X-Men Movies Thread

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by Dacey » June 14th, 2017, 3:59 pm

I love how this was a reboot before it was a prequel before it was a reboot again.
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by ShyViolet » June 15th, 2017, 1:44 pm

A lot of the story is actually supposed to take place in outer space (plus the Pheonix is an otherworldly being not a split personality). Hopefully it will be done right this time. :)
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by Ben » February 22nd, 2018, 6:02 pm

After a mad week I needed to unwind so took the chance to catch a movie I hadn’t seen yet. I’m halfway through watching X-Men: Apocalypse and...my gawd, it’s bad.

Sorry to those who liked, but this is totally out of step with all the other X-films (yes, even Last Stand), especially tonally. It’s clear from this outing that the original movie X-verse has run its course, resorting to a routine, run of the mill sequel that doesn’t continue the themes and storylines set up in the original three and two previous prequels and just goes for a really dumb cartoon storyline, costumes and ridiculously badly made-up villain whose inflated grandiosity is often laughable!

I’ll admit that it races along at times, but the whole screwed up timeline that seems to take place too long after events it refers back to but at the same time too soon to what happens and how the characters will appear ostensibly ten years later in the original X-trilogy, results in a big, empty nothing that feels as lightweight and trite as First Class and DOFP managed to feel layered and smart.

Even Quicksilver's "reprise" doesn’t work as well, the natural result of seeing his act before, but also just not as clever and surprising. Some of the sillier things that don’t work admittedly ha e their flaws rooted in the comics, but the film does nothing to try and root them in either the "real" world or even the "real" world of the previous X-flms.

I knew it wasn’t going to be anything special, but this really is very poor, especially coming after the likes of X2 and DOFP, and although I’m obviously seeing this after the outstanding Logan, that’s still no excuse for the shockingly simplistic, bland and unintentionally laughable Apocalypse. In this case, as someone says as they come out of a movie theatre, the third one really is the weakest. And dumb!

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by EricJ » February 23rd, 2018, 8:24 pm

Ben wrote:After a mad week I needed to unwind so took the chance to catch a movie I hadn’t seen yet. I’m halfway through watching X-Men: Apocalypse and...my gawd, it’s bad.

Sorry to those who liked, but this is totally out of step with all the other X-films (yes, even Last Stand), especially tonally. It’s clear from this outing that the original movie X-verse has run its course, resorting to a routine, run of the mill sequel that doesn’t continue the themes and storylines set up in the original three and two previous prequels and just goes for a really dumb cartoon storyline, costumes and ridiculously badly made-up villain whose inflated grandiosity is often laughable! !
Except, of course for the new "seniority" of returning DOFP cast members like Beast and Mystique, who get it written into the script that they don't have to wear makeup for most of the movies anymore.
(And Magneto can dress casual, and doesn't have to wear the helmet.)

As for the new kids who have to play Storm and Nightcrawler, sorry, freshman hazing.
Still, at least Singer got Nightcrawler's character right this time, on the second try.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by LotsoA113 » February 24th, 2018, 7:53 pm

X-Men: Apocalypse was such a dud, my word. Worst of all, it wasted Oscar Isaac, one of our best modern-day dramatic actors, on dismal make-up work and a lousily written villain.
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by ShyViolet » March 23rd, 2018, 1:07 am

I totally get what you guys are saying. There are still elements of it that I enjoy (even though 95% of all the actors’ talents put together are basically thrown by the wayside) but I definitely now think that this was pretty much an all-around disaster. :(.

I still love the opening sequence in ancient Egypt (pretty much the only part of the movie where John Ottman was allowed to shine) and I don’t think Fassbender and McAvoy could ever give a bad performance, but so much of this film is a mess. Way too many plot threads with a story that basically goes nowhere until the last twenty minutes (you can’t even really say that it was all “buildup” because pretty much every scene felt like it came from a completely different film than the one before.) It’s also really sad that the most exciting part is at the very end when they were all in their new costumes about to do battle in the danger room. This should have been the opening! :roll:

So many missed opportunities: the drama of what happens to Erik’s family and his daughter’s mutant power is abandoned immediately, (although it doesn’t stop him from murdering millions and millions of innocent people following a completely tasteless scene at Auschwitz), the Jean-Scott relationship has less depth than a soap opera, (and even The Last Stand) the Quicksilver scene has none of the fun/awesomeness/even somewhat sublime quality of its DOFP predecessor, (“dutiful” and “leaden” are about right), the Moira/Charles memory wipe resolution is basically nothing more than a throwaway scene during the last ten minutes, there is absolutely no gravitas, tension or real depth during any of the film save for the scenes with Erik and his family. I can’t stress enough how badly this film missed the mark...(ok “confession” time lol...I definitely had problems with it even when I watched it two years ago for the first time, but the fact that the final Charles/Apocalypse scene at the very end blew me away coupled with the fact that I kept telling myself that this movie couldn’t really be as bad as it seemed made me try very, very, very hard to like it anyway. ;) )

Lastly, of course, is Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse. I definitely share the majority opinion that he was incredibly wasted in this film (despite the terrible lines he was given, however, he still somehow manages to retain his dignity and every once in a while is actually able to squeeze some power from his woefully underwritten role, despite the—yes, I agree now—ridiculous costume. I saw some of those original designs: how in the world could they pass those up and pick the costume they did?)

