Tag Archives: beast

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X-Men: The Last Stand – A Movie Review

So the fanboys and the critics have been telling me that X-Men: The Last Stand is awful, yet the movie going audience has been flocking to this baby.  Like the responsible movie fan I am, I had to see for myself.  Read on for my spoilerific review of X-Men: The Last Stand… 

I have to tell you, when Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Films, left to direct Superman Returns, I was a little concerned about the fate of our favorite mutants.  I don’t have any antagonistic feelings toward the replacement director, Brett Ratner, like so many people seemingly do, but I believed the quality would drop just a hair because Singer was so loyal to the source material. 

Ratner, on the other hand, is loyal to making a summer blockbuster.

What I mean by that is that X3 is an entertaining, fast-paced, short, action-filled thrill ride.  What it is not is an in-depth story with well-rounded characters.  In fact, Ratner seemed to feel quite comfortable with breaking routine X-Convention, especially any foundation the first two films laid.

That is part of what made this film so fun, but also part of what made it so frustrating.  Let’s just get a big spoiler out of the way:  Ratner kills off some major, major characters in X3.  So many big characters that an X4 seems pretty unlikely.  The heart of the X-Men are gone, and they were gone pretty early into the film.  That being said, I knew then and there that all bets were off and no one was off-limits.  That certainly increased the tension and suspense for my movie going experience.

But, the deaths of the characters were so out of place, so out of character, they truly seemed forced and rushed.  And that is my ultimate summation of X3-forced and rushed.  It had great moments, some were actually genius, but overall the film had many, many holes.  The sheer number of heroes and villains required four hours of story to avoid any shortcomings, and as the film lasted only an hour and forty-five minutes, well, you can imagine how crammed things got.

However, what worked, and worked wonderfully, were the special effects.  If you want to see these mutants using their powers in all the glory of your wildest imaginings, you will not be disappointed in X3.  It truly felt like a comic book come to life.  You get to see the powers of Iceman, Beast, Phoenix, Colossus, Shadowcat, Pyro, Magneto, and Juggernaut in their full glory, just the way you want to see them.  The only problem is you just don’t get to see enough of them.

Would I recommend this film?  You bet I would.  The spectacle and special effects alone are worth it.  The acting of Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammar, and Patrick Stewart are top-notch for those moments where they’re actually allowed to act.

I think if you are a hardcore X-Fan you will be very disappointed with the directions they took with some of the characters in X3, but if you look at it as just another summer action movie, you’ll be more than entertained.

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Fables: The Mean Seasons – A Graphic Novel Review

Once again, I found out about the series Fables from the Eisner Awards list. I’ve yet to be disappointed by my buys from the winners of the Eisner Awards, and Fables is no different.

First of all, let me catch you up to speed. Fables is about a community of exiled Fables who have taken up residence both in New York City and in the upstate New York countryside. Some of them have been there since the colonial days of America. Now, I can hear your first question: What do you mean “exiled Fables?”

We’re talking Snow White, Prince Charming, Little Boy Blue, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, among many, many others. Some evil being called “The Adversary” has taken over all of these characters’ homelands, and so they had to flee to our world in order to escape his mastery. The human looking Fables live in Fabletown, their little neighborhood in NYC that goes unnoticed by the “mundies,” or regular humans. The non-human looking Fables, such as the three little pigs, the three bears, and so on, all must live in the countryside at a community they call The Farm.

I’ve enjoyed all the trade paperbacks from this series, but I most recently read The Mean Seasons, the fifth book in the series. In it, Prince Charming has made a bid to run for Mayor of Fabletown, hoping to remove King Cole from office. Snow White gives birth to a litter of the Big Bad Wolf’s (called Bigby, who is able to take human form) children, and we get to go on a secret mission of Bigby’s during WWII where he fights someone all old horror movies fans will take delight in. As usual, this series is well written with very efficient art. The most amazing part of this series is how credible the writer, Bill Willingham, has made all of these Fables with their day-to-day lives. As you can imagine, the allusions are non-stop, and I must admit I can’t keep up with the majority of them.

If I had heard the pitch for this series in a meeting, I would have passed. But, Willingham as made it work exceptionally. I highly recommend checking it out.

You really need to read them in order to get the full effect. Here’s the list of trade paperbacks so far:

Volume One: Legends in Exile
Volume Two: Animal Farm
Volume Three: A Storybook Love
Volume Four: March of the Wooden Soldiers (very good!)
Volume Five: The Mean Seasons