hugh Jackman are our headliners for this movie. Other cast members include Shawn Ashmore, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, and Alex Burton.
Let's get to the story.
Our movie opens up with a classic Patrick Stewart narration.
"Space, the final--"
Sorry, I was having a Star Trek: The Next Generation moment (because, for those who don't know, Patrick Stewart was in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Captain Jean-Luc Picard). I can only imagine how hard it was for Patrick Stewart NOT to call James Marsden Geordi when they were filming the movie. Here's the real narration:
"Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."
We then cut to young Erik Lensherr (Magneto) at a concentration camp in Poland in the year 1944, and...wait a minute. Isn't this the same as First Class? Well, sort of.
In this movie, they had a different actor playing young Magneto. Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United, actually re-shot this entire scene for First Class and got Bill Milner to play young Magneto, while in this movie, he got Brett Morris to play young Magneto. Parts of this footage was actually used in X-Men: First Class, while Bill Milner played young Magneto in First Class during the coin scene. For the record, I have have not seen anything that Bill Milner was in besides First Class. I have no idea who Brett Morris is outside of X-Men. Sorry.
Anyway, young Magneto metal-bends the gate and gets knocked out before we cut to our next scene "in the not too distant future" in Meridian, Mississippi. We see a girl named Marie (Anna Paquin) and her boyfriend talking about a road trip, when the two start making out. However, Marie touches her boyfriend, and starts to absorb his life force, thus putting him into a coma. Marie's family freaks out and she runs away to Alberta, Canada, where she meets everyone's favorite mutant, one of Marvel's most marketable characters since insert-name-of-Avenger-here, WOLVERINE!!!!
But before we go into more detail about Wolverine and Marie (who are pretty much the focus of the movie), we also get our first appearances of two of our three headliners: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. They're at a meeting where Senator Robert Kelly is trying to pass the "Mutant Registration Act." This act would require all mutants to reveal their identities and abilities. Professor X/Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto/Erik Lensherr (Ian McKellan) discuss their opinions on the relationship between mutants and humans. Magneto believes that mutants should dominate the human race and views humans as an outdated species. Professor X, however, believes that mutants and humans can coexist.
We then get this really long bit of dialog between Marie (who now goes by the name Rogue) and Wolverine (I'm not calling him Logan, his real name, because I think that in the context of X-Men, Wolverine sounds WAY more badass), before they are attacked by a mutant named Sabretooth (Tyler Mane). Sabretooth was under orders from Magneto to capture Rogue, but he was stopped thanks to a rescue from Cyclops/Scott Summers (James Marsden) and Storm/Ororo Munroe (Halle Berry).
Cyclops and Storm take Rogue and Wolverine to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The two are introduced to Professor X, an extremely powerful telepath, as well as the head and founder of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
The story kind of drags on in this one. This was a movie that was under two hours long, but felt like it was about three or four hours. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. But in this movie...it just made it long. Really, really long.
Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10
Why: This is an adaptation. I understand that changes have to be made, but in the comics, Rogue didn't just have the whole "no touching people" power. She could also fly, and she had super strength. In this adaptation, they just stripped her of those powers. While it would be interesting if there was a little bit more development of her powers and her character in the movie, we only get three really short scenes of character development that don't really develop her character at all. She pretty much did nothing but act helpless the whole movie. With adaptations, the changes have to MAKE SENSE. This was one that just...didn't. Why? Um...ask someone who might have some idea. Because I have no idea why.
Legendary actors such as Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Halle Berry were SERIOUSLY underused. I understand that this was a Rogue and Wolverine centered film. I really do. However, Storm's role in the movie was seriously screwed up. They just turned her into this person who could do fun little tricks with the weather, and that's it. Um...why?
You have this incredible conflict between Charles and Magneto that has been going on for years and it's barely referenced. The conflict does come into play a bit later on in the movie, but it's BARELY there. When do you get this conflict in more detail? Oh...only A MOVIE OR TWO LATER.
