QUICK REVIEW: Logan (NO SPOILERS)

Howdy ladies and gents how’s it going? So after months of waiting with really solid trailers and ominous black and white imagery, we’re here in March with the release of Logan, one of the most notable blockbusters of the year. I’ve been hyped for this film since the first trailer and with the early reviews I got really excited to see the end result, so after checking it out last night I’m ready to pass judgement.

The story can described as the following:

“In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.”

What I appreciated about this film was how different it was. The best way to describe this film is that it is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, you’ll be laughing one minute and be super sad the next or be shocked one second and super tense later on, this film covers every emotional base. Tonally it’s not only different to the rest of the X-Men films, but also comic book films in general, the direction and approach to story, character and drama felt dark, mature, melancholy and surreal. If it weren’t for mentions of mutants, verbal and visual cues to previous films and the use of Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, you probably wouldn’t guess this was an X-Men film at all, and that could be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of fan you are of this film series. The overall story is solid and unfolds in a lot unexpected ways, if I had anything I would nitpick about, and I mine the tiniest nitpicks would be that the film’s story unfolded differently than I expected and there’s a few questions the film presents that never get enough clarification, but otherwise I really enjoyed this story.

The cast as excellent and all did great in their roles. Firstly thee’s Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and he kills it in this film. Jackman’s been fantastic in this role for the last 17 years and has only gotten better with each film, and he we get Logan at his lowest point, he’s troubled by his past, is in bad shape, not healing properly and his lifestyle is hardly ideal but he has no other choice. Jackman really channels the core elements of what makes Wolverine such an interesting and endearing character in the comics not through the physicality of his performance but also through dialogue and facial expressions. Patrick Stewart’s return as Charles Xavier/Professor X was incredible, while I’ve always liked what Stewart brought to this role, in this film because of Xavier’s old age, condition and certain story elements we get to see a totally different side to this character, one that is fun, strange and hard to watch at times and as usual Stewart puts his talents to good use here. Oh and of course we have to talk about Dafne Keen as Laura, good gravy, I dunno where Jame Mangold and the casting people found this girl but she was damn good! Laura is an interesting character not only because of her origins but also due to her interactions with other but in the conversational type and physical type, she’s quiet yet feisty and she doesn’t say much but says a lot though facial expressions and kicking ass and Keen is such a humourous little badass but also quite serious too. Boyd Holbrook was really good as Donald Pierce, Holbrook was always physically intimidating, charming and cool as the tenacious villain, Stephen Merchant was also very interesting as Caliban, he had a more substantial role than I expected and I liked his interactions with Logan too, and finally Richard E. Grant was also quite memorable in the film too.

When it comes to the presentation it was really solid. Visually the film was damn good, the cinematography was really good with some lovely landscape shots, good angles and tracking shots during the action scenes and a good use of colour too. But I seriously have to commend the filmmakers on the action, holy crap this film was gorgeous. This film puts that 15/R-rating to good use as people get cut and stabbed left right and center, there’s brutal gun fights and explosions, and it is handled with great style, violence and brutality. Wolverine and Laura go to work in this film with some of the best choreographed action scenes in the superhero genre, plus some of the kills are some of the best, most filthy and creative material I’ve seen for a while. And the film score from Marco Beltrami was pretty solid, at times it was really impressive, dramatic and had presence in the action sequences for sure, that being said some of the instrumentation felt a little too heavy or strange in parts.

In conclusion Logan was a pretty dramatic session with a lot of unexpected elements with the story and characters. Loved the action, violence and quiet character moments, it isn’t your conventional comic book film, but it’s definitely the Wolverine film fans have wanted for years and I would recommend it.

So are you going to watch Logan or if you’ve seen it what did you think of it? Be sure to drop me a comment below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

ONE PARAGRAPH REVIEW: Green Room

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another one paragraph review and today I’ll be talking about Green Room. Now this is a film I planned to watch during its release in the cinema back in May, but for whatever reason I missed it and I’ve been kicking myself ever since because there’d been nothing but positive word of mouth about this film, and some claimed it was film of the year material. So with all the 2016 films I’d missed, I wanted to try and see this film before I made my top 10 list. So is it good or not? Well read on and find out!

The plot can be summed up as the following: “A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar.” Green Room is a film I knew of but really didn’t know anything about besides the basic premise and the talk of the performances of the cast especially Patrick Stewart and Anton Yelchin. I was basically going into this film blind, and I feel like I benefitted from that a lot. I had the general jist of this story down, but it turned into a very different film than I was expecting, the film was dark, dirty and violent, and just when I thought I’d sussed out plot, it’d totally change things up. The story while familiar in some ways, had a lot of unique and surprising elements with the way it handled the characters, pacing and overall narrative, and can we talk about the tension? Good gravy man, besides the sheer brutality and violence which is handled so well, this film kept up the suspense and tension in such an intense way, my heart was racing several minutes after the film ended, and I’d say it’s on par with Don’t Breathe. And then there’s the cast who all did a great job in their roles. Anton Yelchin was just fabulous as Pat, this guy goes through a lot and Yelchin just put in 110% with performance especially on the physical side. Imogen Poots as Amber was also really impressive, really versatile and realistic with the emotional material she was given. And of course we have to talk about Patrick Stewart as Darcy Banker, this is most different role I’ve seen from him, Darcy was really cold, calculated, ruthless and intimating and Stewart was so magnetic. I also really enjoyed seeing Arrested Development‘s Alia Shawkat as Sam, she was really great too, I also enjoyed Macon Blair as Gabe, Mark Webber was pretty good as Daniel and finally Joe Cole and Callum Turner were solid as Reece and Tiger. In conclusion Green Room was a very impressive, intense and dark film which I enjoyed far more than I expected and it has automatically jumped into my top 10 films of 2016, just trying to figure out where to place will be the hard part. But anyway, I’m glad I saw it and I would recommend it for sure.

