X-Men 3 SPOILERS

[Cash]

I made this same post at the Oratory... but frankly, I like the people here's opinions a lot more and trust them a lot more to let me have it if I completely went off track.

**********

I just got back from it and I thought it was a GREAT way to end it. That is IF THEY END IT THERE.

-I never expected Xavier to be killed. The way he died was just horrific and I'll admit that I almost cried when it happened. Just a heart-pounding moment that was incredible with all the parties who could see what was happening (Magneto, Grey/Phoenix, Wolverine). Just solidified how fucking powerful she was since not even X could stop her and Magneto was pretty much powerless as well. There WAS the hole opened up that maybe Magneto COULD have helped if he had sided with Xavier and tried to help. Doubtful though.

-Magneto and Xavier's relationship was executed outstandingly I thought. Keep in mind that I don't know comic cannon and basically am going off of a limited knowledge from when I was a kid. I just really thought that the sheer amount of respect that Magneto HAD for Xavier was very evident with his reaction to Pyro's comment.

-Phoenix... the sheer amount of power WAS represented very very well I thought, but man alive she just didn't take the central role that I really thought she would. Yeah, everything basically revolved around her, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make. I just wish more had been explored into her personality and how it worked. What AWESOME power though.

-Beast was fucking ill. That's it. Fucking ILL. Plus, throwback costume? Hell yeah.

-Archangel was kind of an afterthought through the whole thing, but I think that was just to give some legs to it later on should they decide to do a new generation kind of thing.

-Storm wasn't as central as I thought she would be considering all I had heard about Halle Berry pitching a fit. I think the role that she played was actually really really good.

-I thought that the visual of the six X-Men standing in the face of ALL the other mutants was pretty freaking cool. The fight was just insane though as they basically were able to take on everyone, pretty much showcasing the deal about how important the school was. Pretty neat symbolism.

-Juggernaut is SO going to have some sort of role in the rumored Wolverine spin-off. He fucking owned Logan. Easily had the line of the night with, "You think that can hold me? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" Whole theater cheered when he said it. He totally went down in a pretty neat way though I thought.

-More Colossus was needed. The scene of him walking with the television was hilarious though.

-Cyclops died and I couldn't be happier really. He annoyed the piss out of me.

-Rogue was a complete afterthought as I thought that she would have a role in stopping Phoenix somehow with her power transfer ability. Kind of a dual sacrifice thing and so on. I'd laugh if she killed Ice Man somehow when her powers come back.

-The introductory simulation where the Sentinal appeared had me just in awe because of the way it was executed. Just the visual of a Sentinal head gave me goosebumps.

And finally...

-Ian McKellen was absolutely phenominal in his role as Magneto. He gave the speeches with an amazing amount of charisma, was able to really get across the facials when he needed to, and straight brought the acting once he had been given the "cure". Plus the visual of him sitting at a chess-board and moving the King after his repeated utterance of "the pawns go first" was really cool and I thought very clever. Also needing a mention in this area is Patrick Stewart for the way he portrayed Professor X during his limited screen time. Just a phenominal actor and probably (along with McKellen) one of the best castings that they made with these movies. Kudos to both of those men for bringing an outstanding ability to these movies.

Questions for the people who would know...

-I didn't think that's how the Phoenix was introduced at all, as a second part of Grey's psyche. Is it really how it came about? I could have SWORE it was interplanetary. Thus leading to my second question of did it kind of mess up Xavier's character to have him put the blocks in place or was that actually part of the comic cannon too?

-What class mutant is Storm? Wolverine?

-Does anyone think that Magneto have ultimately helped Xavier if he had wanted to?

Like I said, I hope that it is done with this movie. A LOT of people died it seemed and should they want to do a Wolverine spin-off, I could see that... but a straight up "X-Men" movie... I don't think they should do it at all. This was a good way to end it and X-Men without Professor X in it just seems weird and makes me very sad

[JackFetch]

I think they ended it this way because this was the last X-Men movie that the cast signed up for, and the last that Fox plans on making. By killing so many big characters, it would be harder for whichever company gets the rights next to do it.

