Karen: You know the drill -talk about the movie, but PLEASE keep it SPOILER-FREE for at least a few days!
Karen: I saw it Friday night and thought it was very entertaining -maybe my favorite X-Men film -although First Class is right up there too. Quicksilver nearly stole the show!
Like I've said before, the X-films have largely been disappointing for me (and of them I liked First Class the best), but based on the previews I've seen so far, this is the first one I'm actually interested in seeing. Despite the continued heavy focus on Wolverine. I guess that's one of the reasons I probably like First Class: hardly any Wolverine.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Quicksilver's in this one, too? And in the next Avengers movie? I thought those movie licensing agreements meant Fox couldn't use the same characters as Marvel Studios...
Edo,
ReplyDeleteThere were a few characters who got Venn-diagrammed into both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Marvel-Lacks-Complete-Control Cinematic Universe. Wanda and Pietro are two such characters. However, the term "mutant" can't be used in the MCU, which is why, in the coda to Winter Soldier, they're referred to as "miracles."
I haven't seen it. I had no plans to see it in the theatre, and the first couple of reviews I read confirmed that for me, but then more recent ones were a lot more positive, so now I am wavering. Since movies are $15 in NYC I tend to not go.
ReplyDeleteEdo, two different actors are playing what I imagine will be two very different Quicksilvers in the two movies. Though now that I have seen Godzilla and know that the lead dude in Godzilla is playing Quicksilver in Avengers 2 I am worried b/c he was the worst thing in that movie.
Osvaldo, I completely agree with your thoughts on Godzilla and Aaron Taylor Johnson - he was boring. I wish they'd have focused on Cranston as the human element.
ReplyDeleteThis film was a blast, although there are still many questions regarding the X-Men film time line. But regardless, this was well-acted and well-paced. And "Peter" (Quicksilver) steals the show.
First X-Men movie I've seen on the big screen. Not a bad movie. I really enjoyed the movie. I thought there were elements that were handled well. I think the best thing about it was that it had a strong story.
ReplyDeleteTwo beefs: why do people bring kids 4 and under? These movies are long. WHY DO PEOPLE LEAVE WHEN THE CREDITS START? Have you never seen a superhero movie? I mean, come on already....
The Prowler (popcorn full and butt sore).
Saw it today, and I thought it was pretty awesome myself. There was a lot to like about this one. In fact, it may actually be my favorite summer movie so far. After the Avengers, it was about the best super team movie I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI especially thought Quicksilver was the bomb. It's practically worth seeing the whole movie just for him alone. He has some of the most memorable moments in the movie, (much like Nightcrawler in X-2). Evan Peters is dead solid perfect in the role, and the Fx team does an amazing job of portraying his super speed ability. They amped up his powers somewhat from what they are in the comics, but his character was so cool, I didn't care. My only complaint is that I wish he would have stuck around a little longer. As it is, he came and went a little too... quickly. (sorry) I'm afraid the guy playing QS in the Avengers film is going to have a tough act to follow.
The rest of the cast was excellent as well. Hugh Jackman was great (as usual) as Wolverine, and I could practically do an entire post on James McAvoy's performance alone. Then when you throw in Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fastbender, Nicholas Hoult and etc., it just doesn't get much better.
I had a couple of minor nits, like the crazy extra powers that Kitty Pryde suddenly has. And a couple of other mall questions that I'll talk about in the spoiler edition.
In short though, I would definitely recommend seeing X-Men DOFP. It does an admirable job of bringing the classic comic book story to the big screen. It would seem that Bryan Singer was born to direct these movies, and it's nice to see he hasn't lost his touch.
Gee, I can't believe I forgot to mention Peter Dinklage when listing the great actors in this movie. He did an awesome job playing Trask, and I loved the fact that they never once mentioned, or made any kind of a point of the fact that he is a littler person. He was a just a guy in this movie, and his height played no part in defining his character. I thought that was very refreshing.
ReplyDelete(And FYI, my second to last paragraph in my previous post was supposed to read ... "And a couple of other SMALL questions..." not "mall questions").