So have you seen Green Room and if so what do you think of it? Be sure to leave your thoughts on the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: X-Men: Days of Future Past – Rogue Cut

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another film review and today I’m gonna be talking about X-Men: Days of Future Past – Rogue. Now I loved Days of Future Past last year, it was a wonderful experience in the cinema and when I heard about the extended cut that was going to be released with Rogue included, I was hyped! So I eventually got it on Blu-ray recently and now I’m ready to pass judgement! Oh and before I do this review, I won’t repeat myself by talking about the same aspects of the film, instead I’ll talk mainly about the differences. Minor spoilers to follow for people who haven’t seen Days of Future Past…

So the story goes something like this:

In the future the machines known as Sentinels have taken over the Earth and enslaved mutants and humans alike, and many have lost their lives fighting for justice. Now Professor X, Magneto and group of other mutants are the only survivors and the only way for them to save the future is to change the past. So Wolverine is sent back in time to the 1970’s to get the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto to band together and stop the Sentinel programme from coming into existence.

The plot for the film is essentially the same as the theatrical release, with one major change; the inclusion of Rogue. Now Rogue was absent from theatrical version of this film besides a quick cameo, but here in the future she has a more significant presence as her whereabouts are disclosed and she actually gets to contribute to the main mission. It was definitely nice to see Anna Paquin again as Rogue, however, I don’t feel like she added much to the film, more like her appearance offered an alternative take on some of the future timeline. What I did appreciate was the additional scenes in the future, while they were mainly scenes of additional dialogue, it really added to the plot, developed some of the characters a little more and felt like a positive inclusion. I loved the additional scenes with older Professor X and Magneto, the small yet important scenes with Bobby and Kitty and the extra scenes for the new mutants like Bishop, Sunspot, Blink and Warpath. In the past, the plot doesn’t change, rather there are a few variations on certain scenes or some additional scenes added, but these don’t really add anything to the plot and feel unnecessary. Even one additional scene with Beast and Mystique/Raven, as good as it is, again doesn’t really feel entirely needed.

Beyond the changes, everything that you liked about the original version of the film is intact and awesome. I still love the action, drama and the performances from the cast involved. And on Blu-ray everything looks very sharp, clean and pretty. Some of my issues with the film haven’t been ironed out like the use of the 70’s Sentinels and the lack of really badass screen time for Storm still bothers me.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is a great alternative to the theatrical version and if it is your first experience of the film then it should be a good time regardless. That being said I believe that some of the changes and additions to this extended cut aren’t necessary or superior to the original and some of the additional scenes actually ruin the pacing of the film too. It really depends on how much you love the X-Men film universe and whether the new stuff adds or detracts for you personally, I’d say its good version, but not a better one.

Rating: 8/10

So what do you lot think of the X-Men: Days of Future Past? Have you seen it and if so which version do you prefer, the Rogue Cut or the theatrical version? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review. Laters! 😀

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another film review and today I’m gonna be talking about the next big film of the summer in the form of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now the X-Men film series has had a bit of a rocky road but for the most part it has been good and in recent years it has been getting a bit of a resurgence and now we have Days of Future Past, a film that intends to bridge the gap between the X-Men films new and old. So has it succeed? Well read on and find out!

So the story goes something like this:

In the future the world is pretty much in pieces, the machines known as Sentinels have taken over the Earth and enslaved mutants and humans alike, there is no happiness or hope, only pain, suffering and death. Many have lost their lives fighting for justice and now Professor X, Magneto and group of other mutants are the only survivors and the only way for them to save themselves is to change the past. So Wolverine is sent back in time to the 1970’s to get the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto to band together and stop the Sentinel programme from coming into existence.

The story in this film is very good, smart and entertaining throughout, sure there’s the occasional plot hole and some head-scratching elements that’ll leave you with some unanswered questions, but overall this film has its heart in the right place. The themes of changing fate, rewriting history, bonds of friendship and having hope in the face of adversity are on display in a wonderful and powerful way and I loved how things in the past were relevant to the future and vice versa. This film also doesn’t hope back on the level of loss and devastation caused by the Sentinels in the future, there is a lot of drama and emotion and you buy that this is not a world anyone wants to live in and I love how the stories of the past are just as interesting with characters being so different and having all of the politics involved with mutants and the dawn of the Sentinels through Trask Industries. But the best thing about this film is that it feels right, this film pretty much rectified a lot of the mistakes of this franchise and gives you something that feels good, fresh, fun and by the end of the film you feel like you’re in a happy place with yourself, well I know I did.

