X-Men: The Last Stand roundtable

Hello, fans!

Several of us from The Great Curve could not wait another week and just had to see X-Men: The Last Stand the very same weekend it opened, adding to the enormous opening box office weekend. With all of the talk of new characters and a different director, we settled down for a few minutes to discuss our likes and dislikes of the film. Grab a drink and put on your fun cap!

THERE ARE SPOILERS!!

1) What were you expecting from X-Men: The Last Stand?

Tom: Really, just a lot of action. My expectations were pretty neutral. I had seen the 7-minute preview and the trailers, and it seemed to have the same tone as X2, so based on those and some early positive reviews I was more inclined to see it.

Michael: I went in with pretty low expectations. The absence of Bryan Singer plus the unimpressive promo shots of Beast and Colossus made me nervous. I knew that it was gonna have Anna Paquin playing Rogue in it though, so it couldn't be ALL bad.

Shane: A good fun filled action romp. I didn't expect it to be that faithful to the comics. I found that movies that are supposed to be based on comic properties are more enjoyable that way.

Chris: Lots of action, great character interaction, and wicked special effects. I was also expecting a good story to be the vehicle for all of the above.

2) Were your expectations met? Were you disappointed?

Tom: I was disappointed by the pacing. It seemed to go by very quickly, almost like the first movie. I did think the main cast did good jobs with what they were given, especially Hugh Jackman. FOX would be crazy not to greenlight a Wolverine movie now. Of course, then they'd want to stick Wolverine in everything...

Michael: I enjoyed Beast a lot more than I thought I would. I enjoyed Storm a lot more than I have in the other two films. Halle is still the wrong actress to play Storm, but at least we finally got to see her be a badass. Other than that, it was about what I expected, so I wasn't disappointed.

Shane: It was exactly what I went in thinking it was. A decent action movie with a few little scenes and nods to the comic, but for the most part the movie was it's own beast.

Chris: A little disappointed, to be honest. The whole plotline of having Warren Worthington (Angel) was a bit forced to me and there was no real payoff for the character to even be in the movie. Same for Hank McCoy, really. He really didn't contribute much to the overall story. Just nice window dressing to me.

3) What was your favorite moment of X-Men: The Last Stand?

Tom: Jean holding back Scott's optic blasts. I thought it captured the spirit of the comics well.

Michael: The last scene before the credits of Magneto in the park. One of my biggest problems with the movie is how desperately the filmmakers seemed to want to leave their mark on the series. Killing off a bunch of people; depowering a bunch of others. Magneto in the park was a comfortable step back from some of that.

Runner up: the scene AFTER the credits, which took a step back from some of the rest of it. A weenie move? Maybe. But I applaud their weenie-ness.

Shane: The whole take on the Phoenix. I found it was the easiest explanation they could come up with considering all the hoo-hah the comic Jean Grey went through.

Chris: I'd have to say it was the second scene at Jean Grey's home when Xavier and Magneto see her again and the discussion and fight that took place there. Very impressive effects and a very sobering scene that captures just how powerful Grey really was. I liked all of the scenes with the Juggernaut as well. Vinnie Jones was great. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" The chase scene between Shadowcat and Juggernaut was great!

4) What was your least favorite moment of X-Men: The Last Stand?

Tom: Having Rogue sit out the last act.

Michael: The revelation that Jean Grey has a world-threatening multiple personality disorder brought about by Xavier mucking about in her brain. Way to poop on two characters at once. It doesn't change Xavier so much; he's often been portrayed as a manipulative bastard. But changing Jean into an evil, godlike version of Aurora from Alpha Flight isn't doing anyone any good.

Runner up: Mystique's betraying Magneto. I don't care if he did turn his back on her; I don't buy it.

Shane: Hmmmm. Maybe Magneto turning his back on Mystique so easily.

Chris: It'd probably have to be the scene between Wolverine and Xavier, where Xavier tells Wolverine what he's done Grey and tries to explain why he's done it. Also, Rogue accepting the "cure" offscreen? I believe that the director and writers forgot all about her pivotal role in the first X-Men film.

5) What did you think of the overall plot? Did everything make sense to you or were there awkward moments that you just puzzled you?

Tom: It was frustrating learning that Rogue had taken the cure off-screen. I was also not sure that Phoenix had killed Scott until it was explained later. It took a while to get used to her disintegrations.

Michael: It all made sense. I didn't like what the Jean Grey storyline did to her character, but I understood it. I liked the "mutant cure" storyline a lot more. Even though I was saddened to see Rogue take the cure, I totally bought that it was something she'd do. I would've like to have seen the Phoenix-angst storyline dropped so that the cure story could be explored more.

Shane: Nope everything made sense to me. I didn't go into the movie looking for loopholes like a lot of people do. Honestly after I saw the movie I didn't think about it much. I thought the whole point of an "action movie" is that you don't have to think much.

Chris: The plot could have been tighter, definitely. Like I said before, there could have easily been a more coherent foundation for introducing the "cure" than to introduce Angel but have him play no real part in the film. Also, the big fight scene at the end with Magneto sending all of his "pawns" into the battle first? Ok, so they're all mutants and they enter into a battle fist-fighting and not using their mutant powers? Didn't make sense to me. Also, does anyone besides myself realize that Juggernaut is NOT a mutant?

6) In the movie, some characters used their powers in never before seen ways. What are your thoughts about that type of deviation (or addition) to the characters abilities?

Tom: I'm not a big X-Men scholar, so I can't really speak to that. However, why does everyone fly standing up? Doesn't anybody want to be Superman?

Michael: Messing with powers doesn't bother me. If I can get over Superman ripping a giant cellophane "S" off his chest and wrapping bad guys up in it, I can accept the tinkering they did in X3. It's messing around with personalities that I don't like.

Shane: I didn't think they could do everything faithfully, and I didn't really expect them to. Some things work better on paper, the Fast Ball Special for example.

Chris: Personally, I loved it. The scene with Colossus stretching his metal skin over another character to protect her was really cool. Never even thought of that before. I also liked how several characters were able to display their abilities to greater magnitude than before. We really got to see how powerful Magneto was as well as Jean Grey.

7) Overall, thumbs up or down?

Tom: Thumbs-up, but not by much. Phoenix is worth seeing, even if she looks like Dark Stevie Nicks. Wolverine and Storm both have good scenes, and it's fun seeing Days of Future Past in the Danger Room. However, there are few (if any) funny moments, like "You're a dick" from the first movie, or Wolverine in the Drakes' house from X2.

Michael: I have a lot of problems with the movie and it's certainly my least-favorite of the three, but I still give it a thumbs up. I liked Beast, I liked Magneto, I liked Rogue, I liked Storm (finally), I liked Wolverine, I liked Juggernaut, I liked Kitty, I liked Madrox. The action was good, there were some nice, emotional, dramatic moments. And there's even a point to the whole thing. It's flawed, but worthwhile.

Shane: Thumbs up. Good dumb fun.

Chris: Thumbs up. It could have been better in several ways, but I still give it a thumbs up.