Personally, I think the people making this were just too dependent on there being sequels. Granted, people who read the X-Men comics or watched the cartoon (or just spoiled everything for themselves by looking it all up online and spending HOURS upon HOURS studying the world of X-Men) probably knew that there would be sequels. But this begs the question of who the target audience was. Fans of the comics/cartoon? People who had heard of X-Men through friends/family/media? Fans of Marvel Comics in general? WHO WAS IT? Dennis Harvey, a critic from the film section of Variety, said:
I looked on Rotten Tomatoes, and the movie ranked #3 on the X-Men Movies by Tomatometer. 82% of all critics gave it a positive review. Personally, I did like the movie, and while it wasn't one of my favorites, it still was pretty good. If you're a newcomer to X-Men, I'd watch First Class before watching X-Men. While First Class isn't completely true to the comics (*cough*ADAPTATION*cough*), it's still good for people who don't want to read the comics.
Oh, and we got a seriously awesome fight scene done by the original Mystique herself, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos.
So...sorry about the lack of pics and such. Lots going on here in the real world, and I still haven't seen Days of Future Past. Rest assured, it's going to happen. This week, with any luck. Anyway, stay tuned for the next X-Men review, X2: X-Men United! This is kanna, signing off. Bye!
If you haven't read my First Class review, check it out: X-Men: First Class. You don't need to have read it to understand what's going on here, but if you have, great!
So, without further ado...X-MEN!!!!
We have a pretty good cast for this one. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Hugh Jackman are our headliners for this movie. Other cast members include Shawn Ashmore, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, and Alex Burton.
Let's get to the story.
Our movie opens up with a classic Patrick Stewart narration.
"Space, the final--"
Sorry, I was having a Star Trek: The Next Generation moment (because, for those who don't know, Patrick Stewart was in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Captain Jean-Luc Picard). I can only imagine how hard it was for Patrick Stewart NOT to call James Marsden Geordi when they were filming the movie. Here's the real narration:
"Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."
We then cut to young Erik Lensherr (Magneto) at a concentration camp in Poland in the year 1944, and...wait a minute. Isn't this the same as First Class? Well, sort of.
In this movie, they had a different actor playing young Magneto. Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United, actually re-shot this entire scene for First Class and got Bill Milner to play young Magneto, while in this movie, he got Brett Morris to play young Magneto. Parts of this footage was actually used in X-Men: First Class, while Bill Milner played young Magneto in First Class during the coin scene. For the record, I have have not seen anything that Bill Milner was in besides First Class. I have no idea who Brett Morris is outside of X-Men. Sorry.
Anyway, young Magneto metal-bends the gate and gets knocked out before we cut to our next scene "in the not too distant future" in Meridian, Mississippi. We see a girl named Marie (Anna Paquin) and her boyfriend talking about a road trip, when the two start making out. However, Marie touches her boyfriend, and starts to absorb his life force, thus putting him into a coma. Marie's family freaks out and she runs away to Alberta, Canada, where she meets everyone's favorite mutant, one of Marvel's most marketable characters since insert-name-of-Avenger-here, WOLVERINE!!!!
But before we go into more detail about Wolverine and Marie (who are pretty much the focus of the movie), we also get our first appearances of two of our three headliners: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. They're at a meeting where Senator Robert Kelly is trying to pass the "Mutant Registration Act." This act would require all mutants to reveal their identities and abilities. Professor X/Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto/Erik Lensherr (Ian McKellan) discuss their opinions on the relationship between mutants and humans. Magneto believes that mutants should dominate the human race and views humans as an outdated species. Professor X, however, believes that mutants and humans can coexist.
We then get this really long bit of dialog between Marie (who now goes by the name Rogue) and Wolverine (I'm not calling him Logan, his real name, because I think that in the context of X-Men, Wolverine sounds WAY more badass), before they are attacked by a mutant named Sabretooth (Tyler Mane). Sabretooth was under orders from Magneto to capture Rogue, but he was stopped thanks to a rescue from Cyclops/Scott Summers (James Marsden) and Storm/Ororo Munroe (Halle Berry).
Cyclops and Storm take Rogue and Wolverine to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The two are introduced to Professor X, an extremely powerful telepath, as well as the head and founder of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
The story kind of drags on in this one. This was a movie that was under two hours long, but felt like it was about three or four hours. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. But in this movie...it just made it long. Really, really long.
Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10
Why: This is an adaptation. I understand that changes have to be made, but in the comics, Rogue didn't just have the whole "no touching people" power. She could also fly, and she had super strength. In this adaptation, they just stripped her of those powers. While it would be interesting if there was a little bit more development of her powers and her character in the movie, we only get three really short scenes of character development that don't really develop her character at all. She pretty much did nothing but act helpless the whole movie. With adaptations, the changes have to MAKE SENSE. This was one that just...didn't. Why? Um...ask someone who might have some idea. Because I have no idea why.
Legendary actors such as Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Halle Berry were SERIOUSLY underused. I understand that this was a Rogue and Wolverine centered film. I really do. However, Storm's role in the movie was seriously screwed up. They just turned her into this person who could do fun little tricks with the weather, and that's it. Um...why?
You have this incredible conflict between Charles and Magneto that has been going on for years and it's barely referenced. The conflict does come into play a bit later on in the movie, but it's BARELY there. When do you get this conflict in more detail? Oh...only A MOVIE OR TWO LATER.
Personally, I think the people making this were just too dependent on there being sequels. Granted, people who read the X-Men comics or watched the cartoon (or just spoiled everything for themselves by looking it all up online and spending HOURS upon HOURS studying the world of X-Men) probably knew that there would be sequels. But this begs the question of who the target audience was. Fans of the comics/cartoon? People who had heard of X-Men through friends/family/media? Fans of Marvel Comics in general? WHO WAS IT? Dennis Harvey, a critic from the film section of Variety, said:
"X-Men plays like a so-so middle chapter of an epic series rather than a fitting kickoff."If you want to read the rest of the review he gave: Dennis Harvey's X-Men Review
I looked on Rotten Tomatoes, and the movie ranked #3 on the X-Men Movies by Tomatometer. 82% of all critics gave it a positive review. Personally, I did like the movie, and while it wasn't one of my favorites, it still was pretty good. If you're a newcomer to X-Men, I'd watch First Class before watching X-Men. While First Class isn't completely true to the comics (*cough*ADAPTATION*cough*), it's still good for people who don't want to read the comics.
Oh, and we got a seriously awesome fight scene done by the original Mystique herself, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos.
So...sorry about the lack of pics and such. Lots going on here in the real world, and I still haven't seen Days of Future Past. Rest assured, it's going to happen. This week, with any luck. Anyway, stay tuned for the next X-Men review, X2: X-Men United! This is kanna, signing off. Bye!
Hey guys, kanna here. So...I know I promised a review of X-Men: First Class before Days of Future Past was released. Unfortunately, I filmed it, but I couldn't get iMovie to cooperate for the editing and some other things got in the way. To make up for it, here are a series of written reviews of the X-Men movies. We'll be going in order of continuity (to the best of my ability; Last Stand kind of screwed things up), ignoring the spin-offs, and leading right up to Days of Future Past.
Let's get started with X-Men: First Class!
This is probably one of my favorite X-Men movies. Granted, X-Men and X2: X-Men United were great and X-Men: The Last Stand is a guilty pleasure, but this is one of my FAVORITES. There is so much awesomeness in this movie, that I actually consider it a little underrated.
Let's go over the cast. We have James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Till, and Kevin Bacon.
Kevin Bacon.
Kevin freaking Bacon.
Excuse me while I go get my Footloose CD. In the meantime, I give you this clip of Kevin Bacon entering the Jimmy Fallon show.
*ahem*
Okay, enough of me going absolutely nuts over Kevin Bacon. The role he plays in this movie was one that I didn't really like. Not because he didn't do a good job, but because of who he played. But we'll get to that later.
Our movie opens up in a concentration camp in Poland, in the year 1944, where we see a little boy being separated from his mother. We later discover that this boy is, in fact, Erik Lensherr (Magneto) as a child (young Erik Lensherr played by Bill Milner). Just as the gate is about to close to completely separate him from his mother, he metal-bends it open as he screams for his mom. We then get the first shot of the villain of the movie, Klaus Schmidt (played by KEVIN FREAKING BACON). He's just sitting up in his office drinking tea and watching the scene unfold from his window. Because that's what all villains with a sick mind and a sinister plan do.
