X-Men 3: The Last Stand - (may contain spoilers)

[Neon_Chaos]

Alright. X3 opened here in the Philippines today.

Just got back from watching the movie.

And I'm going to say that I'm a bit underwhelmed by it.

Perhaps because there's so many damn mutants in the story that they just didn't have time to develop the characters more. And you can really tell they're moving towards the upcoming Wolverine movies.

Oh, and brace yourselves... several key characters actually DIE in this one.

Meh. I'm an easy guy to please, but after watching The Da Vinci Code and V for Vendetta, X3 leaves a bitter taste in my mouth just because the previous two movies were better.

Thumbs in the middle, ever so slightly pointing up.

[Franklinnoble]

Yeah, from watching the trailers on this, I'm really not expecting much right now. X2 was probably much better.

On the other hand, I'm geeking out over the new Superman Returns trailers.

[WVUFAN]

From what I've read, regular movie-going types will like the film.

Comic book fans will HATE it, since it goes in a wildly different direction from any of the comics, and basically spits in the face of the established Dark Phoenix Saga.

[Honolulu_Blue]

From what I've read, regular movie-going types will like the film.

Comic book fans will HATE it, since it goes in a wildly different direction from any of the comics, and basically spits in the face of the established Dark Phoenix Saga.

I don't know. I am a huge X-Men fan. I've read every X-Men comic from Giant Sized X-Men #1 (intro of the "New X-Men") through some point in 1992, right around where Wolverine got his adamantium ripped out. I read all the cross-overs, the "What Ifs", all of that.

I don't really care if the film "basically spits in the face of the established Dark Phoenix Saga." I don't see the two being all that comparable. At all. Basically what I expect from the movies are that the characters are reasonably well represented and not wildly different than in the comics. I fully expect the actual plotlines of the movies and what goes on in them to be different.

So far, the first two X-Men movies did a really good job with the characters. Magneto, Professor X, and Wolverine have been perfect. Nightcrawler was great. Cyclops has gotten the short shrift, but he's basically been Cyclops. Haley Berry sucks as storm. The others have been decent.

I still don't hold up high hopes for X:3, but I don't reckon my complaint will be because they changed around the Dark Phoenix Saga. I never expected a complete re-creation of the comics.

[stevew]

I wonder if the movie will mention the millions of dollars in property damage Mutants did from the late 80's to the mid 00's?

I can't stand this glorification of this "condition" when, for the most part, Mutants at that time were nothing more than juvenile delinquents.

[WVUFAN]

I wonder if the movie will mention the millions of dollars in property damage Mutants did from the late 80's to the mid 00's?

I can't stand this glorification of this "condition" when, for the most part, Mutants at that time were nothing more than juvenile delinquents.

Oh, ha. You're funny.

[ISiddiqui]

From what I've read, regular movie-going types will like the film.

Comic book fans will HATE it, since it goes in a wildly different direction from any of the comics, and basically spits in the face of the established Dark Phoenix Saga.

Well its not like they have 5 movies to full go in depth into things that came out from the comic books. This may indeed be the last XMen movie (it is called "The Last Stand").

[Neon_Chaos]

Well. This one just basically diverges from the comic books entirely.

But that's not what ticks me off... what ticks me off is how goddamn easily and un-emotional how the key characters die. You try to have some empathy towards their deaths, but the movie's pace doesn't allow you to feel sad... you're just left there, sitting... "Did they really f'n kill that character off!?"

One character dies 20 minutes into the frikkin' movie...

[caspanky]

Saw it tonight in an advance private screening. I enjoyed it. Ended up having a great discussion afterwards with all types of people. Those who read all the comics, those that knew some of the story's from teh comics, and those that only knew what the movies have shown. Everyone enjoyed the movie, and all had some critique of things they would change. I agree that the death of the character 20 minutes in seemed to happen without much emotion, but no one really knew they were dead until later in the movie. As for some of the other deaths, well "that's why you send in the pawns first" ;)

As for one of the other deaths in particular, did you guys stay until after the credits? Cause there is an added scene that makes you go "Hmmm"

[Neon_Chaos]

Saw it tonight in an advance private screening. I enjoyed it. Ended up having a great discussion afterwards with all types of people. Those who read all the comics, those that knew some of the story's from teh comics, and those that only knew what the movies have shown. Everyone enjoyed the movie, and all had some critique of things they would change. I agree that the death of the character 20 minutes in seemed to happen without much emotion, but no one really knew they were dead until later in the movie. As for some of the other deaths, well "that's why you send in the pawns first" ;)

As for one of the other deaths in particular, did you guys stay until after the credits? Cause there is an added scene that makes you go "Hmmm"

Again, I am basing my opinions on the one movie I have set as my personal standard for 2006, V for Vendetta.

I guess I was just spoiled by V for Vendetta, because Vendetta was more substance that sizzle, while X-Men 3 was more a nice action romp. Maybe it's because the movie is waaaaaaaaaaay too short for something as epic as X3 wanted to be. They put it within 1:45, when they could have easily stretched it to 3 hours.

Pawns first indeed. :)

I just felt that I really didn't have any emotional investment in any of the characters, and didn't feel much of their pain, joy or sorrow.

I saw the 'Hmmm' scene. Not really a 'Hmmm', but a "Oh... wow... nice." :) If what the ending scene proposes is true, then we just might have an X4. ;)

[dervack]

I thought it sucked. I know Ebert gave it 3 stars, but I have to agree with Neon. This movie is in no way better than V or Da Vinci Code. Hell, to me MI3 might even be better. So far of the summer "blockbusters" it's defintely 2nd or 3rd, and will only drop further.

Also, the pacing of the movie just seems off. I don't understand why they felt they needed to cram the movie into a 104 minutes.

[Pyser]

i think you mean 86 minutes.

thats right. its under an hour and half

(and it sucks, ive seen it)

[Neon_Chaos]

I think that they could have done SOOO MUCH MORE with the material they had. The potential for the movie to be fucking ridicoulously great was huge.

[DanGarion]

FYI if/when people do go see the movie stay till the credits are over for about 3 minutes of extra movie...

[DaddyTorgo]

so is it worth going to see? I've got the day off tomorrow and nothing to do and i was thinking of going to see either this or something else, just so that i'm not completely bored all day.

this? mi3 (as much as i hate tom cruise)? something else?

[Neon_Chaos]

FYI if/when people do go see the movie stay till the credits are over for about 3 minutes of extra movie...

It's only about 30 seconds long, but IMHO, worth sitting through the long ass credits.

[Neon_Chaos]

so is it worth going to see? I've got the day off tomorrow and nothing to do and i was thinking of going to see either this or something else, just so that i'm not completely bored all day.

this? mi3 (as much as i hate tom cruise)? something else?

MI3, more bang to your buck.

Da Vinci Code, much better... :)

[dervack]

i think you mean 86 minutes.

thats right. its under an hour and half

(and it sucks, ive seen it)
No, it's not. It's 104 minutes. No more, no less.

[dervack]

FYI if/when people do go see the movie stay till the credits are over for about 3 minutes of extra movie...
It's about 55-60 seconds.

[Joe]

who dies

[Franklinnoble]

I know of one ... but that might spoil it.

[WVUFAN]

I can PM you the death details if you really want to know.

[Joe]

yes

[WVUFAN]

PM sent.

[Pyser]

No, it's not. It's 104 minutes. No more, no less.

well, i dont know where they are getting that number from. i checked my watch when i saw it, and im telling you its not longer than 90 mins. but see for yourself.

[Franklinnoble]

Would one of you nerds please bring an atomic stopwatch to the next screening of X3 so we can settle this argument?

[Shkspr]

So, essentially, the movie is 104 minutes long, but its breakneck pacing and taut action scenes transport the viewer into thinking that only 86 minutes went by. Got it.