[Missy]

Questions for the people who would know...

-I didn't think that's how the Phoenix was introduced at all, as a second part of Grey's psyche. Is it really how it came about? I could have SWORE it was interplanetary. Thus leading to my second question of did it kind of mess up Xavier's character to have him put the blocks in place or was that actually part of the comic cannon too?

Yeah, it's this whole interplanetary / god / duplicate thing. I can't even begin to explain it. The movie did a very nice job of simplifying the whole mess.

From Wiki:

In the original Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean obtained the Phoenix Force power. Under the manipulation of such foes as Mastermind and Emma Frost, Jean was unable to adapt to her enormous power and was driven mad; as Dark Phoenix, Jean destroyed a planet populated by sentient creatures and subsequently committed suicide on Earth's moon.

This was later retconned to state that the Phoenix entity did not physically possess Jean Grey, but instead created a duplicate body of Jean, believed itself to be Jean, and acted in her place while the real Jean lay in a coma in the ocean. This let Jean be revived as a member of X-Factor. The extent to which the duplicate and Jean are separate entities depends on who is writing the character(s) at the time.

Part of the Phoenix Force joined with Jean's second clone, Madelyne Pryor who was made by Mr. Sinister, until she was ultimately killed and the Phoenix conciousness rejoined with the awakened Jean.

-What class mutant is Storm? Wolverine?

These are just guesses, but I'd say...

Storm: three-ish

Wolverine: three

-Does anyone think that Magneto have ultimately helped Xavier if he had wanted to?

No. He was torn with fear.

This was a good way to end it and X-Men without Professor X in it just seems weird and makes me very sad

Did you stay through the credits...? :whistle:

[Guest]

I can't see this cause of my whole horror movie thing, so I have little choice but to spoil this for myself.

What happens after the credits?

[Missy]

I can't see this cause of my whole horror movie thing, so I have little choice but to spoil this for myself.

What happens after the credits?

Earlier in the film Prof. X showed his students a DVD Dr. Moira MacTaggert sent him of a dying man, and asked them if it was ethical to transfer your consciousness into someone else's body upon death. Well... guess what Chuck did.

[higg0060]

I just got back from the movie and it was better than expected. Actually, it might be better than X2.

I was afraid that with a new director it would be all splash and no plot. It was hard to wrap all the action within a cohesive plot and I feel it was pulled off. I would have liked a little more but then it would be 4 hours long ( a little more dialogue from Collossus maybe). I was also able to drag my girlfriend along, much to her chagrin she loved it. I hope I hooked her.

Death, birth, changing sides, losing powers. Even though they made it seem like closure there is so much more they can do. Where to begin.

The sequence with Prof. X and Phoenix was among one of the best scenes. Wolverine and Jean at the end was a great climax to the movie (the last sequence with Magneto was the denouement). Two great characters and probably the most interesting in the movies, dueling it out. I wished Logan would have been incinerated to the bone so we could see his adamantium skeleton and then see him regenerate from there.

"I'm the Juggernaut, bitch." The funniest thing ever, I'm so glad that was put in. I'm even more suprised that Shadowcat was kicking some ass and being similar to her character in the comics.

Iceman vs. Pyro, again, was well executed. To see him in his full ice covering was icing on the cake.

I was wondering why Leech didn't come into play at the end though. Use him against Magneto or Jean Grey. I felt his character could have come into play more.

I was afraid Beast would be cartoon-y and comedic at best but he pulled off a great performance, mostly due to the ass-kicking at the end.

The inclusion of more mutants and the focus on protests and 'taking sides' in relation of the mutant cure definitely brought the whole plot closer to home. The relationship and ignorance toward different people gave the movie resonance to everyone that was wise enough to find it.