This is actually where my problem with Kevin Bacon's character comes into play. Why? Well, I'm Jewish. And Kevin Bacon's character in this movie is a Nazi. I think you can do the math. Don't get me wrong; Kevin Bacon did a great job in the role, and I actually like how he portrays Schmidt, as well as the fact that the Nazi references are an EXTREMELY small part of the movie. I would have preferred no Nazi references at all, but given this bit took place during WWII, I don't think it could have been avoided. I'm fairly sure that while Kevin Bacon is not Jewish, he is not an anti-Semite. I just don't like the fact that he had to play a Nazi. All right? There. I am not bashing Kevin Bacon in any way. I'm just saying I don't like that he had to play a Nazi. All right? Is everyone happy? Good.
After that, we cut to Westchester County, New York, where we see young Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher), who has already discovered his telepathic powers and learned how to control them to some degree. He meets young Raven (Morgan Lily), a shape-shifter whose real form is a blue skinned girl with short red hair (sound familiar?). Charles invites her to live with him as his foster sister. And his parents are totally okay with it...I think. I guess Charles just mind-controls them off-screen or something. That's what the audience is left to assume before it goes to the next scene (see paragraph below).
We then cut back to the concentration camp, where we see young Erik standing in Schmidt's office. There's a bit of dialog in German exchanged between the two, and I am SERIOUSLY thankful for the invention of subtitles during this bit. Anyway, we get a well-written scene that...well...
We then fast-forward 18 years to the year 1962 and see Charles (James McAvoy), Erik (Michael Fassbender), and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) are now adults. Charles graduates Oxford with a thesis about mutation and a voice-over by Ian McKellan (I'm not joking, it's really him), Raven is still living with Charles, and Erik is out searching for Schmidt. After our game of catch-up, we meet the non-mutant hero of the movie, CIA officer Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne). And, in my opinion...I just can't stand her. I'm not really sure why; I just don't like her.
Anyway, she goes undercover as a stripper in Schmidt's (who is now apparently known as Shaw for some reason that's never really explained in the movie, but whatever) club, the Hellfire Club. She discovers a secret room where she sees Shaw, telepath Emma Frost (January Jones), cyclone-producing Riptide (Álex González), and teleporter Azazel (Jason Flemyng) threatening U.S. Army Colonel Hendry (Glenn Morshower) to deploy nuclear missiles in Turkey so Shaw can start World War III and become the ultimate nuclear bomb. Azazel teleports Hendry to Turkey and he activates the deployment of the missiles. We then get another well-written death scene where Shaw kills Col. Hendry. We also learn a bit more about what it is that Shaw can do, which is absorb energy and manipulate it (although, if you've read the comics, then this isn't too much of a surprise).
We then get a bunch of scenes in the movie that I'm not really a fan of, so I'll just give it to you in the form of bullet-points.
Anyway, upon arrival at Division X, they meet another mutant by the name of Hank McCoy. This is another well-written scene, because it actually includes a (kind of) modern-day reference. What reference is that? Well, here's the scene, and tell me if you can guess what it is.
Yep. That's right. It's the "don't ask, don't tell" reference. Now, if you're not entirely sure as to what that is, here's the short-version. "Don't ask, don't tell" was the U.S. policy on members of the LGBT community serving in the military. It allowed closeted members of the LGBT community to serve in the military, while those who were openly members of the LGBT community were not allowed to serve. This policy was announced by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the year 1993 and repealed in the year 2011 by current U.S. President Barack Obama.
Hank McCoy also built Cerebro, which uses Charles's telepathy to locate other mutants, and we get a montage of recruitment scenes, where we see the recruitment of Angel Savadore, Armando Munoz, Sean Cassidy, and Alex Summers. We also get THE BEST SCENE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE.
Seriously, it's the best scene in the whole movie. Why? Well...
Now, I'm not going to spoil the movie completely for you, because if you've seen the X-Men movies and/or read the comics, then you're probably aware of how this ends. If you haven't seen the movies or read the comics and just don't want to bother with either, then...talk to someone else to fill you in.
And now...we're going to rate the film!
