stormkeeper_lovedoris | The X-men movies: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The X-men movies: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Is there anyone on my f-list who hasn’t seen the X-men movies but wants to? Good - didn’t think so, so no need to worry about spoilers. Since I finally am getting a chance to re-watch X3, I’ve been inspired to sit down and write out my views of the X-men movies. I’m categorizing my thoughts in terms of what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I have mixed feelings on.

I liked :

- The movies are what got me into the fandom in the first place. For that reason alone, I have to love them. I’ll never forget going to see the first X-men movie 4 times (and dragging

nytshd3 with me 3 times, though I think she wanted to go at least for the first 2). They captured the essence of what I love about this fandom – a group of people who have special powers and who are hated and feared by society but who do the right thing and work to make things better. I think the movies make their point – about oppression, about acceptance -- very well.

- Making a big generalization, I felt all the movies had solid plots, good effects, a few nice twists, cool music, well-choreographed battle scenes – just overall as movies they were good, especially the first two.

- Most of the Xmen were portrayed pretty well, in my opinion. Getting Patrick Stewart to play Xavier was a dream. I felt that the essence of Cyclops and Wolverine were captured too, more or less. Hank was really good, though he’s not in the movies enough. I also really like their Bobby. Nightcrawler was pretty good, I liked what we saw of Colossus. Also, he’s not an X-man but movie-Magneto was outstanding, far outshining TV-Magneto. But see below for the one X-man who got the worst of it – Gambit.

- The costumes were a hundred times better in the movies than the dork-ass outfits they wear on TV. (For the record, I like the TV costumes of Rogue, Storm, and Gambit. The rest of the team look like fucktards. Worst TV costumes include Cyclops’ underwear-on-the-outside ensemble and Wolverine’s goofy mask with the cutesy ears sticking up).

Didn’t like:

- Can movie-Jean possibly suck any worse? I thought she was dreadful. Easily the character they botched the most and maybe even the worst thing about the entire movie series. Maybe it’s because TV-Jean was so amazingly good -- the voice actor for the animated series was Catherine Disher and she was the bomb; she somehow conveyed warmth, strength, vulnerability, a powerful femininity . But I can’t stand movie-Jean. Her voice sounds all wrong, and she doesn’t even look the part. The personality is off. I think this is one of the movie’s biggest misses and I kind of want to throttle the casting director for this choice.

- Rogue. Can I simultaneously like movie-Rogue and wish that movie-Rogue had been animated-series-Rogue? I like Anna Pacquin and felt she did the best with what was given to her in the movies. They created an interesting character. But she’s not Rogue. Movie-Rogue is so different from TV-Rogue. I like both versions, but TV-Rogue would have been better.

- No Gambit!! Wtf?? No Gambit! I don’t know. Did the movie-makers feel that they already had too many strong male leads? Did they hate Cajuns? Did they not know what to do with him given how they screwed up Rogue? Whatever the case, it leads us to...

- No Rogue/Gambit. They are arguably the best X-couple ever and the couple is non-existent in the movies. That sucks. Bring back the animated series!

- I could sure have done without all the deaths in X3. Did the filmmakers decide it would be really neat to just kill off several pillars of the X-men?

- A few minor points:
1. Why does Shadowcat look like she’s about 13 in X3? And if Bobby is romantically interested in her, shouldn’t he be carted off to jail for that? Ewww.
2. I would’ve liked Jubilee to have a line or two, though I realize I may be alone in that opinion.

Mixed feelings:

- Storm. She’s so much better than movie-Jean and movie-Rogue that she kinda seems to be the pick of the lot in terms of movie-X-women. And at least they showcased her powers well in X3. But they still could’ve done a lot more with her, and as much as I like movie Storm, she really seems like a totally different person than TV Storm. It kind of sucks how she was always a peripheral character in the films. On the other hand, when you have 47 main characters, it’s kind of hard to focus on them all.

- The movies did a decent job of showing us how strong and powerful the women in the X-men realm are. But I also thought that women in general didn’t come through quite as awesome and powerful as they do in the TV show. In addition to the four strong X-women, the TV show gave us a female US President in early episodes, Llandra who ruled over an entire Empire in space, even powerful female baddies like Lady Deathstrike and Callisto who were the leaders of their own groups. Every time you turned around on the TV show, there was a strong woman in charge of something. In the movies, less so - unfortunately.

- Jean/Scott. I was tempted to put this in the “bad” category but the movies got a few aspects of their relationship right, and movie-Cyclops is good. The second movie gives us an idea of how much they care about each other. But the movies also could have done a better job portraying their love and illustrating that they are soulmates. I also thought the movie put too much emphasis on the Cyclops-Jean-Wolverine triangle, but I realize that I am just tired of the triangle and that other people think it’s cool.

- What’s with Wolverine always running off at the end of the movies? I’ve been re-watching the Animated Series, and was surprised at how loyal he actually is to the team. He has his episodes of needing to get away early on but generally he’s quite loyal to the X-men as the series progresses. He even states in one episode that the X-men mean more to him than anything. But in the movies, it’s like he’s always just passing through.