As for the cast they are all on top form with some giving us some of their best performances to date. So let’s start with the young cast first. James McAvoy is still great as Charles Xavier, like in First Class you’re still seeing sides of him that you never knew existed and it only makes his character more layered and easier to relate to. In this film Xavier in the 70’s is a mess and for good reason, but it is seeing him deal with his pain and then journey back the place where he needs to be which is so rewarding. Michael Fassbender is still killing it as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, if you thought this guy was cool in the last film then wait til you see this one. This Magneto definitely has more of the McKellen side of the character in him in the way in which he acts, speaks and uses his powers and just like Xavier he’s in a very different place than his older self and seeing the emotions with him and choices he makes only makes him more badass. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Raven/Mystique and she too have never been better. This is more in line with the character we knew from the old films, but still with the emotional conflict and beauty we got from her in First Class. I liked how agile, cool and acrobatic she was, but more so than that, I liked how much of a central role she had in the film, it made me smile so much. I also really liked Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast, he was funny and whenever he was in blue mode he was awesome, but I also liked how he’s still there for Xavier and is really smart.

Now let’s talk about the veterans. Firstly there’s Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and do I really have to say how good he is in this film? Come on its Hugh Jackman, he’s automatically awesome. Again this film gives us fans what we love with all the smug, cool and humourous elements of the character, but rather than making the only character that matters, others are given screen time to develop, grow and have action moments in the spotlight, sure this guy is at the center of things a lot, but not as much as he has been before. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are still fantastic as old Professor X and Magneto, both of them have a screen presence and gravitas about their acting that is impossible to not enjoy, but beyond that you believe in their connection and there are some really emotional moments between them. Ellen Page gives her best performance as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat as she is much smarter and serious in terms of her personality and use of her powers, she has a central role to this film and the way she is handled was carefully done. Seeing Shawn Ashmore as Iceman again brought joy to my heart as this was the Iceman I’ve wanted to see for so many years, he was cool and had some lovely moments. I was also glad to see my man Daniel Cudmore back as Peter Rasputin/Colossus, he was a joy to watch and it was nice to see him get some screen time even if he didn’t say much, and Halle Berry returns as Storm and while she doesn’t really do much beyond what we’ve seen in previous films, she is still has her moments to shine.

Now let’s talk about the new people. Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask is very good, he is a man who is anticipating the future and wishes to keep the world save and in his mind he is the good guy for doing what he’s doing and creating the Sentinel programme. He’s smart, determined and kind of smug when it comes to his research and technology and Dinklage is just awesome. Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver was actually one of the best parts of the film, while the costume still looks a bit off, his performance and use of his character was very effective. Omar Sy as Bishop was really cool, I don’t really know anything about this character from the comics but he had a cool and badass screen presence and liked a lot of his action scenes. And finally Fan Bingbing stars as Clarice Ferguson/Blink and Booboo Stewart stars as James Proudstar/Warpath were lovely additions to this film universe, while there was a lot going on with other cast members I was happy that the got a decent amount of screen time too.

When it comes to the presentation it is very, very good. Visually the film is impressive, firstly you can also tell that this is a Bryan Singer film, the look, style of camera work and the use of visual effects is just like the stuff he did with the first two X-Men films, and I can tell you this guy knows his stuff. The action sequences are beautifully shot and framed, there are sequences both in the past and future that are worth talking about and they all look lovely. As for the soundtrack John Ottman returns to score the film and I can say it is nice to have him back, he gives this film the trademark film theme back which was a welcome return for me, however his soundtrack was just alright and doesn’t reach the epic and emotional heights of Henry Jackman’s work on First Class.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is a great comic book film, it takes the source material, adapts into a film format that bridges to worlds of X-Men films while also setting up for future X-Men films. While not everything works and some people cold have used more screen time, it is hard for me to criticise a film that gave me everything I could have wanted and then some. I left the cinema thinking to myself “I feel good about that film and I can’t wait for the sequel.” I highly recommend this film as it is X-Men in probably its finest hour. P.S. All I can say is thank god Bryan Singer didn’t mess this up, Mr. Singer you are alright again. 🙂

Rating: 8.5/10

So what do you lot think of the X-Men: Days of Future Past? Have you seen it or are you gonna watch it? Also if you’re a fan of the series did it meet your expectations or were left disappointed. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review. Laters! 😀

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer #2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another trailer review and today I’m gonna be talking about the second trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now the first trailer was pretty good, but since then it has sort of slipped away from my mind, weighed down by all the other trailer releases like Godzilla, Captain America 2 and Amazing Spider-Man 2. So how does the second trailer look? Read on and find out!

But first have a look at the trailer below:

So my first thoughts after seeing this trailer? Damn! I am pretty impressed yo.

Now the first trailer did well to establish the tone and feel for this new X-Men film giving us visions of the past and future and when the two intervene. But this trailer just takes it to a whole new level diving deeper into the drama, emotion and chaos that will take place.