[IwasHere]

On the other hand, I'm geeking out over the new Superman Returns trailers.
But, is the return of Superman worth the Bad x-men movie? Without Director Bryan Singer and a couple of Sreen Writers he took with him over to the Superman Lot, X3 does not have the same Character development as the previous x-men movies. Reminds me a lot of Jurasic Park 3; More is not always better.


BTW Count me in as one of the people who will be spending the extra money to see Superman Returns in 3D on the Imax screen.

[dervack]

well, i dont know where they are getting that number from. i checked my watch when i saw it, and im telling you its not longer than 90 mins. but see for yourself.
From the watching the movie itself, from the IMDB page, from Ebert's review. Everything in the world says it's 104 minutes, except you. I believe my eyes, the movie company themselves, and Ebert, before I'll believe you.

[dervack]

But, is the return of Superman worth the Bad x-men movie? Without Director Bryan Singer and a couple of Sreen Writers he took with him over to the Superman Lot, X3 does not have the same Character development as the previous x-men movies. Reminds me a lot of Jurasic Park 3; More is not always better.


BTW Count me in as one of the people who will be spending the extra money to see Superman Returns in 3D on the Imax screen.
Yeah, while watching the movoe, you can tell that it's an entirely different director.

[Franklinnoble]

I just got back from seeing this in a matinee. I had low expectations, but, surprisingly, I enjoyed it.

It did not suck. And it's definately worth sitting through the credits to see the bonus scene.

[Samdari]

It really sucked.

[BrianD]

I liked the movie quite a bit, but then I've never read the comics so I didn't notice where story lines weren't followed.

[Franklinnoble]

I liked the movie quite a bit, but then I've never read the comics so I didn't notice where story lines weren't followed.

Well, I was an X-Men comic nut as a kid, and I didn't really expect them to follow the storyline there at all, so I didn't get my panties in a wad over things like "Juggernaut isn't REALLY a mutant" or "Dark Phoenix is really supposed to be an alien."

My only complaints, upon reflection, were:

1. The movie was too short to really do any character development, especially with all the new mutants that were introduced. I would have preferred a little more screen time, especially for the bad guys, who came off as "generic evil mutant #1, 2, 3, etc."
2. The Golden Gate Bridge was an entirely unnecessary plot device. It basically seemed to me like an excuse to throw out a big special effect.

Otherwise, I didn't have a problem with the film. I didn't even mind the loss of a few of the main characters.

[Neon_Chaos]

Psylocke, Alterlight and Kid Omega could've used more lines/camera time.

[Franklinnoble]

Psylocke, Alterlight and Kid Omega could've used more lines/camera time.

I didn't see Psylocke, and I have no idea who the other two are...

[Glengoyne]

i think you mean 86 minutes.

thats right. its under an hour and half

No, it's not. It's 104 minutes. No more, no less.

well, i dont know where they are getting that number from. i checked my watch when i saw it, and im telling you its not longer than 90 mins. but see for yourself.

So, essentially, the movie is 104 minutes long, but its breakneck pacing and taut action scenes transport the viewer into thinking that only 86 minutes went by. Got it.

Did they spin the world backwards? It sounds like there might be a tear in the time space continuum. Were they by chance showing a Star Trek: Next Generation trailer in an adjacent theatre?

[MrBigglesworth]

Went to see it tonight, liked it a lot but was never into comic books. I think Famke Janssen is so hot, and she's 40! Incredible.

[Neon_Chaos]

I didn't see Psylocke, and I have no idea who the other two are...

Oops, i meant Arclght, not alterlight.

They were three of the mutants with Magneto.

Kid Omega (played by Ken Leung) was the one with the spikes all over his body, Arclight (Omahyra) was the one with the shockwave powers, and Psylocke (Mei Melangcon, from the Philippines)was the 3rd mutant with them, the girl with the purple hair.

Callisto (Dania Ramirez) was the hispanic girl who could sense Mutant powers.

That's what the casting says on www.imdb.com (http://www.imdb.com)

[Northwood_DK]

I have never been in to comic books but might want to give it a try but not really sure where to start. There is just so much to choose from.

I have looked a bit around the internet and the Ultimate Marvel series might look interesting. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Young Drachma]

I think I'll go see it over the weekend then.

[WVUFAN]

I have never been in to comic books but might want to give it a try but not really sure where to start. There is just so much to choose from.

I have looked a bit around the internet and the Ultimate Marvel series might look interesting. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

If you want to read X-Men specifically, the Ultimate titles are a good place to start, since they don't have as much continuity bringing them down. You can buy trades that take you up to the most recent issue, and they're well-written.

If you're interesting in reading good comics that aren't necessarily X-Men, well, there's alot to choose from, depending on what genre you like:

Superhero: Supreme Power, by J Michael Strazacantspellsky
Horror: Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman
Topical: V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore or anything by Greg Rucka
Pretty Art: Batman: Hush, by Jim Lee
My recommendation: Ultimates by Mark Millar or Authority #1-12 by Warren Ellis -- both have the same artist, who is absolutley amazing.

All have Trades and Hardcover compilations available from Amazon.com.

[stevew]

I'm doubting they killed off Storm, but if she were to die, the franchise would be heading in the right direction.

[Franklinnoble]

I've got a spoilerific review over here:

http://www.digitalstadium.org/smf/index.php?topic=279

[Northwood_DK]

If you want to read X-Men specifically, the Ultimate titles are a good place to start, since they don't have as much continuity bringing them down. You can buy trades that take you up to the most recent issue, and they're well-written.

If you're interesting in reading good comics that aren't necessarily X-Men, well, there's alot to choose from, depending on what genre you like:

Superhero: Supreme Power, by J Michael Strazacantspellsky
Horror: Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman
Topical: V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore or anything by Greg Rucka
Pretty Art: Batman: Hush, by Jim Lee
My recommendation: Ultimates by Mark Millar or Authority #1-12 by Warren Ellis -- both have the same artist, who is absolutley amazing.

All have Trades and Hardcover compilations available from Amazon.com.

Thanks for the advice. I just placed my order with Amazon so hopefully I have my two first books in about a week.


1 "Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1"
Mark Millar; Hardcover;

1 "Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2"
Mark Millar; Hardcover;

[Neon_Chaos]

Ulitmate X-Men is good. It's basically very similar to X-Men Evolution, the cartoon series. Not sure if UXM was the basis of XMEN Evo, or the other way around... but it's pretty good.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think Famke Janssen is so hot, and she's 40! Incredible.

Couldn't agree more. I've been a huge fan since I saw her in that James Bond movie. I made a mistake once talking about some Hollywood starlet with Lady H_B. Lady H_B commented that this starlet (I forget who) was attractive and my reply was "She's no Famke Janssen." I have yet to live that one down.

[Honolulu_Blue]

But, is the return of Superman worth the Bad x-men movie?

No. Superman is boring. X-Men rule. Though I still love "Superman 2." One of the finest sequels out there (along with "Empire" and "Aliens"). I love General Zod. There is none higher.

[GrantDawg]

I liked it alright. There were definite plot holes, and I agree with the lack of emotion in the deaths. But it is a super-hero movie, not Shakespeare.


I didn't stay past the credits, so I'm pissed. I hate when movies pull crap like that.

[WVUFAN]

Between 41 and 43 million dollars in sales for Friday alone. Second biggest one-day total for an opening movie in history, second only to Star Wars Episode I.

Not bad.

[IwasHere]

Between 41 and 43 million dollars in sales for Friday alone. Second biggest one-day total for an opening movie in history, second only to Star Wars Episode I.

Not bad.
Where are you getting this info from? I am thinking The Hedge will beat The Code this extended weekend for 2nd place.

[WVUFAN]

Where are you getting this info from? I am thinking The Hedge will beat The Code this extended weekend for 2nd place.