- A few minor points:
1. Lady Deathstrike was so cool in X2. And it so sucked that she gets killed.
2. It would’ve been nice if they’d shown Hank and Bobby’s friendship. The two don’t really interact in the one movie that they both appear in. But again, when you have 94 main characters this type of thing often gets overlooked so I can’t get too upset.

X-fans, what do you think?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I would’ve liked Jubilee to have a line or two, though I realize I may be alone in that opinion.

You aren't! I LOVE Jubilee. I was upset when I realized that she wasn't really featured in the movie. The animated series made her more like a main character.

And I agree with you on Storm as well. While she is portrayed the best of the X-women, I just don't like Halle Berry and something always struck me as "off" about her. Maybe it was the hair.

Yay, another Jubilee fan! She can get annoying on the TV show but I liked her. She had spunky.

You said it all on Storm.

I don't participate in the fandom but I liked the animated series and I liked the films and your review kept making me laugh.

Nightcrawler was pretty good,

Would've liked to have seen MUCH MORE of him. Also, Hank. Way way way more Hank. I think Kelsey Grammer did a fantastic job giving movie-Hank wisdom and charisma and that not-quite-in-sync sense of humor. Both of those characters were criminally underused. As you say, when you have 60, 78, 94 main characters....

Costumes-- yes! Also, that you say "dork ass" and "fucktard" is, for me, DIFFERENT. Also, FUNNY.

Can movie-Jean possibly suck any worse?

Sometimes it seems like she asked herself that question before each movie and vowed the answer would be yes!

I can remember sitting in the theater for X3 and watching the scene where she comes out of the lake thinking, "WTF kinda Clairol commercial is this?!"

Can I simultaneously like movie-Rogue and wish that movie-Rogue had been animated-series-Rogue?

Yes. I'm right there with you. She's great, but she's exactly right. There's something missing and its hard to articulate and some of it's a lack of Gambit, and some of it is having no connection to Mystique, but some of it's just ineffable.

No Gambit!! Wtf?? No Gambit! ...Did they hate Cajuns?

Dixiephobia: lame-ifying superhero franchise movies since 2000. Fingers crossed for #4 yeah?

I would’ve liked Jubilee to have a line or two, though I realize I may be alone in that opinion.

I would have, too.

Storm. She’s so much better than movie-Jean and movie-Rogue that she kinda seems to be the pick of the lot in terms of movie-X-women. And at least they showcased her powers well in X3. But they still could’ve done a lot more with her...

Absolutely! I kept waiting for her to take charge and things just kept getting skewed to Wolverine. I can understand how he's a big deal, interesting guy whatever, and they had to hang a plot of him, but Storm's powers and character is massively more interesting. Wolverine's story seems passive: they did this to me, I can't remember, all this stuff comes at me from outside. Whereas Storm has a complex backstory with her making choices and taking action and dealing with things. She's supposed to be second in command (I have a thing for hierarchies) and very much experience in how things work. It seems like the best of her character, at least in the first two movies, got split up between Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine. Also, liked her first movie hairstyle way better than her third movie hairstyle.

Lady Deathstrike was so cool in X2. And it so sucked that she gets killed.

Yes.

I'm looking forward to the fourth film!

I don't participate in the fandom but I liked the animated series and I liked the films and your review kept making me laugh.

Yay! :)

You totally said it on Hank. They really got him right. They just totally under-used him.

Costumes-- yes! Also, that you say "dork ass" and "fucktard" is, for me, DIFFERENT. Also, FUNNY

I normally don't use such terms. But I could not think of a way to convey how abysmal their costumes were on the show. I mean, would you be caught dead in any of their outfits? Even if you were a 6 foot tall hunky guy like Cyclops, would you wear underwear over tights and think that you look good?

I can remember sitting in the theater for X3 and watching the scene where she comes out of the lake thinking, "WTF kinda Clairol commercial is this?!"

LOL!

You said it on Dixiephobia! And yay, you like Jubilee too. :)

Wow, you are so right on Storm! Totally, down to the hair. And yes, I think her past and her choices are fascinating but she kept getting short shrift.

But I could not think of a way to convey how abysmal their costumes were on the show. I mean, would you be caught dead in any of their outfits? Even if you were a 6 foot tall hunky guy like Cyclops, would you wear underwear over tights and think that you look good?

Conveyed! And I keep cracking up. And read that aloud to Christopher, and he's laughing. No, I wouldn't. But now I keep picturing him pulling on his over-the-tights undies and admiring his own behind and can't stop laughing. "How's my ass look in these superhero panties?"

Ack! I nearly choked on my ice-pop!

You do realize, though, that Cyclops wasn't alone in his love of "undies on the outside"...Wolverine had 'em, too. ^_~

And Hank usually wore nothing but undies! Did the team have some sort of fetish?

Meanwhile, I can't accept that the multi-millionaire Xavier wore the same olive green suit every episode. He spent so much on the Blackbird that he can't afford any other clothing?

Well, Eric Raymond AND Harvey Gabor (I think) were in the same boat.