Straight from the beginning you know shit is serious when you see this desolate, dark, post-apocalyptic city  with scenes of the past and future Professor X and Magneto and Storm looking like she’s about to get stabbed by a Future Sentinel? I looks mental. Along with this wonderful look at the future we get a off-screen monologue from Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier talking about how many battles have gone done but nothing like what him and the mutants are experiencing in the future. He questions whether the future is set or whether you can change it and I think that’ll be one of the main themes of the film; can the future be changed?

It seems like mistakes were made somewhere between the current point in the X-Men franchise and the future because the mutants are being hunted by what seems to be massive ships full of robot Sentinels flying all over the place like swarms of bees. So to rectify this old Professor X wants Wolverine to convince the younger version of himself to unite the mutants and save the world from the future, however he and Magneto know it won’t be an easy task as now in the 1970’s both men aren’t on the same page and are on totally different paths. I like how young Magneto is totally hands-on-deck and is proactive, whereas young Professor X is in a depressed, moody kind of place and Wolverine has to shift him into gear.

There is so much to take in that is easy to miss the subtle things. So here are a few of the things that stuck out for me:

1. Old Magneto’s Lament: It is interesting to see old Eric admit to Charles that fighting him for all those years was a wasted effort. Just to see him in a position of regret is surprising and quite beautiful.
2. Wolverine’s Lost People: Just hearing that Wolverine has lost people in the time where he’s from means that things must be real bad and the way he said felt really heartfelt. So I’m curious to know just who bites the bullet.
3. Young Charles and Eric Bickering: Charles says that Eric took everything from him, to which Eric says that he should have fought harder. That is a great moment for me and I think Charles may be referring to Raven among other things, but I like how Eric does give a fuck and is more serious.
4. Bolivar Trask Talks Mutants: Trask knows of the mutants existence and seems to have a weapon ready to take them on, the Sentinels.
5. Mystique Picks A Side: It seems like Raven aka Mystique is fighting against the humans and from her lines in the film it seems like we see where her more hateful side comes into play.

I love the montage towards the end of trailer with all this dramatic scenes of action and emotion. People shout, buildings fumble, Future Sentinels are running amuck and several mutants are running around doing mutant things, its kick ass yo. And while the visuals look a little questionable in clarity and sharpness, I assume they’ll be fixed up in the final film. But what they do have on display is awesome. I love the look of the Future Sentinels, the X-Jet looks sexy in the night sky, the effects used on some of the mutants especially Mystique and finally seeing Bobby Drake in full-Iceman mode, also a lot of additional special effects added to some of the scenes that were shown in the last trailer look so much nicer.

If I had one nitpick it would be near the end with the Future Sentinel head beam attack, I’m pretty sure it was ripped straight from the Destroyer Armour from Thor, it is almost exactly the same. But hey that’s just a tiny thing.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past looks pretty awesome and I can’t believe that I had sort of written this film off beforehand. Days of Future Past is back on my radar and I can’t wait to see it. All that being said, I’m still cautious of this film, it has the potential to be the best or worst X-Men film ever, but it all depends on the execution and whether Bryan Singer can make it work again. I pray that this film is as good as the trailers make it out to be.

So what do you lot think of the second Days of Future Past trailer, sound off your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya later. 😛

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer #1 Review

Hello ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another trailer review and this is one I have been interested in for a while now, the first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past is online and we fans of the world finally get to see what kind of stuff is in store for the future of the X-Men film series. So how does it look? Read on and find out!

But first have a look at the trailer below:

My first impressions from the trailer is nice, I see that there’s a lot of cool and interesting things to look forward to. Firstly its nice to see Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in costume and even though we don’t see much of them, it’s also cool to see the future X-Men team all older and looking all dramatic. Seems like that future is pretty desolate and crap, so Xavier sends Wolverine back to his younger self to try and worn the younger Xavier and company of the impending doom.

It seems like Xavier and Erik are in different places both physically and mentally and I think they’re gonna clash and that is always a welcome thing for me. Looks like everyone will get a slice of the action from young Xavier having to use Cerebro and his mind reading abilities, to Mystique running through the crowd morphing into different people, to beast getting all furry out in public, to Erik showing his levitation and magnetic skills on Mystique, it all looks pretty crazy and I’m hyped.

One thing that I have to question about the film is: how much of a balance will there be between the X-Men of the past and group from the future? This is after all a sequel to First Class but is also set after X-Men 3, so how to do you cut the mustard so that everyone gets a fair about of screen time? In truth I’m more interested in the past than the future because after X3 I can’t really see much interesting stuff going on in that future, but hey maybe the story will create something interesting for the older cast.

Like the recent Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer there seems to be a lot of government and politics involved in the plot and that I think could lead to some interesting story elements in the thriller side of things and while politic thrillers aren’t always my cup of tea, when done right it can be a great smart piece of a film’s story. I can also see this politics stuff playing into how mutants will be treated in the future and where the segregation between humans and mutants began to become public. But I guess we’ll see how things play out.

