X-3 The Last Stand
POSTED BY: Tayeatra
UPDATED: Sunday, April 5, 2026 17:34
VIEWED: 20212
PAGE 4 of 7
Like a lot of people I've been a huuuuge fan of the X-men but I have to agree that this movie was disappointing. While I loved it, its more of a blind love - the same sort of thing I'd feel if there was a Serenity followup regardless of its content.
Select to view spoiler:
The first thing I didn't like was the removal of Cyclops within the first few minutes. Its a shame that James Marsdon wanted to go and do Superman (giving up a starring role in X3 to be a nobody in Superman?), but I think he should have been removed/replaced from the film full stop. There was no emotion when he died (by the time we learn that he actually did die, we were used to him not being there and it meant nothing) and Jean doesn't really seem to care that she killed him. So what was the point?
That leads onto the next thing, the whole Wolverine/Jean affair. I thought this was settled in X2, and even then I'd had enough of it. He loves her, she likes him but stays with Cyclops, fine, over, move on. But nope. And in this film it seems as if she's more in love with Wolverine than with Cyclops. The whole Jean ending stank of "only our love can help us through this" and, if anything, Cyclops should have been the one making that statement.
I actually felt that there were too *few* characters in the film, at least on the X-men's side. Magneto managed to grab dozens of allies, 3-4 of them we know the names of and I think the amount of character development they got (a line here and there) was plenty considering their role. I don't see why, with a whole school full of mutants, the X-men could only muster up 8 people to defend the cure facility. They all knew a "war was comming" and in their preperation they should have been training up a few more people (enter Gambit) even if, like the bad guys, their character development was minimal.
I think the Xavier holding Jean back thing was confusing. In X2 Jean's powers were already progressing, and that seemed natural. Come X3 I would easily have belived that her powers had simply advanced, especially with the amount of effort she'd have been using to force enough power to hold back the crushing waters before she 'died'. All the "Jean you must stay in control" would have still worked, she's advancing and Xavier would fear her becomming too powerful for her own good. In the end, he could have (if he lived) set up the blocks to restore Jean to 'normal'. Instead there's some gobbledygook about her having 2 personalities all along, and why Xavier did what he did was never fully explained (so what, she can throw some cars about, its not like she showed them she could kill people in move a bridge *looks at Magneto*).
Generally I thought the ending was anti-climactic. After all the fighting, Jean just goes mad and kills a bunch of people (why she didn't just do that at the start I don't know) then its all "I love you Jean" from Wolverine -> stab -> film over. No attempts to give her the cure, no sitting the cure-based mutant kid next to her, no appealing to her 'good' side, just a stabbing and Wolverine crying "nooo" (why should that? he just stabbed her, its not like its a "no, don't die like this!" if he's responsible). There were so many possibilites for the ending, and it just came down to the old, boring, monotonous, and predictable "kill her".
I put that all in spoilers to be extra careful :P
Suffice it to say the movie did *not* give me what I wanted from it.
-Brexan
"Also, I can kill you with my brain"
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tayeatra:
I've found it very reassuring that others are sharing my viewpoint here. I wasn't sure if I was initially being too critical.
I came out of the cinema happy then as the initial adrenalin wore off I got increasingly dissatisfied until now I'm really quite peeved. It was a film that just seemed packed with wasted opportunities. They were working a 'verse that had such a rich history to draw from and they decided that they knew better than all those who wrote the comics and cartoons and chucked canon out the window. It seems to me almost as disrespectful as if Peter Jackson had made the first Lord of the Rings film then said "Oh, I see that Legolas has a large fan following. Lets kill off the Arogorn character so the Elf can be in the clear to have a romance with Arwen. We'll get rid of the orcs because they don't look very nice, will cost a lot to put in makeup and might confuse people. We'll make Haldir a major character instead of Gimli, just 'cos we can. We'll change the ending too. Can't think how yet but I'm sure something will come up during filming."
(Sorry, did I go to the geeky place?)
Quote:
On a side note. Right there with you EmmaRigby. If they write Gambit off one more time after we were promised an appearance in X2, I am going to get very upset. He's not just about blowing things up! He's a complex character that massively impacts the Rogue storyline, his powers are cool, he has witty dialogue and, dammit, he's hot!
Yay! Someone who shares my strange perversion of fancying cartoon characters! I also fancied Rogue (I mean a confident, powerful Southern Belle! What more could you want!) so was not best pleased when she was portrayed as an insecure teenager in the first movie, but held out hope that they would explore her backstory. In the cartoons at least she started with just the power of absorbing others' energies and was tricked into holding on for too long to super-hero (called Madam Marvel if memory serves but I'm not good with names) and stealing her abilities of flight and strength but also got stuck with her personality, and it was this that the Professor had to supress (you see it made more sence for her to have a pissed off alter ego!). They stole my favorite storyline and used it very badly (IMHO).
By the way, I also fancied Beast in the cartoons (is this very wrong?!) but was disappointed by the film version. He looked okay but wasn't the super intellectual and poet that I'd hoped for.
Okay, going to stop ranting any moment now!
*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)
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I also had a huge crush on Gambit. I heard somewhere that they left him out of this one because they thought his character was "too much like Wolverine". Bullsh**! Logan is kinda gruff and broody, Remy is kinda rough around the edges but he's a rogue with a ready sense of humor. He was always pushing limits just for the fun of it. The excuse that he's too much like Logan is a bad as the one about cutting out Nightcrawler because he and Beast look too similar and people might be confused. Bah!