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71963

The box office data is from http://www.showbizdata.com/dailybox.cfm

Friday Box Office:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#eeeeee height=25><TD>No</TD><TD>Title</TD><TD>Distributor</TD><TD align=right>Scrns</TD><TD noWrap align=right>Daily Gross</TD><TD align=right>Avg</TD><TD noWrap align=right> Change </TD><TD align=middle>Total Gross</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR height=30><TD align=right>1. </TD><TD>X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=%20X%2DMEN%3A%20THE%20LAST%20STAND&id=240395&myear=2006)</TD><TD>20TH CENTURY FOX (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=20TH%20CENTURY%20FOX&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,689</TD><TD align=right>44,520,000</TD><TD align=right>12,068</TD><TD align=right>n/a </TD><TD align=right>44,520,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>2. </TD><TD>DA VINCI CODE (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=DA%20VINCI%20CODE&id=238622&myear=2006)</TD><TD>SONY (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=SONY&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,754</TD><TD align=right>10,190,000</TD><TD align=right>2,714</TD><TD align=right>-65% </TD><TD align=right>112,632,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>3. </TD><TD>OVER THE HEDGE (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=OVER%20THE%20HEDGE&id=196453&myear=2006)</TD><TD>PARAMOUNT (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=PARAMOUNT&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>4,093</TD><TD align=right>7,586,000</TD><TD align=right>1,853</TD><TD align=right>-29% </TD><TD align=right>56,748,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>4. </TD><TD>MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 - MI3 (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=MISSION%3A%20IMPOSSIBLE%203%20%2D%20MI3&id=234725&myear=2006)</TD><TD>PARAMOUNT (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=PARAMOUNT&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,053</TD><TD align=right>1,989,000</TD><TD align=right>651</TD><TD align=right>-41% </TD><TD align=right>109,265,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>5. </TD><TD>POSEIDON (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=POSEIDON&id=240329&myear=2006)</TD><TD>WARNER BROS. (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=WARNER%20BROS%2E&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,245</TD><TD align=right>1,661,000</TD><TD align=right>512</TD><TD align=right>-43% </TD><TD align=right>41,303,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>6. </TD><TD>RV (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=RV&id=236075&myear=2006)</TD><TD>SONY (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=SONY&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>2,481</TD><TD align=right>1,100,000</TD><TD align=right>443</TD><TD align=right>-18% </TD><TD align=right>52,951,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>7. </TD><TD>SEE NO EVIL (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=SEE%20NO%20EVIL&id=241994&myear=2006)</TD><TD>LIONS GATE (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=LIONS%20GATE&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>1,270</TD><TD align=right>775,000</TD><TD align=right>610</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>6,741,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>8. </TD><TD>JUST MY LUCK (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=JUST%20MY%20LUCK&id=235641&myear=2006)</TD><TD>20TH CENTURY FOX (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=20TH%20CENTURY%20FOX&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>1,604</TD><TD align=right>534,000</TD><TD align=right>333</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>12,172,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>9. </TD><TD>AMERICAN HAUNTING, AN (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=AMERICAN%20HAUNTING%2C%20AN&id=241711&myear=2006)</TD><TD>FREESTYLE (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=FREESTYLE&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>748</TD><TD align=right>210,000</TD><TD align=right>281</TD><TD align=right>-60% </TD><TD align=right>14,159,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>10. </TD><TD>UNITED 93 (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=UNITED%2093&id=242869&myear=2006)</TD><TD>UNIVERSAL (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=UNIVERSAL&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>769</TD><TD align=right>199,000</TD><TD align=right>259</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>29,037,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[saldana]

Saw it this afternoon....i thought the diversions from the real xmen ethos were a bit too much, as i found myself sitting there whispering to my friend about how stupid different things they did were. i agree that the GG bridge was totally about the effects shot and completely unnecessary.

the last scene before the credits and the 30 seconds after were total setups for x4 as well.

[Young Drachma]

Saw it tonight. It was entertaining.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Saw it this afternoon....i thought the diversions from the real xmen ethos were a bit too much, as i found myself sitting there whispering to my friend about how stupid different things they did were. i agree that the GG bridge was totally about the effects shot and completely unnecessary.

the last scene before the credits and the 30 seconds after were total setups for x4 as well.

Given Friday's haul, a wise move on Fox's part. Not making an X-Men 4 after this opening weekend would be Fox's second most stupid move of all time. The first, of course, being its decision to fuck "Firefly" over time and time again until they cancelled it.

I'll be going to see X-Men tomorrow.

[Swaggs]

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71963

The box office data is from http://www.showbizdata.com/dailybox.cfm

Friday Box Office:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#eeeeee height=25><TD>No</TD><TD>Title</TD><TD>Distributor</TD><TD align=right>Scrns</TD><TD noWrap align=right>Daily Gross</TD><TD align=right>Avg</TD><TD noWrap align=right> Change </TD><TD align=middle>Total Gross</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR height=30><TD align=right>1. </TD><TD>X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=%20X%2DMEN%3A%20THE%20LAST%20STAND&id=240395&myear=2006)</TD><TD>20TH CENTURY FOX (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=20TH%20CENTURY%20FOX&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,689</TD><TD align=right>44,520,000</TD><TD align=right>12,068</TD><TD align=right>n/a </TD><TD align=right>44,520,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>2. </TD><TD>DA VINCI CODE (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=DA%20VINCI%20CODE&id=238622&myear=2006)</TD><TD>SONY (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=SONY&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,754</TD><TD align=right>10,190,000</TD><TD align=right>2,714</TD><TD align=right>-65% </TD><TD align=right>112,632,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>3. </TD><TD>OVER THE HEDGE (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=OVER%20THE%20HEDGE&id=196453&myear=2006)</TD><TD>PARAMOUNT (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=PARAMOUNT&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>4,093</TD><TD align=right>7,586,000</TD><TD align=right>1,853</TD><TD align=right>-29% </TD><TD align=right>56,748,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>4. </TD><TD>MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 - MI3 (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=MISSION%3A%20IMPOSSIBLE%203%20%2D%20MI3&id=234725&myear=2006)</TD><TD>PARAMOUNT (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=PARAMOUNT&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,053</TD><TD align=right>1,989,000</TD><TD align=right>651</TD><TD align=right>-41% </TD><TD align=right>109,265,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>5. </TD><TD>POSEIDON (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=POSEIDON&id=240329&myear=2006)</TD><TD>WARNER BROS. (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=WARNER%20BROS%2E&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>3,245</TD><TD align=right>1,661,000</TD><TD align=right>512</TD><TD align=right>-43% </TD><TD align=right>41,303,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>6. </TD><TD>RV (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=RV&id=236075&myear=2006)</TD><TD>SONY (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=SONY&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>2,481</TD><TD align=right>1,100,000</TD><TD align=right>443</TD><TD align=right>-18% </TD><TD align=right>52,951,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>7. </TD><TD>SEE NO EVIL (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=SEE%20NO%20EVIL&id=241994&myear=2006)</TD><TD>LIONS GATE (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=LIONS%20GATE&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>1,270</TD><TD align=right>775,000</TD><TD align=right>610</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>6,741,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>8. </TD><TD>JUST MY LUCK (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=JUST%20MY%20LUCK&id=235641&myear=2006)</TD><TD>20TH CENTURY FOX (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=20TH%20CENTURY%20FOX&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>1,604</TD><TD align=right>534,000</TD><TD align=right>333</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>12,172,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>9. </TD><TD>AMERICAN HAUNTING, AN (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=AMERICAN%20HAUNTING%2C%20AN&id=241711&myear=2006)</TD><TD>FREESTYLE (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=FREESTYLE&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>748</TD><TD align=right>210,000</TD><TD align=right>281</TD><TD align=right>-60% </TD><TD align=right>14,159,000</TD></TR><TR height=30><TD align=right>10. </TD><TD>UNITED 93 (http://www.showbizdata.com/getdaily.cfm?country=Domestic&gettitle=UNITED%2093&id=242869&myear=2006)</TD><TD>UNIVERSAL (http://www.showbizdata.com/distribrep.cfm?distributor=UNIVERSAL&year=2006&month=5)</TD><TD align=right>769</TD><TD align=right>199,000</TD><TD align=right>259</TD><TD align=right>-53% </TD><TD align=right>29,037,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Man, it is hard to believe that RV is going to outgross Poseiden and United 93.