DRUM ROLL
10 OUT OF 10
Seriously, this film was incredible. The acting was FANTASTIC, it was well-written...heck, we even got an uncredited cameo from the original Mystique (who should be in Days of Future Past), Rebecca Romijin! Wolverine's one-liners are always the best, and they showed Erik's evolution into Magneto in a way that was actually better than the comics. Magneto in this movie was more human than he was in the books, and I think that that was why people liked him so much, even though he is often seen as "the bad guy."
This movie set up an AMAZING transition for Days of Future Past. They even got BRYAN SINGER, the director of the first two X-Men movies, to come back to direct it. Days of Future Past is supposed to tie up all the loose ends that the original three (and Origins, but we don't talk about that one) left. Although, if you saw the new Wolverine movie that was released last summer and stayed after the credits, then you probably saw a very interesting scene from Days of Future Past. There were a lot of other bits of the movie shown after other Marvel movies, like Spiderman 2 (which I didn't see, because I don't like Spiderman).
This epic-ness has JUST hit US and UK theaters, and it will...or has hit Canadian theaters on...weird, they don't give a release date. Um, I'm pretty sure Marvel has nothing against Canadians. I mean, Wolverine is supposed to be Canadian. So...what gives, Marvel? What gives?
Well, while I go question what the deal was with them not giving a release date for Canada but giving release dates for at least FORTY other countries, please stay tuned for the next review, which will be of X-Men!
All right, guys! Signing off for now!
UPDATE: I finally realized why I don't like Moira MacTaggert! Get ready for this...
She contributes NOTHING. Literally, nothing. I mean, there are people who probably will say, "Oh, she's a woman in the CIA, it shows feminism..." Okay, fine. I'll give you that. Points for girl power! Yay!
Let's look at the storyline of First Class as a whole. She's literally Charles Xavier's love interest, nothing more. I guess the fact that she isn't a mutant and is doing all this stuff with the mutants should make her character interesting, but...it doesn't. Does it help that she's the one who (indirectly) causes him to end up in the wheelchair? Nope. Just makes me hate her more.
In the comics, she wasn't even in the CIA! She was a geneticist and an expert in mutant affairs. She had this SUPER interesting character arc. And guess what? SHE DIDN'T PUT CHARLES XAVIER IN THE WHEELCHAIR IN THE COMICS (I mean, he did end up in the wheelchair, but she didn't do it)!
UPDATE: I forgot something. I don't usually update posts unless something is either constantly changing or if I forgot something that I meant to put up. Anyway, here's the ultimate reason why I can't stand Moira MacTaggert:
She. Is. An. IDIOT.
Seriously. That might be an understatement, but whatever. Why is she an idiot?
You know that scene during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the movie where Erik takes control of a bunch of missiles and tries to send them back to the American and Russian ships? Well, after that, Charles goes in for the tackle and tackles Erik to the ground as he tries to wrestle this helmet that blocks his telepathy off of Erik's head. Moira grabs her gun, starts shooting, and this is where I get REALLY angry at her.
Why?
ERIK'S FREAKING CODENAME IS MAGNETO! AS IN MAGNET WITH AN O AT THE END! MAGNET, AS IN THAT THING THAT ATTRACTS METAL! THE GUY CONTROLS METAL! THAT'S WHAT YOUR GUN IS MADE OUT OF YOU IDIOT! WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING METAL BULLETS AT A GUY WHO CAN CONTROL FREAKING METAL?! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THE GUY CONTROLLED A BUNCH OF MISSILES! WHAT MADE YOU THINK HE COULDN'T CONTROL A FEW BULLETS OR, OH, I DON'T KNOW, THE GUN IN GENERAL?!
OK. Now I'm done.
Let's get started with X-Men: First Class!
This is probably one of my favorite X-Men movies. Granted, X-Men and X2: X-Men United were great and X-Men: The Last Stand is a guilty pleasure, but this is one of my FAVORITES. There is so much awesomeness in this movie, that I actually consider it a little underrated.
Let's go over the cast. We have James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Till, and Kevin Bacon.
Kevin Bacon.
Kevin freaking Bacon.