I am caving and looking for a matinee-priced showing for this week. There are benefits to working from home on your own schedule. :)
ReplyDeleteI saw it on Friday night and really enjoyed it. As William noted, Quicksilver's powers are more like Flash's than the Marvel Comics Pietro, but his scenes were too fun to quibble about that aspect and there was a near throw away line that hinted at his father's identity. And, alas, there's no way I see that this version of Quicksilver could fit in with the Avengers movie version, at least not without some means to explain why in the Avengers he's not in his late 50s at the youngest. Lot of interesting elements in this film, leaving me wondering what the set up would be for the next one and will it be set in the present or in the near past and what characters, other than Wolverine, will play prominent roles.
ReplyDeleteAnd saw it this a.m. @ a 10:00 matinee (!!) w/ HBSon & his lady-love.
ReplyDeleteA thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying big superhero film. It's taken a long time to arrive, but it looks like we are indeed well into the Age of Legitimate Superhero Cinema-- where there are a number of directors who respect the source material, and are able to strike the appropriate & compelling balance between character, plot, and spectacle. This is where soooooooo many have generally failed over the past decades. While there's plenty of CGI and explosions and fights and actions-- that clearly is not an end in itself, but rather an inherent aspect of the narrative. Big events. . . big things happening all around.
HUGE plus, of course, is in being able to assemble a cast that simply jingles w/ accumulated academy awards, GoldGlobe Awards, and all the attendant nominations. I mean, Hugh Jackman & Jennifer Lawrence in particular blow me away w/ their ability to bounce from dramatic fare to action-hero antics w/out missing a beat. . . and always coming across as genuine and believable and . . . real, y'know? Jackman's actually much better as Wolvie now than he was all those years ago in X-Men 1.
It took me a bit to place Evan Peters-- and I kept finding myself put off terribly just by the sight of him. Afterwards, I realized that it was because he was sooooooo compelling/disturbing in American Horror Story (1/st season).
Peter Dinklage's biggest advantage as Trask was his great baritone voice. He was able to put across some of the weaker scripting (IMO), as his lines were written just this side of borderline cliche scientist villain. Smartly underplaying it really helped him out, too.
Loved the Quicksilver sequence-- it really showed why true super-speed should be considered an unbelievably formidable power (although the simple physics of it do still fall apart under any close scrutiny at all-- it would certainly wreak far more havoc than portrayed even here).
Ultimately, it works very well because it's a movie about personal sacrifice, about loyalty, and about making hard choices-- and about one's personal sense of ethics & morality. And hope, yes. The smartest move was having major plot points revolve around resolving internal conflicts and not external ones. ANYONE can relate to that, super-powered or not.
HB
One of my favorite lines of the movie.
ReplyDelete"WHIP… LASH!"
Count me in amoung those who enjoyed the film.
ReplyDeleteJust back from watching it with my 10 yr old (who was fine watching the film but said "let's wait for the blu-ray" for the post credits scene LOL)
Having just watched all the X-Men films over the course of the last week or so (been very wet here in the UK), I would say it's probably the best so far. Just like Avengers, it builds on what has been before to produce an exciting story.
Plus Quicksliver was ace. And I can't believe I've just typed that as I dislike the comic character!
I just got back from seeing it. I thought it was good, but no way it's right behind Avengers as I've heard many people say. I'd put it in my top 6 or 7 Marvel movies, definitely behind Avengers, Cap 2, Iron Man, Cap, Spider-Man 2 just off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteMagneto entered Darth Vader territory in this movie. What a bad-arse.
I didn't care for Wolverine's historical weapons.
Loved the tension of the end scene.
I can dig Wolverine being the star of the show, but how did Shadowcat stand in for Rachel?
Quicksilver was awesome. Totally not the character we've known, but very cool nonetheless. The kitchen scene was priceless, priceless. And yes, William -- Whiplash!
Doug
Finally went to see this today. Very good....definitely the best of the X-movies to me.
ReplyDeleteJust saw this - finally - yesterday, and felt the need the comment (as I did with Winter Soldier). I really liked this one quite a bit, and I definitely agree with everyone who loved Quicksilver. He really stole the show.
ReplyDeleteI even didn't mind Wolverine being the one who traveled to the past instead of Kitty, as it was explained quite well. And it's interesting that once he set things into motion, he didn't play a crucial role to the resolution, rather that depended on Prof. X and Raven/Mystique. Very well done.
Also, if I understand the ending correctly, it basically rebooted the entire X-movie franchise. Good thing, too, because those first three movies were really, really bad.