I guess the only thing I’m kind of annoyed about is how Wolverine is still at the forefront of these X-Men films. I mean besides First Class, Wolverine is the central character, now that maybe due to the fact that he’s a fan favourite or that he’s the most relatable to the casual film audience, but in all honesty it is kind of annoying when some of the other cool characters are shoved to the side. I just hope this isn’t “The Wolverine Show with Friends” or some kind of shit like that.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is looking pretty good and this trailer makes me feel hope for the future. While it is kind of hard to tell what kind of film it is in terms of the depth of the story, amount of action and the level of Sentinel carnage that will take place, otherwise I like it and I can see a lot of potential, I just hope that this is a good follow-up to First Class, that’s all I’m asking for. 🙂

So what do you lot think of the trailer, sound off your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya later. 😛

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #29 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Okay so after one okay X-Men film and the brilliant second film, we now move onto the tragic disaster that X-Men: The Last Stand aka The Film That Fans Try to Forget About.

Good god man. X-Men: The Last Stand is one of the films I actively try to avoid. This is a film that is infamous among comic book fans for its failure and horrible execution. I remember seeing X-Men 3 in the cinema and recall being very disappointed, but since then each time I’ve checked it out its gotten worse. Now I’ve had no reason to watch this in recent years, but thanks to this month of superhero films reviews I have to dive into the deep end again! And in 2013 this film sucks even worse than ever before.

In terms of the plot in X-Men 3 takes place some time after the last film. It is publicly announced  that there is now a cure for the mutants created in a secret laboratory supported by the government, it creates a divide in the mutant community. Some mutants are for the idea while others detest the idea. Magneto believes a war is coming and recruits a large team of mutants to take down Warren Worthington II and his cure. The X-Men have to stop him, though they are at a disadvantage because Jean Grey has returned as The Phoenix and joined with Magneto. So now on darkest of days the X-Men have to band together with what little team members they have left and take on the Brotherhood of Mutants.

The story in this film just pisses me off SO MUCH! X-Men 2 worked so well as it just about had the right balance of characters, action and story, but somehow that good material got tampered with in the transition of writers and director. What we get in this film is a story that has tiny elements of interest, but the execution is simply poor. This film introduces a lot of new elements into play in terms of story, characters and some comic book aspects too, but none of it matters as it is not there long enough to matter. Some of the characters changed with no real explanation as to why or some just feel inconsistent when compared to its predecessor. Too many wrong decisions were made. Why in the hell was Cyclops killed off? Why was Angel introduced if he serves no proper purpose? Where’d Nightcrawler go? WHY FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST DID PROFESSOR X HAVE TO DIE!?! Who thought that was a good idea? Fail, fail, fail!

Why for the love of god did this have to happen? I’ll never get over this.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, while Jackman has his cool character moments overall his character as gone from awesome to very cruddy, and annoyingly Wolverine is still the main character in this film. I mean his story was technically wrapped up in the last film, so there is no reason for him to be at the forefront of the story yo. I understand that he has feelings for Jean Grey, but it gets to absurdly high level and it really pisses me off how much of a lovesick puppy he becomes especially after Cyclops dies, that is not in good taste at all. Ian McKellen returns as again Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, while McKellen still gives a good performance, I wasn’t keen on how cold he was and many silly decisions were made with his character. Famke Janssen also returns from death as Jean Grey/Phoenix, in this film she’s a shadow of her former self and instead spends most of the film as the Phoenix, killing everyone that comes across he in the wrong way. Janssen was a right bitch in this film and obviously that was down to the character she was playing but even so there was no redeeming qualities about her in this film.

Halle Berry definitely has more of a leader role as Storm, in this film she’s a lot more assertive and has way more dialogue than before, but the problem is that she still doesn’t fully own her leadership role and doesn’t fully utilize her weather powers and you’d think since she’s the only original member of the X-Men team she’d have a more important role but she’s really pushes aside. We also have a new member in the form of Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy/Beast. He’s a former student of Xavier’s School who is now the Secretary of Mutant Affairs in the U.S. government. Grammer does good job at portraying the character even though I feel like he wasn’t totally utilized in the best way in my opinion. Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman is decent, he gets more screen time and gets to do more action, but in the end he’s not the version of Iceman I’d like to see. Also Ellen Page shows up as the new Kitty Pryde, she’s good and has some decent moments in the film but I feel like her character doesn’t naturally fit into the film. And then there’s Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin/Colossus, he goes from just having a cameo to being a full-on X-Men team member, but the problem is that he’s just there for fight scenes as we still don’t learn too much about the guy.

Rebecca Romijn is still as hot and agile as Mystique, Romijin is good for the short time that she’s in the film but after she loses her powers she’s useless. It is darn shame too because I liked her too. Aaron Stanford is still an arrogant hot-head as Pyro, his role has been increased in this film and while he has some wonderful action moments, I still think of him as that annoying douche who should have been taken out quickly.