As a side note, if Magneto had lost his powers and Prof. X was dead I thought a 4th movie could delve into Magneto taking over the School in place of Storm. They could then bring the Sentinels in since they introduced Mr. Trask in the sequence with McCoy and the President talking (Lawrence Trask, was involved with the birth of the Sentinels in the comic book, I believe).

All in all, I'm just glad it met expectations and far surpassed them. I will definitely be seeing it again in the theaters. I have a lot more to comment on but I think I'm going to lay in bed and read some X-Men. I got the '40 years of X-Men' DVD-ROM and for the last few months I've been hooked. Too bad I'm only on issue 148.

Rich

[S-T]

Earlier in the film Prof. X showed his students a DVD Dr. Moira MacTaggert sent him of a dying man, and asked them if it was ethical to transfer your consciousness into someone else's body upon death. Well... guess what Chuck did.

I left when the credits started. Now I wish i had stayed.

:grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

A few points:

1. There is no way that Cyclops is dead. If you don't see a body, he is not dead. Even if you do see a body, they can bring him back.
   
2. Jean Grey is arguably the most powerful mutant on the planet. In the comics, Pheonix rivals Galactus. Therefore, she is probably not dead either.
   
3. Is the mutant "cure" permanent? Mutants lose their powers when close to Leech, but get re-powered when away from him. When Leech's goop works its way out of their system, the powers will come back, but it is a much more long term de-powering. It was suggested that Magneto is regaining his power over magnetism at the end.
   
4. I wanted to see a fistfight between Colossus and Juggernaut. I was dissapointed that didn't happen.
   
5. In the comics, Juggernaut is Professor X's stepbrother. I understand why they didn't explore the Crimson Gem of Cytorrak angle to explain his powers (though it would not have been THAT hard to do so) but there should have been some mention of Xavier's relationship with Juggernaut.
   

[Missy]

There is no way that Cyclops is dead. If you don't see a body, he is not dead. Even if you do see a body, they can bring him back.

Same thing I thought. No body = not dead.

Jean Grey is arguably the most powerful mutant on the planet. In the comics, Pheonix rivals Galactus. Therefore, she is probably not dead either.

Difference here is that Jean wasn't possessed by an intergalactic god; it was just her id unleashed.

Is the mutant "cure" permanent? Mutants lose their powers when close to Leech, but get re-powered when away from him. When Leech's goop works its way out of their system, the powers will come back, but it is a much more long term de-powering. It was suggested that Magneto is regaining his power over magnetism at the end.

Yeah, I think they'll loophole their way out of this so-called cure by saying the pharmaceutical company didn't run enough tests, the FDA rushed it or whatever, and -- OOPS! -- it wound up not being permanent.

Besides the ending with Magneto, Mystique was the only other mutant we saw long after the cure was injected (when she was helping the government). And for all we know she was using her powers to look "normal" at the time.

(Well... Rogue too. But it might take several days or even weeks for their powers to resurface. So she could have been right back from the clinic.)

In the comics, Juggernaut is Professor X's stepbrother. I understand why they didn't explore the Crimson Gem of Cytorrak angle to explain his powers (though it would not have been THAT hard to do so) but there should have been some mention of Xavier's relationship with Juggernaut.

I was really hoping for the following exchange as Xavier passed Juggy on his way into the Grey household:

Xavier: Cain.

Juggernaut: Chuck.

That right there would have been enough for me.

[S-T]

Juggernaut is SO going to have some sort of role in the rumored Wolverine spin-off.

I don't know if they can do this depending on who holds the licenses to the movie franchises but...

• Juggernaut vs Hulk in Hulk 2.
  

Or they could just include a Colossus/Juggernaut slugfest in the next movie or the Wolverine movie.

[Missy]

If they could cross the two franchises, I think they'd have Wolverine v Hulk in Hulk 2. It would serve as a nod to continuity.

[James D.]

I was really hoping for the following exchange as Xavier passed Juggy on his way into the Grey household:

Xavier: Cain.