[Swaggs]

And, by the way, I saw X3 yesterday and both my wife and I enjoyed it. A good, Summer, action film.

[MikeVic]

I'll assume we can post spoilers, and will do so in my post. Ignore if you don't want to read.






















Just saw it last night. Was overall entertained, but will echo some of the other issues people have brought up. Seemed too short for what they wanted to do. The first death was just weird.. like, you don't know they're dead until later. Xavier's death was done well though I thought.

They could have used more time to develop some of the other mutants. I had no idea Psylocke was there until Neon said she was. Did they mention her name at all in the movie?

One thing that irked me about the change they made in the Phoenix story is that at the end of the second movie, there was a fire Phoenix bird in the water... to me, this hinted at the Phoenix force, but the actual one... not the split personality one. I'm ok with changes to the comics, but it seemed like they changed what they wanted to do from the end of the 2nd movie to the beginning of the 3rd.

Also, with the group of people I went with, I was the only one that didn't see the chess piece move at the end. I guess I blinked or something... I thought Magneto losing his powers was a suiting end to the trilogy, but I was wrong. :P

With the bonus footage at the end, it seems like Xavier can also be a bad guy, or at least a darker character in future movies. He seemed like an ass to Wolverine when Jean escaped, and then seemed like he went against his own ethics at the end there...

[vex]

I also saw X3 last night and I LOVED it.

[saldana]

i guess i should have actually said this in my first post, but we did enjoy the movie...i think the less you know about the comics, the more you will enjoy the movie...my wife and my sister both thought it was very good, and they know very little about the back story

i agree with the things people are saying about developing the other mutants....we were wondering the whole time if the group of mutants in the church were supposed to be the morlocks, and i dont think they ever said that the girl that could run real fast was Callisto

[dervack]

To MikeVic,

I think why it seems like they changed how the wanted to do the Phoenix storyline was probably due to the fact that Brett Ratner wanted to go in a different direction than Bryan Singer. That would be my guess. 107 million this weekend is a pretty good haul for the movie.

[kingfc22]

Saw the movie the other night and I was not impressed. X2 was much better IMO.

I'm not a comic book guy so I didn't even know who the bad guys were. Was I supposed to be afraid of porcupine boy?

[MrBigglesworth]

SPOILERS....














Also, with the group of people I went with, I was the only one that didn't see the chess piece move at the end. I guess I blinked or something... I thought Magneto losing his powers was a suiting end to the trilogy, but I was wrong. :P
What was with that chess piece moving? Was it supposed to mean that magneto might get his powers back? Or were we supposed to pity/laugh at him because his once mighty powers that could move bridges were reduced to rocking a chess piece back and forth?

[korme]

I liked it alot. The final fight scene was so bad ass. Also, Rebecca Romijn nude (but covering the bits) was nice.

THe only part I'm pissed about is NO NIGHTCRAWLER, ugh

[Swaggs]

Spoilers....



SPOILERS....















What was with that chess piece moving? Was it supposed to mean that magneto might get his powers back? Or were we supposed to pity/laugh at him because his once mighty powers that could move bridges were reduced to rocking a chess piece back and forth?

I think it is open to interpretation. The choices being, either that his powers had been severely limited OR that the vaccine fades after time with the mutants getting their powers back (which seems to be consistent with the mutant-boy's powers).

[Franklinnoble]

Spoilers....





I think it is open to interpretation. The choices being, either that his powers had been severely limited OR that the vaccine fades after time with the mutants getting their powers back (which seems to be consistent with the mutant-boy's powers).

Agree with the latter point. Remember, the "cure" was just starting human tests with Angel, so it's not like they have a few years of clinical history to work with here. I could see it very likely that the "cured" mutants gradually revert back to form, which would be better for the series.

[vex]

I liked it alot. The final fight scene was so bad ass. Also, Rebecca Romijn nude (but covering the bits) was nice.

THe only part I'm pissed about is NO NIGHTCRAWLER, ugh

Agree on all parts.

[Anthony]

what was the bonus footage about. they really have to give some indication to stay after the credits - movie tickets are costing so much these days that to cheat me out of my money is sacrilege. yes, it goes against God. someone tell me what happened.just because of this nonsense i'm not going to buy this movie on DVD. i wasn't that impressed with this movie anyway so it's not like a must-buy for me.

[Chief Rum]

Well, don't know if I agree with everything else HA said, but I do want to know what the heck the last scene showed. And I can't afford to go see it again (nor do I want to, although I enjoyed it).

Could someone please describe what happens in the last scene after the credits? Thanks.

[Tigercat]

***Spoiler after the movie ending***
















Shows a woman, apparently playing the doctor to the mutants from the comic book, Moira Mctaggert (although in the movie-verse she may just be a regular person doctor), standing over the guy in a coma mentioned earlier in the movie. Suddenly you hear Professor X's voice say "Hello, Moira." She responds back "Charles..?" Immediate fade to black.

[Chief Rum]

Oh wow...yeah, that is huge. And certainly presents an interesting view of Xavier's character in light of that ethical issue as well as the issue raised with his decision to what he did to Jean Grey.

[MikeVic]

Oh wow...yeah, that is huge. And certainly presents an interesting view of Xavier's character in light of that ethical issue as well as the issue raised with his decision to what he did to Jean Grey.

Exactly. I want to see what they do with his character in the next movie.

[DanGarion]

We saw this Saturday night. I guess my feelings are as an action flick I really enjoyed it. But there are parts I really liked and some parts that I disliked.

The CGI at times was VERY lacking and looked too fake. And at times the movie was sort of just silly.

But it was worth seeing and enjoyable overall.

[Anthony]

1. they didn't really do Beast justice. Grammar as beast nailed the sond of the voice that i always thought Beast would have. but him fighting in the last battle of the movie - that was not representative of the way i assumed Beast could fight. Beast's powers are above-average strength and super-human agility. he has quadruple dexerity, meaning he can do two things at once with his hands or tie a knot with this toes.

2. Kitty Pryde was a waste of a X-Man. she has stupid powers - NIghtcrawler would have fit in TONS better.

3. as mentioned earlier - Juggernaut is not a mutant. Psylocke was part of the XMan. It seems the writers added in villains to the brotherhood of mutants for specific plot devices, like that guy who could replicate himself was only good for tricking the army troops into thinking there was a big group of mutants.

4. they needed to show Wolverine's "berserker rage". that berserker rage is one of his "abilities", that even if the odds are against him he could go to that dark place inside him and attack with ferocious abandon. they needed to play up that aspect of Wolverine and they didn't do it at all in any of these movies. Wolverine is supposed to be an uncontrollable outcast incapable of being completely tamed, not some smarmy wise-ass who hates authority.

5. they need to have a "Marvel-Universe" movie, with all the character that have had a movie. Hulk, Spider-man, X-Men, Daredevil. that'd be awesome.

[Joe]

5. they need to have a "Marvel-Universe" movie, with all the character that have had a movie. Hulk, Spider-man, X-Men, Daredevil. that'd be awesome.


But Daredevil and Hulk sucked.

[DanGarion]

But Daredevil and Hulk sucked.
HULK SMASH!

[Anthony]

But Daredevil and Hulk sucked.

the movies sucked, but the characters themselves are still awesome. you can add in Punisher and the Fantastic Four to the Marvel Univserse movie.

it'd be ridiculous to have all those characters in one movie against a mega villain, like Apocalypse.

[Joe]

the movies sucked, but the characters themselves are still awesome. you can add in Punisher and the Fantastic Four to the Marvel Univserse movie.

it'd be ridiculous to have all those characters in one movie against a mega villain, like Apocalypse.

I could see it working if they kicked out Ben Affleck.