OH MY G-D IT'S KEVIN BACON! KEVIN FREAKING BACON!
*ahem*
Okay, enough of me going absolutely nuts over Kevin Bacon. The role he plays in this movie was one that I didn't really like. Not because he didn't do a good job, but because of who he played. But we'll get to that later.
Our movie opens up in a concentration camp in Poland, in the year 1944, where we see a little boy being separated from his mother. We later discover that this boy is, in fact, Erik Lensherr (Magneto) as a child (young Erik Lensherr played by Bill Milner). Just as the gate is about to close to completely separate him from his mother, he metal-bends it open as he screams for his mom. We then get the first shot of the villain of the movie, Klaus Schmidt (played by KEVIN FREAKING BACON). He's just sitting up in his office drinking tea and watching the scene unfold from his window. Because that's what all villains with a sick mind and a sinister plan do.
This is actually where my problem with Kevin Bacon's character comes into play. Why? Well, I'm Jewish. And Kevin Bacon's character in this movie is a Nazi. I think you can do the math. Don't get me wrong; Kevin Bacon did a great job in the role, and I actually like how he portrays Schmidt, as well as the fact that the Nazi references are an EXTREMELY small part of the movie. I would have preferred no Nazi references at all, but given this bit took place during WWII, I don't think it could have been avoided. I'm fairly sure that while Kevin Bacon is not Jewish, he is not an anti-Semite. I just don't like the fact that he had to play a Nazi. All right? There. I am not bashing Kevin Bacon in any way. I'm just saying I don't like that he had to play a Nazi. All right? Is everyone happy? Good.
After that, we cut to Westchester County, New York, where we see young Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher), who has already discovered his telepathic powers and learned how to control them to some degree. He meets young Raven (Morgan Lily), a shape-shifter whose real form is a blue skinned girl with short red hair (sound familiar?). Charles invites her to live with him as his foster sister. And his parents are totally okay with it...I think. I guess Charles just mind-controls them off-screen or something. That's what the audience is left to assume before it goes to the next scene (see paragraph below).
We then cut back to the concentration camp, where we see young Erik standing in Schmidt's office. There's a bit of dialog in German exchanged between the two, and I am SERIOUSLY thankful for the invention of subtitles during this bit. Anyway, we get a well-written scene that...well...
NOTE: I am totally aware that the quality of this is AWFUL. However, this was the only clip from First Class that I could find. Here's a link to the actual translation. X-Men First Class Quotes - 'Killing Shaw will not bring you peace.' You'll have to scroll down a bit, but it's there.
We then get a bunch of scenes in the movie that I'm not really a fan of, so I'll just give it to you in the form of bullet-points.
- MACTAGGERT MEETS CHARLES XAVIER AS HE'S GETTING DRUNK POST GRADUATION
- XAVIER, MACTAGGERT, AND RAVEN CONVINCE CIA DIRECTOR MCCONE THAT MUTANTS EXIST AND SHAW IS A THREAT
- CIA AGENT KNOWN SIMPLY AS 'THE MAN IN BLACK' (I KID YOU NOT) SPONSORS THEM AND TAKES THEM TO DIVISION X
- XAVIER AND CIA RESCUE ERIK FROM DROWNING AFTER HE PRETTY MUCH DESTROYS THE YACHT THAT SHAW IS ON AND SHAW ESCAPES
Anyway, upon arrival at Division X, they meet another mutant by the name of Hank McCoy. This is another well-written scene, because it actually includes a (kind of) modern-day reference. What reference is that? Well, here's the scene, and tell me if you can guess what it is.
Yep. That's right. It's the "don't ask, don't tell" reference. Now, if you're not entirely sure as to what that is, here's the short-version. "Don't ask, don't tell" was the U.S. policy on members of the LGBT community serving in the military. It allowed closeted members of the LGBT community to serve in the military, while those who were openly members of the LGBT community were not allowed to serve. This policy was announced by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the year 1993 and repealed in the year 2011 by current U.S. President Barack Obama.
Hank McCoy also built Cerebro, which uses Charles's telepathy to locate other mutants, and we get a montage of recruitment scenes, where we see the recruitment of Angel Savadore, Armando Munoz, Sean Cassidy, and Alex Summers. We also get THE BEST SCENE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE.