Juggernaut: Chuck.

That right there would have been enough for me.

God, that would have owned.

[JackFetch]

My top 10 gripes and/or things that I noticed about it:

1. Xavier dying that early in the movie was a shock.

2. Cyclops "dying" even earlier than that was a bigger shock.

3. Storm does not have the presense to be the leader. They should have made her role bigger to make her look more important. Personally, I thought they should have left her out of the movie.

4. Storm also can't fight for shit. She wastes too much time spinning and flying before doing anything.

5. Why does Logan have to pause every time he gets hurt so we can watch him heal?

6. Wasn't Leech in the last movie, as a different kid with different powers?

7. The Kitty/Iceman/Rogue story was pointless. It was distracting to the main story.

8. They tried to cram too many mutants into the movie.

9. The cure weapons were a copout for the writer. A way to show a hundred badguys and get rid of them in 30 seconds to get to the main bad guys.

10. Angel added nothing to the story, and shouldn't have been in the movie.

The best moments in the movie for me:

1. Fastball special+Sentinel head

2. Xavier's death

3. Bobby iced up

4. Naked normal Mystique.............I mean the escape scene

[Missy]

From IMDB:

Twentieth Century Fox's X-Men: The Last Stand is virtually certain to knock off The Da Vinci Code at the box office over the Memorial Day weekend, but most analysts agree that Code will attract enough moviegoers to prevent the latest X-Men movie from equaling the $85.6 million that X2 collected in 2003. Moreover, with Memorial Day a typical family-day affair, DreamWorks Animation's Over the Hedge is likely to remain a significant draw, as well.

From Box Office Mojo:

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

Domestic Total as of May. 28, 2006: $107,000,000 (Estimate)

to IMDB!

[JackFetch]

`X-Men' Has 4th-Best Film Debut, $107 Mln in Sales (Update2)

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- ``X-Men: The Last Stand'' had the fourth-largest weekend opening in box-office history with an estimated $107 million in ticket sales in the first three days of the Memorial Day holiday.

The News Corp. film had $45.5 million in ticket sales on Friday, making it the second-largest one-day gross in history, trailing only ``Star Wars: Episode III,'' according to Exhibitor Relations Co. ``Episode III'' took in $50 million when it opened May 19, 2005.

``We knew this film was going to have one of the bigger opening weekends of the year because the buzz was strong and the box-office potential was certainly there,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, Exhibitor Relations' president, in an interview. ``But for anyone to say they expected $107 million, we'd have thought they were crazy.''

``Spider-Man,'' released in May 2002, had the biggest opening weekend with $114.8 million in sales, followed by ``Star Wars: Episode III'' at $108.4 million and ``Shrek 2'' at $108 million.

``X-Men'' stars Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart as mutants who are up against humans who want to cure them and evil mutants who try to take over the planet. The film was produced by Avi Arad.

Year's Biggest Opening

The opening, the biggest so far this year, also has surpassed those of the first two movies in the X-Men series. The first, ``X-Men'' had $54.5 million in sales when it opened in July 2000, and ``X2: X-Men United'' grossed $85.6 million in its opening weekend in May 2003.

The comic-book genre has performed well at the box office because of a built-in audience of both older and younger males, and ``X-Men'' might have attracted more women because of strong female characters, such as Berry's portrayal of Storm, Dergarabedian said.

``This one may have had appeal beyond just the typical male audience that enjoys sci-fi and comic-book movies,'' he said.

In only three days ``X-Men'' has set the record for the biggest opening over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, beating the $90.2 million ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' set over four movie-viewing days in 1997. Box-office statistics for the four- day Memorial Day weekend will be reported tomorrow.

No other films opened in wide distribution this weekend, Dergarabedian said.

[James D.]

Anyone else find it kind of stupid that Magneto tells Callisto that he'll "never have another needle stuck in his arm" (obviously referring to Auschwitz) and yet he gets jammed with four cure syringes at the end of the movie? Something about that just rubs me the wrong way.