[Honolulu_Blue]

4. they needed to show Wolverine's "berserker rage". that berserker rage is one of his "abilities", that even if the odds are against him he could go to that dark place inside him and attack with ferocious abandon. they needed to play up that aspect of Wolverine and they didn't do it at all in any of these movies. Wolverine is supposed to be an uncontrollable outcast incapable of being completely tamed, not some smarmy wise-ass who hates authority.

I thought they handled his "berserker rage" pretty well in X-2 when the school was attacked. I still love that scene.

[Blade6119]

One day, someone will realize that gambit MUST be in one of these...

[Joe]

One day, someone will realize that gambit MUST be in one of these...

there was a scene filmed with him in X2, but it got cut from the film

[Honolulu_Blue]

One day, someone will realize that gambit MUST be in one of these...

I think he'd be a tough character to pull off. The difference between cool and laughably bad with him is very, very small indeed.

[Tigercat]

A buffed up Harry Connick Jr. could be a perfect Gambit if his heart was in it. And his powers could be pulled off easily on the big screen, you just need to find substitutes for those cards.

I would have thought Beast and Nightcrawler would have been harder to pull of on the big screen, and they came out well.

[Joe]

Was gambit in this movie? I read on a site that:

"there is one scene in the movie in which Magneto addresses the brotherhood and a man in quite similar fashion to Gambit can be seen standing behind Juggernaut and Kid Omega."

Was that someone else?

[Tigercat]

Didn't notice anyone that looked like Gambit. But then again, there is a credit for a guy playing Omega Red in the movie too, and I don't remember him being in the movie either.

[Honolulu_Blue]

A buffed up Harry Connick Jr. could be a perfect Gambit if his heart was in it. And his powers could be pulled off easily on the big screen, you just need to find substitutes for those cards.

I would have thought Beast and Nightcrawler would have been harder to pull of on the big screen, and they came out well.

I wasn't referring to pulling the character off in a technical sense, but more in a character sense. Between the accent and the "attitude", I could see him coming off quite poorly on screen. Power-wise, it'd be pretty easy.

[Franklinnoble]

Honestly, I never cared for Gambit. I'd prefer Longshot.

[IMetTrentGreen]

gambit was my favorite on the old cartoon, and the sega game.

anyway, did anyone else think it was odd that none of the 'pawns' rushing into battle at alcatraz exhibited any powers other than the uncanny ability to run directly into beastfrazier's fists?

[Swaggs]

Next time you are bored at work, check out X-Men on Wikipedia. It explained a ton of stuff about the "mythology" and lineup/character changes behind the comic.

[ScottVib]

I thought the movie was mediocre. First it seemed way too rushed.. they could have done a lot more with the story line and developed it a lot more fully.

Secondly I thought the stuff with Magneto during the battle ran completely contrary to what the X-Men would have stood for and really didn't make sense.

[Franklinnoble]

Secondly I thought the stuff with Magneto during the battle ran completely contrary to what the X-Men would have stood for and really didn't make sense.

Why?

[ScottVib]

Why?

I would have thought they would be against the use of the weapon, even in that case, but what do I know.

[Franklinnoble]

I would have thought they would be against the use of the weapon, even in that case, but what do I know.

Well, in the comic books, at one point, Xavier basically blocks Magneto's memory, and makes him sort of a "good" guy for a while. Which is similar, it seems, to what he did to Jean Grey in X3. So, I think knowing that Magneto is such a huge threat, it doesn't seem contrary to their general morality to strip him of his powers. Heck, they're certainly not above using deadly force when necessary - this is something of a bit of restraint. It's not like Beast "cured" him, and then broke his neck and said "Ha ha, pwned, bi-atch!"

(although, that might have been kinda funny)

[Neon_Chaos]

gambit was my favorite on the old cartoon, and the sega game.

anyway, did anyone else think it was odd that none of the 'pawns' rushing into battle at alcatraz exhibited any powers other than the uncanny ability to run directly into beastfrazier's fists?

That's because the pawns were level 3 mutants and below. No exceptional powers to speak of.

As for Omega Red, he does make an appearance. He was Kid Omega, the guy with the spikes all over his body.

Spike and Phat (from X-Static) made cameos. Phat was the fat guy who morphed and sat on the pew. Spike was the guy who was fighting with Wolverine with thos wood-like spikes.

Oh, and from www.IMDB.com

- Josh Holloway was offered the role of Gambit, but turned it down because the character was too similar to his character on "Lost" (2004). As a result, the character was never added to the film since this would have been a special cameo put in later had Josh decided to sign on.

[Neon_Chaos]

dola.

- Bryan Singer was supposed to direct and co-write the film's script, but when he was given the offer to take over the problematic Superman Returns (2006) from Brett Ratner, he left the project, taking with him most of the production staff, including composer and editor John Ottman, cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, writers Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris, and production designer Guy Dyas. (Singer has maintained in interviews that he would have loved to have gladly done this movie after completing the "Superman" project, but 20th Century Fox chose to continue without him.) Layer Cake (2004) director Matthew Vaughn then stepped into the director's chair, overseeing the script and production, only to leave 9 weeks before filming, unable to commit to the year-long production schedule which would keep him away from his family in England. In an odd twist of fate, Brett Ratner filled the vacated position. Coincidentally, Ratner was also a contender to direct X-Men (2000) before Singer got the job.

Fuck FOX. X-Men 3 could have been an epic end to the trilogy had they allowed Singer the leeway to direct it. But instead they chose to trap him and set a release date already. Singer took EVERYONE with him. And left X3 to the shitmakers.

[cthomer5000]

Enjoyable movie. I have to think anyone who liked the first two would enjoy this one.

I'm annoyed I didn't stay around for teh end of the credits, but that's a gay move on their part anyway.

***spoilers below***

I'm glad i'm laregely ignorant of the comic books, because I don't have to constantly compare the two. I thought the movie was solid overall with a couple unnecssary special-effects moments (the golden gate bridge... totally impracticle and unncessary from the mutants' perspetive).

I was pretty stunned by the body count and damage to major characters. You've got 3 characters dead and another 3 major ones "healed" by the end of the film. Even if Xavier is back in some other form, i'm surprised at the amount of damage done.

And Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde) is hot.

[cthomer5000]

Fuck FOX. X-Men 3 could have been an epic end to the trilogy had they allowed Singer the leeway to direct it. But instead they chose to trap him and set a release date already. Singer took EVERYONE with him. And left X3 to the shitmakers.

I don't think it's quite so simple. You have to remember that there a great number of notable actors involved with X-Men. If you need to push the movie back for a director, you may end up doubling or tripling that wait time while everyone gets their schedules aligned again.

All things considered Ratner did a better job than I expected. I assume he'd be back for the next one (which i think they'll make, given the box office numbers) since Singer probably burned some bridges and is already attached to another Superman movie.

[cthomer5000]

I would have thought they would be against the use of the weapon, even in that case, but what do I know.

That was the way I felt.. I was pretty surprised that they made that decision with what seemed to be a fair amount of ease.

[Franklinnoble]

That was the way I felt.. I was pretty surprised that they made that decision with what seemed to be a fair amount of ease.

I don't get this.

For starters, Wolverine has a huge bodycount in all three films... so, taking Magneto's powers away hardly seems out of character.

The other three X-men involved (Beast, Storm, and Colossus) are all aware of the following history:

1. Magneto tried to kill Xavier in X1. He also tried to kill Rogue. All while trying to "mutate" most of the world's leaders, with fatal side effects.
2. In X2, he leaves Xavier for dead while "programming" him to kill every non-mutant on the planet.
3. In X3, he does nothing while Jean Grey kills Xavier. In fact, he basically goads her into it. And let's not even talk about the property damage in this movie.

So, basically, any sane person would argue that Magneto is a terrorist of the highest order, and should be put to death. I really don't see any moral dilemma in disarming him. Like I said, I would have been fine with Beast or Wolverine even killing him off at that point. The dude deserved it.

