Pretty good film, but disappointing for me.
The action was great and varied and Fassbender was fantastic. In fact, for the film's episodic structure (that, like Beast, never really found its feet), Fass's badass Basterds-meets-Bond quest was what drew me in - you might say he was.... magnetic...
I hate to be the guy to complain about continuity - I don't care about little changes in the service of storytelling - but that guy I have to be. The original trilogy was pointlessly and/or awkwardly undermined at times. A lot of this was due to X3/Wolverine syndrome - that is, throwing in mutants as walking special effects as if that's what made the first films good. A lot of the characters were just...
there, bland playthings. Those that were (slightly) developed were done so via exposition. So much was said, so little was shown. As I feared, (completely) gone was the nuanced subtext of the original trilogy, replaced by shoved-down-your-throat dialogue.
CHARLES
This is a question the original films posed.
RAVEN
That question is cool but let's not bother answering it. Hey, btw, let me tell you the theme of the movie once more.
And that nuance is what I love about the X-Men films. And, well, for anyone that pa*d attention to them, we can surely agree that the central theme and anxiety is how these people struggle to fit into a world that fears them. Well, in this movie, people don't know mutants exist. Apart from a select few, half of whom accept them instantly. So, to present this theme, the movie resorts to having random non-character guards make fun of them. And then we're meant to accept that this prompts Magneto et al's ideological shift and separation from Xavier. It really doesn't work. It just reminds you that David Hayter established the franchise the best possible way.
With this in mind, Magneto's path just doesn't seem justified (again, how I wish Hayter was involved) and the film resorts early on to focusing on personality defect. Apparently, bad stuff happening to you is what makes you a bad person.
By the end, nothing's changed. Magneto is a Vader to Kevin Bacon's Palpatine. And not even Empire Strikes Back, self-doubting Vader. I'm talking prequel Vader. "Dark Side is the cool side, bro".
[spoiler]"lol, I agree with you and your copied and pasted motivations, but I'm going to kill you anyway because *REMINDER TO AUDIENCE OF WHY HE WANTED TO KILL HIM FROM THE START*"[/spoiler]
Sigh.
For me, that's all crap and undermines Hayter's fantastic work, but I don't think I was the target audience. This is intended as a crowd-pleaser, and perhaps because the themes of the films are made so obvious, action-junkies will be able to watch the first three again and actually "get" them. That's a good thing.
And, hey, the action's spectacular. It had narrative motivation (albeit basic). It ticks too many minimum requirement checkboxes to be a bad film. I enjoyed it, and there were occasional glorious moments (including the highlight of the film, which many of you have already referred to) that I really dug. The central duo's performances elevated their characters to some sorely needed depth. And I really don't doubt it's a better film than Wolverine. But as a fan of the original films' subtext, and subtext in general, I dare say for all its flaws I like X-Men 3 more. But that's probably just me. Those of you who like Iron Man and looser narratives like Raiders of the Lost Ark will probably really appreciate the film as a rollercoaster ride and how it takes the franchise back to the basics.
6/10
Why couldnt he keep it to himself.