Now we move onto the useless or completely wasted characters. Anna Paquin as Rogue has just been turned into a moping teenager whose jealous of Bobby and Kitty’s friendship. She feels alone because she can’t be intimate with anyone and yet she forgets about the fact that Wolverine was the first REAL friend she’s ever had, not only that but once the cure is announced she proper jumps on the bandwagon to get it without even considering any other options, such a waste of a character. And then there’s Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Stewart is good but very much wasted due to him being killed off. WHY!?! And then we have James Marsden as Cyclops. Ah man in this film he’s even more of a pussy than before due to the death of Jean and then he finds her only to be killed off in the beginning of the film. I feel bad for Marsden as he is actually famous for this role and yet his character is butchered so badly and then done away with so swiftly that it sickens me. Also Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut is hilarious and has some funny moments but otherwise he’s another one of those throwaway characters. And lastly Ben Foster as Warren Worthington III/Angel was just a pointless addition to the film, sure he has a bit of purpose because of his father’s plan for a cure, but Warren doesn’t do anything significant like join the X-Men or help in the major battle at the end of the film, which renders his appearance in this film pointless.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the CGI is pretty good, but the presentation of Phoenix’s powers was badly handled (where’s the fire and why does she look like a demented alien woman?) and all of the action scenes were okay but none of them had any unique or stand out moments. As for the soundtrack by John Powell is not as nicely handled as it was in X-Men 2 and there are a lot of repeating themes throughout the film that are a little overbearing. The best song is “Angel’s Cure“, that piece is beautiful and dramatic.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well as I’ve said before I know the X-Men mainly from the cartoons, a few comic books and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. From what I saw in this film there are a good few element from the comics kept and updated for the film. But I think that the main offender in this case is the handling of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” story arc in the comics that’s adapted into an original story, while it was an interesting idea, I feel like the way it was executed was very foolish and messy.

So to conclude X-Men: The Last Stand is still one of the most disappointing and disgusting film in the realm of comic book films. It took the great material from the last film and completely shits on it with a terrible story, poorly handled character development and poor use of the source material. This is just a cluttered mess of a film that was forgotten about by comic book fans and audiences for a real. It sucked back then and it sucks right now! FAIL, FAIL, FAIL!

Rating: 4/10 (This film is the reason why the X-Men series needs to be rebooted damn it!)

So there’s my review people, only 1 more to go yo! So have you seen X-Men and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men 2

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #28 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. After the not too impressive X-Men yesterday let’s talk about the far superior sequel that Bryan Singer crafted in the form of X-Men 2 aka X2 aka X2: X-Men United.

Yeah, X-Men 2 is some cool stuff. I remember watching this in the cinema and being so happy afterwards. After all these years X-Men 2 is still been one of my favourite comic book films and even though there are a few things I would have changed about the film, it is still awesome and I have a great time watching it. So its been a while since I watched it last, have my views changed in 2013? Read on and find out.

Now let’s talk about the plot. After the events on Liberty Island, everyone at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is settling in. Magneto is locked up in a plastic cell, Rogue and Bobby Drake have finally gotten together, and Wolverine has set off to find his origins. But after a mutant attack on the President, everyone starts to fear any type of mutant. William Stryker, who plans to stop all mutants, raids the mutant school, causing Wolverine and his team of mutants to go into hiding. Stryker has managed to capture Xavier and will use him to create another version of Cerebro. So now the remaining X-Men must now team up with their enemy, Magneto, to stop Stryker before it’s too late.

The story in this film is a lot better than the last film. Rather than having a plot that doesn’t quite add up to anything, this plot gives us a lot better material that’s brilliant in regards to the story, characters and spectacle. With William Stryker’s plan to eliminate the mutants, it makes for some high stakes storytelling especially with all the characters involved. I also like how Stryker tied-in with Wolverine’s past, his son had connections to Charles Xavier and because of Xavier’s previous experiences with trying to help humans, Magneto is interconnected in this too. The film’s story just felt a lot bigger in scope than before and it felt a lot smarter and was way more interesting because of the comic book elements that was added in. I loved the Wolverine origins, the continuing struggles for the mutants against humans and the progression of Jean Grey’s abilities.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine. In this film Logan is still trying to find out about his past and is having flashbacks via nightmares. I think this is where Jackman really started to own the role as Wolverine, here he’s more aggressive, dramatic and more in line with his comic book roots. Patrick Stewart is still great as Professor Charles Xavier. Stewart gets more screen time due to his expanded role in relation to the plot and his performance is fabulous offering some moments which are cool, assertive and classy. Also Ian McKellen is magnificent as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. Like Xavier, Magneto’s role is expanded in this film due to the story, in this film Magneto is even more sophisticated, aggressive and brutal. McKellen has many great scene-stealing moments and great lines of dialogue too.

Now let’s talk about Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey. I actually liked her character a lot more than the last film, in this film Jean had a more pivotal role and this film really started to look into her powers too. Even though she was still playing with the emotions of both Logan and Scott, Janssen was nice. Halle Berry fares a lot better as Storm, this time her character has a lot more to do and is brought the front of the story. Berry looks sexier than before in the role and she has much better scenes when it comes to using her powers. James Marsden unfortunately doesn’t get too much better as Scott Summers/Cyclops. He does have a few more moments to shine and isn’t as much of a useless background character is in the prequel, but he is still a bit of a pussy and isn’t the character I know from the comics.