Seriously, it's the best scene in the whole movie. Why? Well...
Now, I'm not going to spoil the movie completely for you, because if you've seen the X-Men movies and/or read the comics, then you're probably aware of how this ends. If you haven't seen the movies or read the comics and just don't want to bother with either, then...talk to someone else to fill you in.
And now...we're going to rate the film!
DRUM ROLL
10 OUT OF 10
Seriously, this film was incredible. The acting was FANTASTIC, it was well-written...heck, we even got an uncredited cameo from the original Mystique (who should be in Days of Future Past), Rebecca Romijin! Wolverine's one-liners are always the best, and they showed Erik's evolution into Magneto in a way that was actually better than the comics. Magneto in this movie was more human than he was in the books, and I think that that was why people liked him so much, even though he is often seen as "the bad guy."
This movie set up an AMAZING transition for Days of Future Past. They even got BRYAN SINGER, the director of the first two X-Men movies, to come back to direct it. Days of Future Past is supposed to tie up all the loose ends that the original three (and Origins, but we don't talk about that one) left. Although, if you saw the new Wolverine movie that was released last summer and stayed after the credits, then you probably saw a very interesting scene from Days of Future Past. There were a lot of other bits of the movie shown after other Marvel movies, like Spiderman 2 (which I didn't see, because I don't like Spiderman).
This epic-ness has JUST hit US and UK theaters, and it will...or has hit Canadian theaters on...weird, they don't give a release date. Um, I'm pretty sure Marvel has nothing against Canadians. I mean, Wolverine is supposed to be Canadian. So...what gives, Marvel? What gives?
Well, while I go question what the deal was with them not giving a release date for Canada but giving release dates for at least FORTY other countries, please stay tuned for the next review, which will be of X-Men!
All right, guys! Signing off for now!
UPDATE: I finally realized why I don't like Moira MacTaggert! Get ready for this...
She contributes NOTHING. Literally, nothing. I mean, there are people who probably will say, "Oh, she's a woman in the CIA, it shows feminism..." Okay, fine. I'll give you that. Points for girl power! Yay!
Let's look at the storyline of First Class as a whole. She's literally Charles Xavier's love interest, nothing more. I guess the fact that she isn't a mutant and is doing all this stuff with the mutants should make her character interesting, but...it doesn't. Does it help that she's the one who (indirectly) causes him to end up in the wheelchair? Nope. Just makes me hate her more.
In the comics, she wasn't even in the CIA! She was a geneticist and an expert in mutant affairs. She had this SUPER interesting character arc. And guess what? SHE DIDN'T PUT CHARLES XAVIER IN THE WHEELCHAIR IN THE COMICS (I mean, he did end up in the wheelchair, but she didn't do it)!
UPDATE: I forgot something. I don't usually update posts unless something is either constantly changing or if I forgot something that I meant to put up. Anyway, here's the ultimate reason why I can't stand Moira MacTaggert:
She. Is. An. IDIOT.
Seriously. That might be an understatement, but whatever. Why is she an idiot?
You know that scene during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the movie where Erik takes control of a bunch of missiles and tries to send them back to the American and Russian ships? Well, after that, Charles goes in for the tackle and tackles Erik to the ground as he tries to wrestle this helmet that blocks his telepathy off of Erik's head. Moira grabs her gun, starts shooting, and this is where I get REALLY angry at her.
Why?
ERIK'S FREAKING CODENAME IS MAGNETO! AS IN MAGNET WITH AN O AT THE END! MAGNET, AS IN THAT THING THAT ATTRACTS METAL! THE GUY CONTROLS METAL! THAT'S WHAT YOUR GUN IS MADE OUT OF YOU IDIOT! WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING METAL BULLETS AT A GUY WHO CAN CONTROL FREAKING METAL?! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THE GUY CONTROLLED A BUNCH OF MISSILES! WHAT MADE YOU THINK HE COULDN'T CONTROL A FEW BULLETS OR, OH, I DON'T KNOW, THE GUN IN GENERAL?!
OK. Now I'm done.
