Doug: Well, isn't this topical to the Bronze Age Babies? As we've been voting like mad these past weeks for our favorite Bronze Age story, and as "Days of Future Past" recently fell in our final four stories, I found it just a wee bit ironic when I saw this story on CNN.com this morning (of course it's all over the web today -- you can read about it at your favorite news outlet). What do you think?
Doug: I know I was about to jump out of my chair when Magneto bowed in the COMIC BOOK COSTUME right at the end of X-Men: First Class; but the thought of Sentinels on the big screen... Oh, my...
I know I'm in the minority, but I really didn't enjoy X-Men First Class. In theory, the 60s setting should have worked, but came over too pastiche for my liking (though, if they re-boot the Fantastic Four, a Mad Men-inspired-by- Jack Kirby look would be sublime).
ReplyDeleteDays of Future Past? I guess it'll get rather mangled with all the extra elements that get added.
Since I've also heard that this film will essentially pick up where the last one left off, I'm not sure how they can do this right. Wolverine and Kitty Pryde played such huge roles in DOFP. I'm afraid it may be more in name only.
ReplyDeleteTerence
ReplyDeleteI really didn't like X-Men First Class that much either. It came across like X-Men meets Austin Powers. In theory the 60s setting should have worked perfectly. The Cuban Missile Crisis seemed the perfect backdrop. I thought they should have played it either as a wholly human made crisis that Shaw took advantage of or have him subtlety create the crisis to further his own ends. Subtle being the key word. Instead he travels around in his submarine telling people you will do this. I forgive that they got Shaw's powers wrong ( he uses kinetic energy ) and that they made him into a combination of Shaw and Mr. Sinister. Oh how I hate combo characters although Whiplash / Crimson Dynamo in Iron Man 2 wasn't too bad. The Beast looked terrible after his transformation and some of the mutant choices like Angel Salvadore and the Hellfire Club left me shaking my head. If you are doing First Class and it's obviously a reboot and doesn't fit in with the other movies why not just start with Angel, Iceman etc.
I did really like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender was great as Magneto. His Nazi hunting and display of powers ( pulling the sub out of the water and turning the missiles around ) had me wishing there was more of this in the movie. Wolverine's cameo was awesome. I would have enjoyed Fassbender a lot more at the end if he was dressed more as the comic book Magneto. That last one is just a nitpick.
As to the sequel I love Days Of Future Past and I love the Sentinels. Of course in the years since then the X-Men has piled on so much time traveling / alternate reality crap it makes my head hurt. I agree with Karen that as follow up to the new franchise it would seem hard to imagine them doing it right. With the original cast I would be more enthusiastic seeing how nicely they adapted God Loves Man Kills in X-Men 2.
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I've always hated the Sentinals. I find it ridiculous that the government would spend billions of dollars to hunt down their own, law abiding citizens. Obviously, as villains, they've also got no personality (as opposed to other human hunting robots such as, say, the Terminator) and they just dno't thrill me at all, aside from the government wasting its money angle. If the Sentinals figure prominently in the next X-Men movie, I'll have to wait to see if I even want to go watch it.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, think that Days of Future Past was a great story (though for me it was part of the beginning of the end for the X-Men) but I don't think I like it as a movie plot. I think it works in the comics universe but I don't think it'll float my boat on the big screen.
Ok, for all you claiming to be 'in the minority here'.., I trump you all by admitting I've never watched an X-Men film, sans for perhaps 4-5 minutes of one on a plane 22hrs in-flight to Kuwait or somewhere. But from what I've heard, the retro idea Anthony mentioned would be cool to finally see.
ReplyDeleteAs I've mentioned dozens of times here, the FF franchise NEEDS rebooting in the early 60s/Cold War era. When I mentioned that once in a forum, someone had the weird logic to suggest it would cost too much to do..
(???)
What, with CGI and small sets with some vintage costumes here/there..? Just look at Captain America, not to mention Right Stuff or hundreds of other Hollywood movies.
I've always envisioned the comic panel showing all four racing to climb into the missle on the launch pad at dawn or something being put on the big screen. With actual retro looking costumes, not some black leather look.
Now THAT would be awesome.
I have to admit that "Days of Future Past" has never been one of my favorite stories. First of all I've never been a big fan of post apocalyptic tales. Second, I always found it really, really, really hard to accept that a bunch of freaking brainless robots that were built under government contract by the lowest bidder would have been able to basically take out every super hero on the planet. The Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, The Avengers such as Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, and all the others (except for a handful of the X-Men. Hmm how convenient). The same heroes that have saved the world countless times from the likes Galactus, couldn't handle some big, slow moving robots that were probably made in China. Yep, that was just too much for them. Please.
ReplyDeleteThat huge flaw always made me discount the whole idea as a bit ridiculous. (Even by comic book standards). I know that won't have anything to do with a movie version, but I have a bad feeling the movie itself will be overly melodramatic, dark and depressing, which doesn't make me look forward to it either.
I also must agree with dbutler16, in that the whole idea of the government building giant robots to kill it's own citizens is pretty stupid in the first place. Even if they wanted to take out the mutants, is 40 foot tall robots really the best solution? Not very subtle. In fact they usually end up causing more damage to the civilian population and buildings, etc. than they do to any mutants they may be after. Even as a kid I always had a problem with the whole "everybody hates mutants" thing. If people with super powers really existed, I don't think the government would be trying to exterminate them, I think they would try to recruit them into the military or something like that.