[law90026]

2. Kitty Pryde was a waste of a X-Man. she has stupid powers - NIghtcrawler would have fit in TONS better.



Actually, Kitty Pryde's powers have been portrayed to be incredibly awesome. If I remember right, she has shown the ability to kill people with her powers. Also, when she phases, she disrupts electronics. In fact, when she phased through the world, she disrupted the entire world's eco-system (again if I remember right). Of course, they didn't portray any of this in the movie at all.

[cthomer5000]

I don't get this.

For starters, Wolverine has a huge bodycount in all three films... so, taking Magneto's powers away hardly seems out of character.

The other three X-men involved (Beast, Storm, and Colossus) are all aware of the following history:

1. Magneto tried to kill Xavier in X1. He also tried to kill Rogue. All while trying to "mutate" most of the world's leaders, with fatal side effects.
2. In X2, he leaves Xavier for dead while "programming" him to kill every non-mutant on the planet.
3. In X3, he does nothing while Jean Grey kills Xavier. In fact, he basically goads her into it. And let's not even talk about the property damage in this movie.

So, basically, any sane person would argue that Magneto is a terrorist of the highest order, and should be put to death. I really don't see any moral dilemma in disarming him. Like I said, I would have been fine with Beast or Wolverine even killing him off at that point. The dude deserved it.
I think for those of us viewing it my way, we see that the X-men have all clearly stood on higher moral ground than Magento's crew. And it wasn't just a solo Wolverine decision, they all kind of looked at each other before going ahead with it. I dunno, it just seems akin to pulling out a gun in the middle of a samurai sword fight.... totally dishonorable even if justified.

[DanGarion]

And Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde) is hot.
Yeah and what like 14?

[Joe]

Yeah and what like 14?

She's 19 dude.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680983/

[DanGarion]

She's 19 dude.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680983/
Yeah but she sure doesn't look it in the movie.

[Tigercat]

As for Omega Red, he does make an appearance. He was Kid Omega, the guy with the spikes all over his body.


Kid Omega and Omega Red are two different peeps, and two different actors are accredited to the two different roles.

[Joe]

Omega Red is a communist

[IwasHere]

MSNBC is reporting that X-Men's 44 million on friday is the most money ever made on friday.


No way in hell do we not get a sequal now. :)

[BrianD]

What was so bad about the Golden Gate bridge scene? I'm usually the first to complain about FX just for the sake of FX, but this didn't strike me as so terrible. It did get everyone to the island and it worked to shock and awe those already on the island. Nobody would shoot down a bridge like the might boats, and it seemed like a grand enough move for a villian mastermind. In this context, I thought it was rather reasonable.

[SFL Cat]

I thought the whole movie was rather - meh -

[Franklinnoble]

Actually, Kitty Pryde's powers have been portrayed to be incredibly awesome. If I remember right, she has shown the ability to kill people with her powers. Also, when she phases, she disrupts electronics. In fact, when she phased through the world, she disrupted the entire world's eco-system (again if I remember right). Of course, they didn't portray any of this in the movie at all.

Yeah, I was also a little disappointed in how they used her. I seem to recall that when she phases through people, it generally stuns them. And when she left Juggernaut in the floor like that, it should have been fatal (which would have been kind of cool... the mighty Juggernaut wasted in short order by a little girl).

[Qwikshot]

Where were the wondertwins?

[MrBigglesworth]

That joke assumes Chuck Norris can die.

[Groundhog]

Finally saw this last night. Overall, I liked it - though not as much as the 2nd one.

I too read the comics growing up, but had no real problem with the changes as I understand they only have a limited amount of minutes and can't really flesh out the silly sci-fi story behind Phoenix.

Was that really Psylocke though? I could swear in one scene that the purple haired chick phases through a wall? Maybe I saw it wrong.

*** SPOILERS ***
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There is no way that Cyclops is dead. When the scene happened in the film I was like "there is no way they would treat it so... fast. He can't be dead." You don't actually see him die, just Phoenix kiss him and start sapping his life. And then with the "Xavier is still alive" scene at the end, I refuse to believe he is dead.

I definately took the final scene with Magneto to mean that his powers were coming back. Like someone said earlier though, I sort of wish they hadn't, as I found the image of him as an old man sitting in a park with a chess board to be a very fitting end. It sort of reminded me of the end of Godfather 3.

[Groundhog]

What was so bad about the Golden Gate bridge scene? I'm usually the first to complain about FX just for the sake of FX, but this didn't strike me as so terrible. It did get everyone to the island and it worked to shock and awe those already on the island. Nobody would shoot down a bridge like the might boats, and it seemed like a grand enough move for a villian mastermind. In this context, I thought it was rather reasonable.

Magneto could have simply carried everyone over on any kind of metallic object, but I think in terms of "shock and awe" the Golden Bridge worked a treat.

[Vince]

I would think that even someone who hadn't followed the storyline of the comics would be disappointed with the short length of the movie, and the lack of a storyline behind many of the mutants. Someone said it best earlier...seemed very much like "generic evil mutant nos. 1, 2 and 3" for most of the movie. I mean, I can't remember one time hearing Kid Omega's name in the movie.

[cthomer5000]

I would think that even someone who hadn't followed the storyline of the comics would be disappointed with the short length of the movie, and the lack of a storyline behind many of the mutants. Someone said it best earlier...seemed very much like "generic evil mutant nos. 1, 2 and 3" for most of the movie. I mean, I can't remember one time hearing Kid Omega's name in the movie.

Yeah, they spent zero time developing the bad guys in this movie. Kitty Pryde on the other hand I guess got some screen time for the good guys.

Honestly, these movies could/should all probably be 3 hours, but then the studio can't squeeze as many viewings in and make as much money, etc...

[Swaggs]

Yeah, they spent zero time developing the bad guys in this movie. Kitty Pryde on the other hand I guess got some screen time for the good guys.

Honestly, these movies could/should all probably be 3 hours, but then the studio can't squeeze as many viewings in and make as much money, etc...

Don't forget the four waves of DVDs that will be released with various cuts and deleted scenes. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

***Spoiler after the movie ending***
















Shows a woman, apparently playing the doctor to the mutants from the comic book, Moira Mctaggert (although in the movie-verse she may just be a regular person doctor), standing over the guy in a coma mentioned earlier in the movie. Suddenly you hear Professor X's voice say "Hello, Moira." She responds back "Charles..?" Immediate fade to black.


I saw this with my wife tonight and we both enjoyed it.

As far as this scene, we stayed and watched it. I immediately thought it was Moira Mctaggert. I may very well be mis-remembering this, but wasn't there a storyline somewhere out there where Moira was able to communicate with those who were transferred to the astral plane? In any case, I'm wondering if Jean/Dark Phoenix really killed Cyclops, or if she just sent him and Xavier to the Astral plane and they are out there to be brought back.

Also, according to Wikipedia, it seems like there might be 2 different versions of the extra scene at the end of the movie? It mentions one brief extra scene, which is what I thought I saw tonight and it lasted maybe 40 seconds. Also, they mention a longer version in the novelized version of the movie? Here is the excerpt from Wikipedia:

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Moira is played by Olivia Williams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Williams) in brief appearances in the film X-Men: The Last Stand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_The_Last_Stand). She appears on a video talking about mutant ethics and what is considered right and wrong, and is seated next to Beast at the memorial service. After the film's ending credits she appears again for a brief scene. An alternate final scene with Moira is featured in the novelized version of the movie as the final portion of the epilogue.


Oh yeah, I'm quite sure the movie was 1 hour and 44 minutes since I noted the time at the beginning and the end. Anyway, we both enjoyed the movie :)

[Neon_Chaos]

Well, X-Men dropped off quickly after the hot 1st week start. People are finally realizing that the movie sucked ass.

[cthomer5000]

Well, X-Men dropped off quickly after the hot 1st week start. People are finally realizing that the movie sucked ass.

Just a matter of everyone who wanted to see it badly seeing it. It actually had a very strong 2nd week, and just barely got beat out by The Break Up.

[dervack]

Just a matter of everyone who wanted to see it badly seeing it. It actually had a very strong 2nd week, and just barely got beat out by The Break Up.
A 67% drop is a strong weeK?