On Dark Phoenix...The truth is I have very little motivation to see it. I know no scenes have been released yet and that we’ve never seen Simon Kinberg direct before but the fact that every plot summary that’s posted on IGN or CinemaBlend every six months sounds different than the one before (out of this world space adventure, no dark and brooding drama, Magneto’s the villain again oh wait no he isn’t) doesn’t bode well for the film. Plus, the fact that Lawrence is returning after repeatedly saying she never would coupled with her atrocious performance as Raven in X Men: A is basically proof positive that she’s only doing this for the cash and that her Pheonix performance won’t be any better. :roll:

I still do enjoy parts of this film because Fassbender and McAvoy could never, ever bore me, but all in all I’m willing to admit now that it was a gigantic disappointment. :( (Plus I still can’t understand how the unbelievably campy scene where Charles is using Cerebro and basically goes crazy from Apocalypse trying to get into his brain was actually included in this film.)


Anyway, at this point I’m really not sure what to expect from the franchise anymore especially considering the Disney purchase. (If it does go through.). But I still adore the Logan film and am sorry to see Hugh Jackman go. (Oh, despite the irrelevance of his scene in X-Men:A it was the only one that had the slightest feel of the brilliant depth/drama of the best films in this franchise.)


And, yes, Gambit is still in development hell! Lol. Apparently the third (yes, third!) director just quit! :shock: I guess that’s Hollywood for ya. ;)
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by EricJ » March 23rd, 2018, 2:04 pm

ShyViolet wrote:the Quicksilver scene has none of the fun/awesomeness/even somewhat sublime quality of its DOFP predecessor, (“dutiful” and “leaden” are about right),
I dunno, thought using "Time in a Bottle" was too Singer-yuk-yuk in DOFP, but all of XM:A was somehow redeemed by the hip civil-disobedience of Quicksilver moonwalking through the mansion to the Eurythmics. 8)
On Dark Phoenix...The truth is I have very little motivation to see it. I know no scenes have been released yet and that we’ve never seen Simon Kinberg direct before but the fact that every plot summary that’s posted on IGN or CinemaBlend every six months sounds different than the one before (out of this world space adventure, no dark and brooding drama, Magneto’s the villain again oh wait no he isn’t) doesn’t bode well for the film. Plus, the fact that Lawrence is returning after repeatedly saying she never would coupled with her atrocious performance as Raven in X Men: A is basically proof positive that she’s only doing this for the cash and that her Pheonix performance won’t be any better. :roll:
Why are we getting a Dark Phoenix movie? Because Bryan Singer's lil' trick didn't work twice:
We got an Apocalypse movie after DOFP because Singer keeps his job at Fox by putting his own little franchise-sequel teases onto the post-credits, knowing that the fans will demand the other shoe drop. Putting a Mr. Sinister tease at the end of Apocalypse didn't quite get him that follow-up job like he hoped, and string out his directing gig along with the Fox franchise, but at least it put Fox in mind of Jean Grey when they were trying to figure out how to wrap the whole thing up with a bang.
Anyway, at this point I’m really not sure what to expect from the franchise anymore especially considering the Disney purchase. (If it does go through.). But I still adore the Logan film and am sorry to see Hugh Jackman go. (Oh, despite the irrelevance of his scene in X-Men:A it was the only one that had the slightest feel of the brilliant depth/drama of the best films in this franchise.)
What to expect? Well, latest words:
Whether Deadpool 2 had a disastrous test-screening or not depends on which spin-ster you ask, but--now that Fox is hitching their star to a Deadpool/X-Force franchise and letting the Men go hang--the final trailer now has Deadpool already forming X-Force.
Not sure if that was originally supposed to happen after the New Mutants movie came out, which has now been pushed back a year, but if word of last-minute DP2 reshoots are correct, sounds like the franchise has just been officially Shrek the Thirded. :lol:

As for after that, Fox wants to take a page from Sony's Book of Desperation and make villain spinoffs with a Doctor Doom movie before they lose the F4 back to Marvel, but...Disney's acquisition deal couldn't have stepped in at a better time, bringing the straitjackets with them.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by Randall » March 24th, 2018, 9:49 am

Wow, even Vi is losing enthusiasm for the X-films. Fox is in trouble.

