Brett Ratner: X-Men 3: The Final Confrontation
X-Men has developed a decent audience for itself as a sci-fi/action film franchise, unshackling itself from its comic roots and finding moviegoers who want intelligent action-based films with a moral message. The first two films were directed and creatively spearheaded by Brian Singer, who disappeared after the last film to make a Superman film for Time-Warner. Brett Ratner stepped in to fill his shoes and has actually done a decent job of continuing the franchise.
This film picks up not long after the last one left off. As a result of events portrayed in it, mutants are now politically represented by a Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Hank McCoy (played by Kelsey Grammar), and relations between mutants and the government are taking a step in the right direction. The school is trundling along nicely, except for Cyclops, who’s being broody and despondent because of Jean’s death. Then it’s announced on the news that a scientist has created a cure for mutants. Magneto sees this as a weapon that the military could use against mutants and begins recruiting an army for a final strike, even enlisting the help of a back-from-the-dead and mentally-unhinged Jean Grey. This all leads to a big showdown between the outnumbered X-Men and Magneto's army at the lab where the cure was created.
The problem with the first sequel was that it was overpopulated: too many characters struggling for screen time and an insistence on cramming in as many cameos as possible for the hardcore fans. Watching it, there was always the feeling that they were trying to fit a pint into a litre bottle. The result was an often unfocussed and meandering plot. This film tackles the problem quite efficiently by killing off two major characters, depowering another, having another run away, and not mentioning Nightcrawler whatsoever. Cameos are kept to a minimum and mostly serve the plot. The result is certainly a much more focussed film, in contrast to the more labyrinthine and sometimes tedious plot of X2.
It also benefits from simplifying the rivalries. In the second film, there was simply too much happening between characters: the Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine love triangle, Wolverine’s search for his past and connections to Stryker and Lady Deathstrike, Nightcrawler’s introduction and flirting with Storm, and Pyro’s introduction and eventual desertion. All that on top of moving on a conspiracy plot that contained three factions vying for the upper hand. It was a very dense film, and not always particularly well paced. Here the plot is much simpler: Magneto is convinced (and correct) that the cure will be used as a weapon and is prepared to lead a militaristic first strike. The X-Men, on the other hand, while opposed to the cure, are not prepared to go to the same lengths as Magneto. Cue big fight. As far as personal relationships go, we have Iceman and Rogue growing apart because of her inability to touch people and Iceman meeting someone new, Wolverine and Jean’s romance rekindled leading to the poignant ending, and Iceman’s rivalry with Pyro. All much easier to follow, and it allows for a thankfully quicker pace.
The other major change, presumably due to a budget increase, is that the film goes in for large scale battle sequences, rather than the previous films’ one-on-one fights. This serves to convey that the X-Men are a team, and is also a more intense and enjoyable cinematic experience.
As for the acting, it’s easily up to the quality of the previous films. Except for Halle Berry, who gets her much-whinged-for screen time and the results may explain why Singer kept her role small in the previous films. Her delivery of important lines is stilted and forced and she lacks chemistry with any of the rest of the cast. The scene where The Beast and her discuss the cure is particularly painful to watch, as you can see Grammar doing his best to play off Berry's lines, and finding nothing. Grammar fairs far better elsewhere and brings just the right amount of quiet eloquence and dry wit to the character, and particularly excels in scenes where he banters with Jackman's Wolverine. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are the consummate professionals we know them to be, and Hugh Jackman has Wolverine down to a tee.
The biggest problem the film faces is the fact it's trying to meld two unrelated stories here. The cure story is fine in its own right, but Jean Grey's ressurection as the Phoenix is added and the two plots do not complement each other at all. Further, neither story really has enough time to develop in its own right, a criticism particularly true of the Phoenix story which is one of the best-loved stories in the comics and could have been a film in its own right. Admittedly, some fat would have to be trimmed from the original comic which involves intergalactic space travel and a whole new set of villains, but it deserves more than being a distraction to the primary plot. Jean's return from the dead was a given after the events of X2, and they had to follow through on it, but it's just a shame they decided not to give it the full spotlight.
Another story which doesn't get enough time is Rogue giving up her powers. For a franchise that is supposed to advocate individuality, having a character 'cure' herself seems contrary to the film's overall message. It perhaps would have made more sense if Rogue's struggle with life not being able to touch others (and particularly her boyfriend) was portrayed in more detail, and it would have also given the film a good deal of emotional intensity, but as it stands, her actions are those of a petulent, insecure child who thinks her boyfriend is going to go get some elsewhere. They should have excised the Phoenix material and saved it for the next film, and expanded Rogue's dilemma, acting as a nice counterpoint to the Angel's mini-story cameo. As it stands, neither plot is particularly fulfilling, even if the film's pace manages to plough on nonetheless.