[Groundhog]

Well, it did have a near-record setting opening week, didn't it? You have to expect a big drop after that I would think.

[cthomer5000]

A 67% drop is a strong weeK?

This logic is totally faulty.

1. That was one of the all-time great opening weeks.
2. That was a 4-day weekend.
3. It still had a very solid 2nd week.
4. It just got stacked up against the first movie of it's type in a while (romantic comedy).

You're making it a victim of it's own success.

[Honolulu_Blue]

This logic is totally faulty.

1. That was one of the all-time great opening weeks.
2. That was a 4-day weekend.
3. It still had a very solid 2nd week.
4. It just got stacked up against the first movie of it's type in a while (romantic comedy).

You're making it a victim of it's own success.

Exactly.

[Neon_Chaos]

I feel it's going to have a steep drop-off during Weeks 3-5.

[cthomer5000]

I feel it's going to have a steep drop-off during Weeks 3-5.

Just like every other movie. Any other bold predictions?

[Neon_Chaos]

Just like every other movie. Any other bold predictions?

Duh.

[MikeVic]

Well, X-Men dropped off quickly after the hot 1st week start. People are finally realizing that the movie sucked ass.

If I read correctly, you said: Thumbs in the middle, ever so slightly pointing up.
Why have you changed your mind to saying the movie sucked ass?

[Anthony]

in retrospect i, too, realized i didn't like the movie quite as much as i thought i did when i walked out the theater.

[Neon_Chaos]

I watched it again, just to force myself to change my mind. Most people said the movie was good.

Just to see if I just missed out and saw the movie in a different light... maybe it would be better. I left the theatre basically thinking that the movie really didn't do the series justice. If this was the "ending" of the trilogy, I was quite disappointed. It was too short, too... ugh, I don't know how to describe it.

I guess the movie was just... lacking. It was pure hype... and FOX did a great job on the hype machine. They're making mucho bucks off of it right now.

So now I'm feeling like I want my money back. :(

[revrew]

I don't understand all the hate for this film (keeping in mind, I grew up on Spiderman and never really got into the X-man comic books). I expected it would be a sci-fi action fight movie with some intriguing backstory...and that's exactly what it was. I enjoyed it just as much as the first 2 films. I knew NOTHING of Jean Gray/Phoenix, so that was all a fascinating twist for me. I also appreciated the Angel backstory. I was glad to see some die, as I hate watching heroes/villains get beat to crap and always get up again as if nothing happened (Wolverine being the obvious exception).

As for comparisons to Da Vinci...my gosh. Da Vinci was dull, laughable, and ridiculous. Talk about a product of overhype. X3 was at least entertaining.

[Neon_Chaos]

As for comparisons to Da Vinci...my gosh. Da Vinci was dull, laughable, and ridiculous. Talk about a product of overhype. X3 was at least entertaining.

I mostly blame the protesters. The movie was much ado about nothing. But all the noise from the extreme left and right was just too much free publicity.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I mostly blame the protesters. The movie was much ado about nothing. But all the noise from the extreme left and right was just too much free publicity.

Yeah, the "Da Vinci Code" was much ado about nothing, except for the fact that, you know, it was based on one of the most popular books. . . ever.

[spleen1015]

I was very disappointed by what they did the Jean Grey/Phoenix. Okay, she kills Professor X, then nothing else but die. Seriously, the woman is supposed to be all powerful so why didn't see take part in the battle at the end? It was silly that she just stood and watched.

[st.cronin]

Yeah, the "Da Vinci Code" was much ado about nothing, except for the fact that, you know, it was based on one of the most popular books. . . ever.

I think that's a ludicrous assertion.

[BrianD]

I was very disappointed by what they did the Jean Grey/Phoenix. Okay, she kills Professor X, then nothing else but die. Seriously, the woman is supposed to be all powerful so why didn't see take part in the battle at the end? It was silly that she just stood and watched.

She stood and watched at the beginning, but then liquified the X-Men jet and pretty much all of the non X-Men ground troops. I'd say she played a part.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think that's a ludicrous assertion.

What is?

[st.cronin]

What is?

Yeah, the "Da Vinci Code" was much ado about nothing, except for the fact that, you know, it was based on one of the most popular books. . . ever.

Bolded for clarification.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Bolded for clarification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code

It is a worldwide bestseller with more than 60.5 million copies in print (as of May 2006) and has been translated into 44 languages. It is thought to be the sixth biggest selling book of all time.

[Eaglesfan27]

She stood and watched at the beginning, but then liquified the X-Men jet and pretty much all of the non X-Men ground troops. I'd say she played a part.

Not to mention, she may have been struggling with the "good" Jean Grey personality.

[st.cronin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code

It is a worldwide bestseller with more than 60.5 million copies in print (as of May 2006) and has been translated into 44 languages. It is thought to be the sixth biggest selling book of all time.

best-selling is not the same thing as popular

How many people would name it their favorite book? How many people have read it multiple times?

It's a commercial success, yes. But not one of the most popular books ever.

[BrianD]

best-selling is not the same thing as popular

How many people would name it their favorite book? How many people have read it multiple times?

It's a commercial success, yes. But not one of the most popular books ever.

How is best-selling not the same things as popular? This book was so popular that nearly everyone went out and bought it. This book was so popular that a number of other authors felt the need to write books to refute this one. This book was so popular that there were documentaries and TV specials on for a long time, and there was a movie made that brought in buckets of cash. How was this not popular? It may not have been a literary masterpiece, but it was very popular.

[Honolulu_Blue]

best-selling is not the same thing as popular

How many people would name it their favorite book? How many people have read it multiple times?

It's a commercial success, yes. But not one of the most popular books ever.

Commercial success does, in fact, equate to popularity. Not a one-to-one equation, but closer than anything else out there. I think it is one hell of a good proxy for "popularity." Mayhap the best there is.

I would take commercial success as a better measure of popularity than going around and asking people "Is Da Vinci Code your favorite book?" "Have you read it? Multiple times?" (By the way, I reckon more people would answer "Yes" to both those questions than you'd think.)

Also, not only are the commercial sales of this book are great indicator of its "popularity", but look at all the other books it has spawned? Because of it, there came a whole slew of writing on Biblical puzzles, the life of Mary Magdalene, and some debunking of Brown's premise. What about the vacation tours? There's a freaking Fodor's Da Vinci Code Travel Guide.

Come on. Seriously. Accept it. The book is shite, but it's still one of the most popular novels, ever. The evidence is nigh overwhelming.

[st.cronin]

Commercial success does, in fact, equate to popularity. Not a one-to-one equation, but closer than anything else out there. I think it is one hell of a good proxy for "popularity." Mayhap the best there is.

I would take commercial success as a better measure of popularity than going around and asking people "Is Da Vinci Code your favorite book?" "Have you read it? Multiple times?" (By the way, I reckon more people would answer "Yes" to both those questions than you'd think.)

Also, not only are the commercial sales of this book are great indicator of its "popularity", but look at all the other books it has spawned? Because of it, there came a whole slew of writing on Biblical puzzles, the life of Mary Magdalene, and some debunking of Brown's premise. What about the vacation tours? There's a freaking Fodor's Da Vinci Code Travel Guide.

Come on. Seriously. Accept it. The book is shite, but it's still one of the most popular novels, ever. The evidence is nigh overwhelming.

It's nothing more nor less than the Jurassic Park of it's time. And Jurassic Park is NOT "one of the most popular novels, ever."

[dervack]

This logic is totally faulty.

1. That was one of the all-time great opening weeks.
2. That was a 4-day weekend.
3. It still had a very solid 2nd week.
4. It just got stacked up against the first movie of it's type in a while (romantic comedy).

You're making it a victim of it's own success.
Yes, but it went from being a predicted $275 million movie, to a $225 million movie because of that drop. You're right, most movies drop after the first weekend. But Over the Hedge didn't. The first 2 weeks, were almost exactly the same. And Da Vinci Code dropped 50%, and Mission Impossible dropped 50%.