[MaxPower]

I agree James. I see that they were trying for irony, but I think it was almost to the point of disrespectful.

[ragernok2002]

Anyone else find it kind of stupid that Magneto tells Callisto that he'll "never have another needle stuck in his arm" (obviously referring to Auschwitz) and yet he gets jammed with four cure syringes at the end of the movie? Something about that just rubs me the wrong way.

Wasn't that about all the tattoos Callisto had over her body, and asking Magneto where are his tattoos of mutant symbols, and he replies "this is the only mark I will ever have", pointing to the serial number on his arm.

[James D.]

Anyone else find it kind of stupid that Magneto tells Callisto that he'll "never have another needle stuck in his arm" (obviously referring to Auschwitz) and yet he gets jammed with four cure syringes at the end of the movie? Something about that just rubs me the wrong way.

Wasn't that about all the tattoos Callisto had over her body, and asking Magneto where are his tattoos of mutant symbols, and he replies "this is the only mark I will ever have", pointing to the serial number on his arm.

Callisto is referring to some "mutant mark" that confirms he is really one of them--a mutant. Magneto replies and shows his number tattooed onto his arm when he was imprisoned in Auschwitz during WWII. He says he will never have another needle stuck in his arm. That, in and of itself, is VERY powerful stuff. I enjoyed that dialogue immensely. However, when he is jammed with the cure syringes, it just seemed to me to be irony for the sake of irony. It ruined the whole spectre of his previous dialogue for me.

[A.Logan]

I'm sorry, but the "Juggernaut BITCH!" line made me laugh soooo hard.

That damn video is hilarious.

[Zephyr]

Did anyone else notice that it turned to night the second Magneto placed the Golden Gate Bridge down. It was bright daylight, then pitch black. And then if you looked in the lower corner during the initial rush of Magneto's mutants, a mutant poofed into place exactly like Nightcrawler.

And then during the part were Wolverine was walking up to Jean while having his skin fly off, did anyone else think that Jean was holding Phoenix's powers back? Every other person evaporated in about two seconds, but only bits and pieces came off of Wolverine.

[James D.]

And then during the part were Wolverine was walking up to Jean while having his skin fly off, did anyone else think that Jean was holding Phoenix's powers back? Every other person evaporated in about two seconds, but only bits and pieces came off of Wolverine.

Not to mention all of the other good mutants didn't vaporize either. Something had to give there.

[Pablo Molinero]

Did anyone else notice that it turned to night the second Magneto placed the Golden Gate Bridge down. It was bright daylight, then pitch black.

Yeah, yeah. I remember talking about that. That really bothered me. It just seemed lazy/sloppy/bad editing.

Oh, and the whole getting Iceman COMPLETELY wrong really pissed me off, seeing as he's my favorite of the X-Men. Christ, they made him suck.

[MaxPower]

Did anyone else notice that it turned to night the second Magneto placed the Golden Gate Bridge down. It was bright daylight, then pitch black.

Further to that, all the cars on the bridge had their headlights on.... But if everyone ran from their car during daylight hours, why would you have your lights on!

[James D.]

Did anyone else notice that it turned to night the second Magneto placed the Golden Gate Bridge down. It was bright daylight, then pitch black.

Further to that, all the cars on the bridge had their headlights on.... But if everyone ran from their car during daylight hours, why would you have your lights on!

Not everyone ran from their cars (e.g., the woman pushing her door lock down), but for the most part, you're right.

[JackFetch]

Except for the headlights being on, the rest can probably be explained by editing. I belive there were many major parts of the movie edited out because of bad test screens. There are rumors that they were filming scenes about a month ago to fix it. I belive the parts cut out were Angel's storyline, The teen love triangle, and between the bridge being moved to the first battle on the island. These aren't confirmed, but you can tell that scenes are missing.

edit: The headlights might have been from a mutants power. There were so many of them around one of them could have made them come on. Do I win the no-prize?