All in all, a very entertaining film that continues the franchise nicely. Fixing the errors of the previous two films, such as poor pacing, various budget restrictions, and an overloaded roster, and introducing some all of its own, principally two unconnected plots. It certainly benefits from better action scenes, and the film will likely be well received by the general public and comic nerds alike simply because it manages to ignore its weakness and charge toward an action-packed finale.
This film picks up not long after the last one left off. As a result of events portrayed in it, mutants are now politically represented by a Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Hank McCoy (played by Kelsey Grammar), and relations between mutants and the government are taking a step in the right direction. The school is trundling along nicely, except for Cyclops, who’s being broody and despondent because of Jean’s death. Then it’s announced on the news that a scientist has created a cure for mutants. Magneto sees this as a weapon that the military could use against mutants and begins recruiting an army for a final strike, even enlisting the help of a back-from-the-dead and mentally-unhinged Jean Grey. This all leads to a big showdown between the outnumbered X-Men and Magneto's army at the lab where the cure was created.
The problem with the first sequel was that it was overpopulated: too many characters struggling for screen time and an insistence on cramming in as many cameos as possible for the hardcore fans. Watching it, there was always the feeling that they were trying to fit a pint into a litre bottle. The result was an often unfocussed and meandering plot. This film tackles the problem quite efficiently by killing off two major characters, depowering another, having another run away, and not mentioning Nightcrawler whatsoever. Cameos are kept to a minimum and mostly serve the plot. The result is certainly a much more focussed film, in contrast to the more labyrinthine and sometimes tedious plot of X2.
It also benefits from simplifying the rivalries. In the second film, there was simply too much happening between characters: the Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine love triangle, Wolverine’s search for his past and connections to Stryker and Lady Deathstrike, Nightcrawler’s introduction and flirting with Storm, and Pyro’s introduction and eventual desertion. All that on top of moving on a conspiracy plot that contained three factions vying for the upper hand. It was a very dense film, and not always particularly well paced. Here the plot is much simpler: Magneto is convinced (and correct) that the cure will be used as a weapon and is prepared to lead a militaristic first strike. The X-Men, on the other hand, while opposed to the cure, are not prepared to go to the same lengths as Magneto. Cue big fight. As far as personal relationships go, we have Iceman and Rogue growing apart because of her inability to touch people and Iceman meeting someone new, Wolverine and Jean’s romance rekindled leading to the poignant ending, and Iceman’s rivalry with Pyro. All much easier to follow, and it allows for a thankfully quicker pace.
The other major change, presumably due to a budget increase, is that the film goes in for large scale battle sequences, rather than the previous films’ one-on-one fights. This serves to convey that the X-Men are a team, and is also a more intense and enjoyable cinematic experience.
As for the acting, it’s easily up to the quality of the previous films. Except for Halle Berry, who gets her much-whinged-for screen time and the results may explain why Singer kept her role small in the previous films. Her delivery of important lines is stilted and forced and she lacks chemistry with any of the rest of the cast. The scene where The Beast and her discuss the cure is particularly painful to watch, as you can see Grammar doing his best to play off Berry's lines, and finding nothing. Grammar fairs far better elsewhere and brings just the right amount of quiet eloquence and dry wit to the character, and particularly excels in scenes where he banters with Jackman's Wolverine. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are the consummate professionals we know them to be, and Hugh Jackman has Wolverine down to a tee.
The biggest problem the film faces is the fact it's trying to meld two unrelated stories here. The cure story is fine in its own right, but Jean Grey's ressurection as the Phoenix is added and the two plots do not complement each other at all. Further, neither story really has enough time to develop in its own right, a criticism particularly true of the Phoenix story which is one of the best-loved stories in the comics and could have been a film in its own right. Admittedly, some fat would have to be trimmed from the original comic which involves intergalactic space travel and a whole new set of villains, but it deserves more than being a distraction to the primary plot. Jean's return from the dead was a given after the events of X2, and they had to follow through on it, but it's just a shame they decided not to give it the full spotlight.
Another story which doesn't get enough time is Rogue giving up her powers. For a franchise that is supposed to advocate individuality, having a character 'cure' herself seems contrary to the film's overall message. It perhaps would have made more sense if Rogue's struggle with life not being able to touch others (and particularly her boyfriend) was portrayed in more detail, and it would have also given the film a good deal of emotional intensity, but as it stands, her actions are those of a petulent, insecure child who thinks her boyfriend is going to go get some elsewhere. They should have excised the Phoenix material and saved it for the next film, and expanded Rogue's dilemma, acting as a nice counterpoint to the Angel's mini-story cameo. As it stands, neither plot is particularly fulfilling, even if the film's pace manages to plough on nonetheless.
All in all, a very entertaining film that continues the franchise nicely. Fixing the errors of the previous two films, such as poor pacing, various budget restrictions, and an overloaded roster, and introducing some all of its own, principally two unconnected plots. It certainly benefits from better action scenes, and the film will likely be well received by the general public and comic nerds alike simply because it manages to ignore its weakness and charge toward an action-packed finale.
posted by Ryan Stephens at 6:52 AM
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