[Crim]

It's nothing more nor less than the Jurassic Park of it's time. And Jurassic Park is NOT "one of the most popular novels, ever."

At first I thought you were on a Hair Splitting Expedition, but you seem to be veering into Eyes Shut Ears Plugged territory now. How can one deny that The Da Vinci Code (novel, that is) has exploded as a huge pop-culture phenomenon? Jurassic Park, for all the attention that it got, most certainly did not ignite the kind of firestorm (positive and negative) that Mr. Brown's latest work has. Boycotts, angry refutations (is that even a word?!?), rebuttals in print, on radio, on talk shows, and in churches. I'd say that more people have made a killing off of Dan Brown's success than with any other work of fiction I can think of. Walk into any major grocery store, peruse the paperback section, and you'll see 5 or 6 "unofficial" spin-offs of The Da Vinci Code.

Huge.

[cthomer5000]

Yes, but it went from being a predicted $275 million movie, to a $225 million movie because of that drop. You're right, most movies drop after the first weekend. But Over the Hedge didn't. The first 2 weeks, were almost exactly the same. And Da Vinci Code dropped 50%, and Mission Impossible dropped 50%.

Over the Hedge never hit #1 either. You will find more stability in movies that do not hit #1, every single time. Seriously, just watch the top 10 week in and week out. It's surprisingly predictable.

[st.cronin]

At first I thought you were on a Hair Splitting Expedition, but you seem to be veering into Eyes Shut Ears Plugged territory now. How can one deny that The Da Vinci Code (novel, that is) has exploded as a huge pop-culture phenomenon? Jurassic Park, for all the attention that it got, most certainly did not ignite the kind of firestorm (positive and negative) that Mr. Brown's latest work has. Boycotts, angry refutations (is that even a word?!?), rebuttals in print, on radio, on talk shows, and in churches. I'd say that more people have made a killing off of Dan Brown's success than with any other work of fiction I can think of. Walk into any major grocery store, peruse the paperback section, and you'll see 5 or 6 "unofficial" spin-offs of The Da Vinci Code.

Huge.

I agree that it's huge, and this is largely a semantic difference, but to call it one of the most popular novels EVER puts it on a plane with books like Lord of the Rings, Catcher in the Rye, Pride and Prejudice, etc. I don't think it's one of those books - that's my point.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I finally saw X-3 last night. I thought it was all right. I enjoyed it well enough. There is plenty to criticize, but over all I was pretty pleased with it. I thought it was better than the first movie, but not as good as X-2.

The Action Scenes:

The action scenes, for the most part, felt like they were taken right from the pages of a comic book. Smashing through walls, people getting flung all over the place, etc, etc. The best action sequence was the fight at Jean Grey's house. The struggle between Xavier and Jean Grey was great as were the Juggernaught v. Wolverine and Callisto v. Storm fights. It was a lot of fun that scene.

I liked the Danger Room sequence too. I thought it worked nicely and there was a good use of powers: Colossus grabbing Rogue so that she adopted his metal skin, Iceman freezing the one chunk of debris and then Kitty phasing him for the second, and, of course, the "fastball special". You gotta love the fastball special.

Wolverine's fight in the forest was quite good as well.

The final battle was pretty good, but as mentioned above I would have liked to see more morlocks/brotherhood of evil mutants actually, well, be mutants. Most of their mutant powers seemed to be the ability to wear rags and run head long into battle. Some could "leap", but that's about it. I understand they were weaker mutants, but give them something. Burning hands, a tail, tentacles for arms, different skin. . . Something. There was the guy with the re-growing arms, Callisto, the dude who clung to things, Arclight, Kid Omega, and...? In any event, I thought it was probably the best "final battle" of any of the three movies.

While I enjoyed those scenes, I don't think any of them really matched the coolness factor or style of Nightcrawler's attack on the president and the attack on the school in X-2. Those two were the best action sequences of the trilogy.

Characters:

I know one complaint has been they introduced too many characters and didn't develop them well enough. While there certainly could have been more character development (given the short running time), I felt like they did a decent job with most. Maybe it was my familiarity with the comics, but I think they did a fine job with The Beast (excellent, as a matter of fact), Kitty Pryde was great too. Colossus just sort of hung around in the background (and pretty much disappeared for most of the "final battle", which sucked), but so be it. Angel served his purpose. He was pretty lame, but the character did what he was there to do. Show the struggle of the "cure".

As for the villians, they perhaps could have done more with the Morlocks as a group, but I didn't think we would have gained a lot by knowing all that more about any one of them. I think between Mystique, Magneto, Dark Phoenix, and Pyro the villians had plenty of character.

I've never been a Scott Summers/Cyclops fan, ever, but I really feel bad for him. He had some decent screen-time in the first movie, but he was barely in X-2 and had like two scenes in X-3. That said, I thought he was great in all of them. It was a bit of a waste to bump him off like that. I guess they sort of had to do it to elevate Storm (this was by far Halle Barry's best performance in all three movies) to leadership and give her something to do besides look silly and act poorly.

The regulars were all solid. Storm was at her best. Iceman was great, as was Rogue. Hugh Jackman is nigh perfect as Wolverine. Famke Janssens, well, I can't judge her subjectively. The Phoenix effects were quite good. Both Professor X and Magneto were fantastic. I really liked what they did with Pyro as well. The kid pulled it off nicely. Mystique was great. I thought the Juggernaught was fine. His appearance and effects worked for me.

The dialogue was pretty attrocious. I would say around 50% of all the dialogue in the film was one-liners or the exchange of one-liners. A few scattered here and there works just fine, but you just can't have that many. It's stupid.

The movie could have been better, for sure. No doubt. I certainly didn't think it sucked or was attrocious. Too many fun scenes in there for that. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

[Anthony]

there was no need for Collosus to allow Rogue to use his powers - part of her powers is she's invulnerable. she can also fly. the movies only showcased her power-stealing abilities.

[Honolulu_Blue]

there was no need for Collosus to allow Rogue to use his powers - part of her powers is she's invulnerable. she can also fly. the movies only showcased her power-stealing abilities.

The only reason Rogue is invulenerable and can fly was because a long time ago (when she was "bad") she permanently stole Marvel Girl's (Carol Danvers) powers. Before that all she could do was steal powers. Clearly that is the Rogue that was portrayed in the movies.

Class dismissed.

[Franklinnoble]

The only reason Rogue is invulenerable and can fly was because a long time ago (when she was "bad") she permanently stole Marvel Girl's (Carol Danvers) powers. Before that all she could do was steal powers. Clearly that is the Rogue that was portrayed in the movies.

Class dismissed.

True. And I think the comic book Rogue is too powerful. She's basically Superman with the addition of being able to steal powers, and without the kryptonite. I was always kind of glad they left her without that bit. Comic Book Rogue would make most of the movies pointless... she could just fly around and beat the crap out of everybody.

[Tigercat]

Thats why you have to have just really really evil or crazy thoughts, that way when Rouge touches you she freaks out, lets out a girly scream, and faints. Its amazing how Rogue joined the team as a badass, and over the years the only kryptonite they could find for her(besides stripping her powers all together) is by making her one of the most emotionally vulnerable.

They could do that with the movie I suppose, the character has shown herself to be vulnerable in that way. But really, I have a hard time imagining anna paquin smashing through walls with her fist anway.

[Chubby]

I saw it yesterday and at the end.......






















































I think the chess piece definately wobbled a little bit to Magneto's power returning.

Also, it wasn't a "voice" calling out to Moria, it was Charles in that guys body as you see the body turn and face her before saying her name (it was the same guy from the ethics class video where X asks if it would be morally wrong to put a person's consciousness in that body)

[JS19]

Just watched this movie. Never got in to the whole xmen deal, but im curious, instead of wolveriene shoving his claw infested hand in to that chicks gut, why not just give her the cure?