Maybe Professor X just REALLY likes olive green and has many, many suits in that color. You know, a couple from Armani, some from Ralph Lauren... ^_~

Lmao. that's how he saved money. He had to cut cost somewhere.
ps I liked Lady Death Strike and would like to have seen more Jubilation Lee. Funny I didn't know she was Asian until around the movies.

I like Kitty was supposed to be about 16 so that's legal. Ellen Page looks so young anyway.

I miss the animated series. I liked Callisto with the eye patch.

I never ever liked Jean/Scott. I could not relate to them because they were so perfect. It made me sick. Plus they wined a lot in the series. *nod*

Funny I didn't know she was Asian until around the movies.

She's not drawn well in the TV show. But you'd think they'd know how to draw Asian features, it's not that hard. :)

I miss the animated series. I liked Callisto with the eye patch.

I miss the series too, but Callisto...I crush out on movie-Callisto. She was so cute and tough and hot. Eye-patch-Callisto didn't do anything for me.

You are certainly not alone on Jean/Scott, though I love them a lot. I didn't feel they were perfect myself, just that they loved each other completely.

I miss the series too, but Callisto...I crush out on movie-Callisto. She was so cute and tough and hot. Eye-patch-Callisto didn't do anything for me.

You liked Dania? :D I lot of people think she's very pretty. I have a slurpy cup with her face on it. :D

I liked when she was kicking storms ass. :F That's evol huh? I didn't want her to be killed. It makes me sick that Lady Death Strike died like that. She wasn't even in control of her body. :(

You liked Dania? :D I lot of people think she's very pretty. I have a slurpy cup with her face on it. :D

You do?? I'm totally ingorant on this...is she well-known outside of X3?

It makes me sick that Lady Death Strike died like that. She wasn't even in control of her body. :(

I agree. She had potential to be strong and kick ass like in the tv show, but she was just a pawn in the movie. That was sad.

The Dania Ramirez played my favorite character on that failure of a series Heroes.

Did you like the movie?

I think I'll have to watch the first one again and think on some fanfiction!\o/

perhaps there is/was just a rush of undies-on-the-outside fetish artists running the comic book industry for a while. i mean, even if we ignore the x-dudes, there's certain incarnations of superman, batman, aquaman, etc that also have the undies on the outside look.

as for beast, i suspect the idea is to show as much of the 'beasty' side as possible (see? he's TOTALLY covered with fur, not just his face/hands/arms), but not allowing him to be totally naked, presumably for the sake of not having to totally neuter him and/or invite protests from parents (you can see this also in some versions of fantastic four's the thing).

ya know... off the top of my head, i can't think of any villains who wear their undies on the outside. maybe if they did it would trick the heroes. 'oh wait! he wears his underwear on the outside! whew, he must be a hero like us! i guess those must be bad guys he keeps killing! Let's go help!'

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who uses the term x-dudes. :)

And I'm sure also for Beast it was hard for him to find clothes in his size, with the arms and legs the right length. He probably had a great tailor.

ya know... off the top of my head, i can't think of any villains who wear their undies on the outside. maybe if they did it would trick the heroes. 'oh wait! he wears his underwear on the outside! whew, he must be a hero like us! i guess those must be bad guys he keeps killing! Let's go help!'

LOL!

as you know, i'm not really a cyclops fan, but i really felt like there was about 0 chemistry between jean and cyke in the movie(s). like, if i didn't know better, if i had only seen the movies and knew nothing else, i would assume that jean and cyke were only together because it was convenient - prof x's first students, etc. i really didn't feel the love. i do think it has a lot to do with the casting choice tho. i didn't find jean even particularly *likeable*. i agree with you that catherine disher did a great job at jean's voice on the animated series (i also have a soft spot for her cuz she was in forever knight :)).

as for wolverine running off on his own a lot... i suspect that part of it is because, and this is if i remember it correctly, when the animated series starts, wolvie's been with the xmen for a while. not, like, forever, but long enough. he's established, and tho he still has issues, he's at least relatively comfortable with the group. in the movies, he's new or relatively new. plus, IIRC, once the first movie did well they started making plans for a wolverine movie (interestingly enough, they also have plans for a magneto movie). having him run off at the end of x3 makes it way easier to transition into his own movie.

What did Catherine look like? I wish they had casted her in the movie. Agree that movie Jean isn't at all likeable.

Wait, they're making a Magneto movie??

Good points on Wolvie's commitment-phobia. Plus a lot of people seem to like the whole lone hero thing instead of teams. I prefer teams.

For me ... Movie Jean was the least annoying of all the version. :[

Movie Rogue is not comic/ats Rogue. Gosh I missed her accent.

You didn't mention the accents. ;)

I think Gambit with Rogue on the same movie would have stole all over the movie. Man that would have been great. Scene thieves. Gambit is so sexy. *dools*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The X-men movies: the good, the bad, and the ugly

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

superhero underwear fetish

Re: superhero underwear fetish

and a non-undie-related post ;)

Re: and a non-undie-related post ;)

can't belive I missed this the first time.