Anna Paquin was still good as Rogue, I thought she had some nice moments in terms of action and I also like how she tries to establish a relationship with Bobby. Shawn Ashmore makes for a cool Bobby Drake/Iceman, he has an expanded role in this film and I liked his story elements and budding relationship with Rogue. Also Aaron Stanford stands out very well as John Allerdyce/Pyro. You can see he’s a guy who doesn’t completely live by the rules, has issues with the mutant discrimination and really wants to show off his abilities. Stanford has some great moments especially when he displays his powers.

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos continues to be awesome as Mystique, she continues to be one impressive woman as she infiltrates several locations, fights off loads of enemies and changes into several people. As for Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker I thought he was very good as this man who has a military background and has ties to Wolverine’s past. Cox was great in the villain role and he lended himself very well to the source material he was given. But one of the most stand out performances is Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler. This character is one of my favourite characters from the comics and he is wonderfully brought to screen in this modified versions. Cummings was very cool, funny and incredible as Nightcrawler and was one of the best people in the film. And Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama/Deathstrike was cool, she was the crazy mutant with the same abilities as Wolverine though she had much more agility and karate skills.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually this film is so good, the CGI in impressive and the make-up is nicely done too. I also love the action in this film, its wonderfully crafted and is very exciting to watch especially when it comes to the brilliant opening sequences with Nightcrawler in the White House or seeing Wolverine fighting people or Pyro’s fire scenes too. As for the soundtrack by John Ottman its great, its way better than the last film with a better sense of epicness, it’s not overly amazing, bit it does its job well.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? As I said before I’ve only read a bit of the X-Men comics and my knowledge is more in lines with cartoons. But from what I know this film adapted some of the source material well like Nightcrawler’s abilities, Wolverine’s back story and the introduction of William Stryker was good too.

So to conclude X-Men 2 is still a kick ass film. It takes the Everything in this film is miles better than the prequel, the storytelling is better, the returning cast are better utilized and the action is on another level. Even after all this time X-Men 2 is still a good superhero film and has a good few comic book elements implemented that makes it so much fun to watch. While the film isn’t perfect and has a few things that I’d personally change, I’d say that this is still one of the best comic book films and it deserves respect.

Rating: 8.5/10 (Still a fine comic book film and arguably still the best X-Men film)

So there’s my review people, only 2 more to go. So have you seen X-Men 2 and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #27 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Today we’re gonna talk about the film that in a lot of ways made comic book films the popular genre they are today, I am of course talking about Bryan Singer’s about X-Men.

Ah X-Men, this is one of the films that really helped comic book films become popular again, so it should be awesome right? Well it is good, but not that great. Funnily enough I actually saw this film after X-Men 2, so yeah after the awesome sequel it was kind of lame to go back to the less impressive prequel. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good elements about X-Men, but each time I’ve watched the film since the mid-2000’s it’s gotten worse and worse. So in 2013 has my opinion changed? Read on and find out.

In terms of the plot the film focuses on the mutants Wolverine and Rogue as they are brought into a conflict between two groups that have radically different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutant-kind: Professor Xavier’s X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto.

The story for the most part is pretty interesting. I liked the way it started out with Senator Kelly hating on the mutants and trying to get them to get registered so that they can be separated from humans. We also get to see the differing opinions about how mutants feel towards humans from both the good and bad perspective. Charles Xavier thinks that mutants can coexist with the humans, whereas Magneto, due to his past experiences believes that mutants are superior and need to take the humans out. I like all the conflict between humans and mutants and within the mutant groups themselves. I also love the introduction of Wolverine and Rogue, their characters are treated well along with Xavier and Magneto. However this film presents a lot of problems, since there is a great focus on Wolverine and a few select other mutants, other characters don’t get enough screen time to be relevant or just end up being background people. By the end of the film you really want to see what happens next and luckily even though this film isn’t overly amazing, it sets up the groundwork for some really impressive material in the sequel.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine. In this film Wolverine is drifter, he has no home and gets in fights for money because he beaten because of his mutant abilities. However his life changes when he comes into contact with Rogue and eventually the X-Men and from there he has to adjust to his new surroundings and try to decide where he stands when he unintentionally becomes part of this war. Hugh Jackman was nobody before this film came out, but this is the role that made him the popular star he is today. Jackman maybe a bit pretty for the role, but I think he did a great job portraying all of Wolverine’s mannerisms from his powers to his personality traits.

Patrick Stewart also makes for a great Professor Charles Xavier. I love how he is a powerful telepathic mutant who believes that humans can coexistence with mutants, there is a nativity to his thinking but you can’t help but rooting for him especially when some things work out. Sir Patrick Stewart is a fabulous talent and even though there wasn’t too much of him in the film he was still awesome regardless. And there’s Ian McKellen who makes for an awesome Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto.You can see that Eric had a difficult life prior to the present time in the film and due to his past experiences and the growing hatred against mutants from people like Senator Kelly, as Magneto he’s got every right to despise the humans and want them to be taken out. Sir Ian McKellen is one of the finest actors ever and he puts his skills to good use as he is classy, assertive and totally badass as this classic mutant villain.