While I will likely keep my disc collection going with Dark Phoenix, my interest in the franchise (which was never all that big), may drop off quickly after that.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by ShyViolet » April 28th, 2018, 3:03 am

A bit off-topic, as it refers to the comic book in 1995 (yes, Marvel actually was on the verge of going bankrupt in a year from then) but a very accurate summation of why the extended mini-series “The Age of Apocalypse”, well, rocked. I read most of the issues when they were first released and have never forgotten them. The funny thing was that at the time it was a low point for X-Men comics/Marvel, but it’s really not exaggerating to say that this brief series was on the level of literature. (Never mind the artistry, which was astonishing—particularly X-Men: Chronicles.)

https://www.cbr.com/age-of-apocalypse-best-worst/


(I realize that the cartoon adapted AOA into a two-parter called “One Man’s Worth”, an ok story but no standout as far as the usually high-quality animated series was concerned. Of course the TV show was very adept at adapting sprawling comic storylines, but with an epic like AOA, it’s pretty much impossible. :? )
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by EricJ » April 28th, 2018, 8:01 pm

ShyViolet wrote:(I realize that the cartoon adapted AOA into a two-parter called “One Man’s Worth”, an ok story but no standout as far as the usually high-quality animated series was concerned. Of course the TV show was very adept at adapting sprawling comic storylines, but with an epic like AOA, it’s pretty much impossible. :? )
Since I only read a few of the X-titles, and knowing what's going on in a summer crossover usually requires reading all the major titles, I remember having no CLUE what was going on in the print AOA storyline...Mystique is good? Jean and Scott are bad?
I was doing well enough to figure out what was going on in the "Amalgam Universe" series a couple years later.

We didn't have the Fox or Disney movies, so the 90's TV show singlehandedly had to explain all Marvel canon past and present to us, and "One Man's Worth" (with just its one little opening scene of the alternate-universe "war") was the perfect Wiki-FAQ explanation for the storyline in brief.
Sort of like Disney Channel's "Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes" was for the Avengers canon, before they had to turn it into the goofy movie-canon cartoon.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by ShyViolet » May 29th, 2018, 1:11 pm

I have no idea how true this is but the British movie site Metro seems to think it’s quite likely to be legit.


https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/29/x-men-da ... r-7586131/

If it is accurate...can’t say I’m that surprised. :?

(Warning: MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR spoilers for Dark Phoenix. Some language too.)
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by Randall » May 29th, 2018, 10:02 pm

Release is still a long time away. Much could happen.

Having said that, I have only middling interest or respect for this film franchise to begin with. If the film is only so-so, it will meet my expectations.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by EricJ » May 30th, 2018, 2:40 am

Basically, he's saying that it's not the "cool, comic-accurate movie where they go into space and meet the Skrulls, before they show up in the Captain Marvel movie!" that the Reddit fans made up in their heads and Photoshopped online, and knowing the Fox directors, that much I guessed. If it had been Bryan Singer, we wouldn't even have to guess that.

But, if the fans only have themselves to blame for making up a better movie in their heads, that won't help Fox any either. At this point in the franchise, it's just shutting barn doors after the big flaming chickens flew out, and we're all sitting around now to see whether Disney or Comcast gets awarded custody of Doctor Doom and the F4.

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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by ShyViolet » July 26th, 2018, 9:22 am

Should be taken with a grain of salt, but apparently there’s been strong rumors that Dark Phoenix—as well as other Fox/Marvel projects like Gambit and New Mutants—have all been effectively cancelled. According to the source, Disney wants a “clean slate” before integrating the newly-acquired characters into the MCU.

http://whatculture.com/film/mcu-rumour- ... nts?page=3
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Re: X-Men Movies Thread

Post by EricJ » July 26th, 2018, 2:51 pm

They said its a possibility that these two movies could see release on some streaming/television/Bluray platform years from now, but only after Disney has fully developed its own X-Men Universe."
New Mutants was reportedly already in reshoots, so if we see it downgraded to a Netflix movie, you have your answer.
Although, if it ends up permanently lost, and Disney decides to do a more comic-friendly version that doesn't have to tie in with the Deadpool-verse, and without the "evil lab" plot so they don't mention the Mansion, that's okay too.

There's been a little too much fan blue-sky'ing about "Wow, now that they finally got Fox, Disney/MCU's going to create a WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE for F4 and the Mutants!", but I see it as a little more experimental at this point, given that Fox has already notoriously stunk up both franchises--The F4 isn't Spiderman, after all.
They're likely going to play with their new toys for one or two toes-in-the-water movies like they did with the Muppets, and then downgrade them to another Freeform series if that doesn't work out.

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