It’s “uncanny” to me (heh heh) that we’d had two great X-Men franchise films in the past few years, both of which I’ve been lucky enough to review in one form or another for Big Shiny Robot.
So rather than just rehash what I wrote (because my opinions on both of these films hasn’t really changed, despite multiple viewings), I thought I’d curate some of the best bits of our reviews and just point you back to them.
X-Men: First Class was the reboot the franchise needed.
Here’s a link to Swank’s incredibly glowing review, a response “rant” from Vagatron who just hated it, and then my views. I really liked this film, and I think it reset the stage incredibly well. A few bits from our respective reviews:
Vagatron: “Turns out that my hope for the future of this movie and the franchise died a few minutes after the very first scene. It hurt, it hurt so much! I sat through a 2 hour and 10 Goddamn minute, horribly under budgeted, over acted comic book movie. Seriously, it is up there with Ang Lee’s Hulk.”
Swank: “I thought we’d get a pretty good movie out of this at best. Boy was I wrong. We got a phenomenal, incredible movie out of this. X-Men: First Class is the X-Men sequel I’ve been holding my breath for since X2 came out. The more I chew on it, the more I think it’s as good as that film.”
Vagatron: “It is sad to say that during these first few minutes the only thing I was comparing this moment to was the wonderful acting of Jake Lloyd in The Phantom Menace.”
Me: “What wasn’t so good? January Jones. She sticks out like a sore thumb. I don’t even understand why people think she’s that attractive, and you could’ve done much better with other girls to fill out that Emma Frost White Queen outfit.”
Vagatron: “I remember two specific points in this movie where I wanted to laugh or just flat out leave (take it from me, I should have left after the Wolverine cameo ended and got on with my life). . . The second laugh-out-loud moment was a montage. . .of the “new mutants” training. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Eye of the Tiger music to kick in. I mean, we got the horrible training montage with no Stallone cameo whatsoever! After what feels like MONTHS of training we find that it’s only been a week and they are combat ready! Ivan Drago, you don’t stand a chance!”
And both Swank and I talk about how Michael Fassbender played Magneto like he’s James Bond.
“The Wolverine” Roundtable
We all sat down and shared our thoughts, which you can read in their entirety here. Here are some choice pieces:
Swank-mo-tron: I thought this movie played out as though they got a time machine to transport a stack of Marvel Comics (starting with the Claremont/Miller Wolverine mini-series) to Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane and asked them to write a noir based on it. Then, Mangold came in and directed it with the sensibilities of Kurosawa’s noir films, only with more explosions, mutants, and giant Silver Samurai.
Seriously, imagine taking a 1940s Humphrey Bogart movie, dropping the Wolverine in like Frank Miller’s Marv, and then adding in the conceits of superhero films and that’s what you get from this movie. I thought it was so incredibly fun, even though it deviated in many ways from the comics. This movie was, above-all, satisfying.
And the third act to me felt like the final act of a Bond movie… Much more satisfying and logical than, say, You Only Live Twice. And fitting for the characters.
Citizen-Bot: Oh, come on– you know this movie would’ve been better if that last fight took place inside a volcano. But I think you hit on the pedigree and feel of The Wolverine exactly. I was a fan of Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma remake, and this has a lot of that same heart and smart, deliberate pacing.
Sith-Bot: Let me preface by saying I really enjoyed this movie, or at least most of it. The first 3/4 is a lot of fun and gives us exactly what we’re looking for in a (albeit PG-13) wolverine movie. It’s fun, action packed, gritty, funny, incredibly stabby and had me giggling like a school girl at what was unfolding on screen. Then we hit the final 30 minutes, and everything falls apart. It felt like the writers got themselves into a corner with figuring out how to tie up loose ends, explain what was really going on, and give us the Silver Samurai money shot (which was totally wasted) we were promised in the movie posters. There are a few moments in the finale that are guaranteed to make fanboys’ heads explode.
Citizen-Bot: In a film so full of betrayal and plot twists and shifting loyalties, suddenly in the last half hour, everyone says, “Oh, whatever, f@#$ it, I’m a gonna do whatever I’m a gonna do because it will look cool in a movie.” The character motivations made sense up until then, and then suddenly. . . it’s a free-for-all. It felt like a Kevin Smith comic book: GREAT first 5 issues, unfulfilling 6th issue that leaves me shaking my head. At least Wolverine had a satisfying and organic character arc, because none of his foils/villains did. I guess if all that ridiculousness was done in service of him, it’s forgivable. It’s certainly not near as bad as the ending of Origins: Wolverine, which was completely ridiculous.
Also, I feel like I was robbed of an opportunity to see Wolverine fight 100 ninjas. “Is that all you brought?” was a great setup line, but then rather than going berserker rage, he just starts running away and gets shot by 30 arrows? I understand they had to move the movie along, but I wish that scene existed.
We loved both these movies, even though we bitched about them. Now, go see “Days of Future Past.”