Then we have Anna Paquin as Marie/Rogue. I liked Paquin in this role, she was a timid character due to her powers and was forced to leave her family after an incident involving her boyfriend at the time. She eventually comes into contact with Wolverine and the two become quite close. I like their relationship, they’re technically friends but I see it more like a father-daughter relationship and that’s wonderfully done. Also Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique was quite impressive. She was Magneto’s loyal second-in-command and due to her ability to transform into anyone she has a lot of freedom to be versatile and do a lot of things. Romijn-Stamos was good in her role even if she didn’t say very much or was that similar to her comic book counterpart. Also Bruce Davison as Senator Robert Kelly was cool, his character was an asshole trying to get mutants exposed and registered under a new act. Davison portrayed his character pretty accurately to what I know from the comics and I thought his character was convincing.

Then you have the people I just can’t stand in this film, so let’s talk about them now. Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey was okay, but I didn’t like how simplified her character was and how even though she was in a relationship with Cyclops was leading Wolverine on. Then we have James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, my god did his character get butchered. In comics he’s meant be this assertive leader with a great screen presence, but in this film he’s almost silence all of the time, doesn’t really stand out at all and has no epic moments in the film. And then we have Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm. Oh Storm, YOU ALSO GOT BUTCHERED! Storm is a strong, female character with African heritage and has the ability to control and manipulate the weather, but her character is so simplified and nerfed in this film. Berry has barely that many lines of dialogue, is never really at the forefront of the story and her powers aren’t fully utilized. It hurts me so bad! But the worst offenders come next.

Tyler Mane as Sabretooth. Holy crap this guy sucks, I know he’s meant to be a tiger-like person but when compared to the comics he just terrible. He’s just a big, roaring idiot who has very little dialogue and has a pretty stupid-looking expression on his face most of the time. He is not intimidating or scary, he’s just stupid. And then there’s Ray Park as Toad. Honestly he wouldn’t have been my first choice for a villain in these films, he’s really not that interesting of a character and he seems to get the best of the X-Men even though he doesn’t look that strong at all.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Honestly the film from a visual standpoint is decent for its time but has ages terribly. This is the point before cool fight choreography had been made and loads of practical effects were in place with not too much CGI applied. Because of those factors there’s a lot of bad-looking wire work here and lame fight scenes and nothing in the action department screams out “awesome!” to me. As for the soundtrack by Michael Kamen its good and has its moments of epicness especially in the sequence on Liberty Island, but otherwise the score is just there and has other bits of music that just sounds strange and irregular.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well I’ve not really read that many X-Men comics, my knowledge is from the cartoon shows, online research and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Most of the basic aspects of the comics are kept intact like characters, names and powers. Though a lot of things were simplified or changed or left out completely. Things that didn’t work was Cyclops non-leader role, the changes to Mystique’s character, and the simplification of characters like Storm, Jean Grey and Sabretooth to name a few.

So to conclude X-Men is a pretty good starting point for this film franchise as it establishes the basic elements that makes the comics so captivating like the discrimination against mutants from humans, the whole relationship between Charles and Eric and bringing in Wolverine’s origin story. Everything else is just a bit of mess with some stupid decisions made in relations to characters, action sequences and the comic book source material. In the end its a decent film, but is nowhere near as great as some claim.

Rating: 6.5/10 (It is good, but has many issues that prevent it from being awesome)

So there’s my review people, only 3 more to go. So have you seen X-Men and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen Join X-Men: Days of Future Past

Just when I thought there was nothing going on in the world of superhero films I get news on Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 and now X-Men: Days of Future Past! Thanks to superherohype I can provide you with the following article:

“Long rumored, director Bryan Singer has now confirmed that the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past will mix cast members from his X-Men and X2 with those from Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class. Taking to Twitter, Singer reports that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are set to reprise their roles as Magneto and Professor X with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy returning to play younger versions of the same characters.

Singer goes on say that Nicolas Hoult will be back as Beast and Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. His original tweets read as follows:

Scheduled for release on July 18, 2014, X-Men: Days of Future Past boasts a script by Simon Kinberg and is said to be inspired Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s comic book storyline that ran in Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142 back in 1981. “Days of Future Past” introduced the idea of an alternate future for Marvel’s mutants that grew out of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants killing an important senator, leading to a future where all mutants are hunted by Sentinels.

Although not yet officially listed, Singer’s “more to come” is likely to also include Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. In addition to playing a key role in the comic book version of the story, Wolverine has appeared in every live-action X-Men film to date and will star in his second solo adventure with the July 26 release The Wolverine.”

I always knew that the old Professor X and Magneto weren’t done in the X-Men film universe. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were two of the intricate parts of the X-Men films that made them work so well, their both awesome and seasoned actors and in a way if they were to return the X-Men film series this would be an interesting way to do it. We’ll this does make me wonder exactly how they’re gonna connect the tissue between these two different universes. I just hope this film continues the success of First Class but also keeps that awesome style of the first two X-Men films.