And the whole Dark Pheonix thing. Jean didn't have another personality in the comics/cartoon show. She was inhabited by an other planar being that turned malevolent. It seems that they're trying to stay away from the more out there element of the comics.
All I've heard in the hype has been stuff like "Oooo, Danger Room! Centinals! Cannonball Special!" These are all cool things but if it'sa chioce between them and story/character development, then I'd drop the fancy tech and such.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kayna:
I also had a huge crush on Gambit. [snip]
All I've heard in the hype has been stuff like "Oooo, Danger Room! Centinals! Cannonball Special!" These are all cool things but if it'sa chioce between them and story/character development, then I'd drop the fancy tech and such.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.
I hadn't heard their reasoning. I'd assumed Nightcrawler wasn't in it due to the actor having prior commitments. You're right, their reasoning sucks and is completely indicative of their condescending attitude to their audience. Give them big bangs and naked women and we won't have to worry so much about the writing. (Although I admit my attention wanders from forming coherant criticism whenever Mystique is around! Does anyone else think she is more sexy blue or am I just sick and twisted?!)
By the way, anyone else wanting to make me feel better about my fancying cartoon characters? I get weak at the knees over Batman: the animated series too!
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In short, the movie, incredible...looking forward to see if they do X4 :)
TO ALL WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET AND THOSE WHO ARE GOING AGAIN:
Stay through the credits for a revalation about one of the main characters...believe me, it was worth it.
Wolverine is still the man...Beast was done really well, wish Angel had a bigger part in it. And Vinnie Jones definitly added his own element to Juggernaut.
"Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all." - Malcolm Reynolds
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I got to see this on Saturday, then came home and had several hours worth of stuff to do, so I'm only getting here now. I'm with all the disappointed people. Don't get me wrong, parts of it were awesome, but it was cancelled out by the mediocre and bad. I really wanted this one to be awesome, but it just didn't quite make it.
The Good:
A review Saturday morning in my local paper had me worried that it would be a RotS-style effects show with minimal actual story. In this, I was pleasantly surprised: while jaw-dropping and spectacular, the effects were well-integrated into the narrative, and served to carry things forward rather than aggrandize themselves. They looked as realistic as I'd expect, but for a few slips (Logan stepping out from behind the Sentinel-head, the holes in his shirt [after he was stabbed] that mysteriously vanished then reappeared).
I loved Logan lighting his cigar from the flaming wreckage. That's the kind of whimsical fun comic book movies should be.
The story was. . . well, good in that it was interesting, flowed logically, and had a clear narrative structure. What I didn't like was that this was The End.
There's nothing really left after this. Of the seven lead characters, three are dead, and the story is, in effect, over. The well is. . . well, not dry (that's the really irritating part; there's so much they could've done), but blocked up, paved over, and turned into a parking lot.
I don't like endings. I want to see the story go on, I want to see characters learn and adapt and grow through their experiences. I don't like seeing things tied up with a big bow. If this had been a TV series (probably animated, given that the stars are now too big to fit onto a TV screen anymore 
), this would've been the best season-long arc ever.
Instead, it's just a passable two hours.
The Bad:
Select to view spoiler:
The utter uselessness of Scott's death. I mean yeah, he was Captain Cardboard for the last two movies, but now, to finally give him some character development (off-screen, no less --whatever happened to "show, don't tell?"), then to kill him off after TWO SCENES was just an insult.
Xavier's death was equally saddening. He should've been the hero of this picture, but instead, he just got rubbed out, as he(effectively) was in both the previous movies.
The Bobby/Kitty sparkage was the narrative equivalent of a cock-tease; I was waiting for the to-me-inevitable dramatic and emotional confrontation between the three. Instead we get Rogue running off, Bobby shrugging and moving on, and Kitty. . . never even realizing that she was in a romantic triangle. Seriously, did anyone actually tell her that Rogue & Bobby were together?
Also: perfect time to bring in a teenaged Gambit, to console Rogue at Bobby's dumbassitude. Then Bobby could've gotten all up in Gambit's face about putting the moves on "his" woman, only to have Remy throw it back in his face, which would make Bobby feel like sh*t ('cause he likely didn't even realize he was doing it, being a guy) and lead into the aforementioned confrontation.
Plus they should've kept Nightcrawler, so as to include some Curt/Kitty snark/flirting/sparkage. (And to get him p*ssed off at Bobby too --it'd have been funny to see the entire campus calling Bobby an asshole, and him having no clue WTF's going on.)
Then Hank could've backed him up (getting himself yelled at too, by association), and setting up the Bobby & Hank buddy-comedy that was one of the high-points of the books.
Similar dangling threads include Warren's never-even-named appearance and useless "spare the badguy's life" fly-through (and whatever happened to his dad, anyway? That whole subplot just kinda ceased to exist). There'd better be some deleted scenes.
Finally, Jean's ultimate death was as symbolically unsatisfying as it was devoid of impact.
The "Hero's Journey" through the Death/Rebirth archetype was the whole point of the Phoenix Saga, I thought. The hero (Jean) dies, and is th
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Oh, yeah, found another subject to bitch upon.
WHY WERE ALL MAGNETO'S EXTRA MINIONS MINORITY, PUNKS, OR GENDERBENDERS?????
Magneto had Pyro, 1000 personality man and Juggernaut by his side
Select to view spoiler:
after Mystique became human
. Three white dudes. But then was it me, or was the gathering of mutants in the church by and large minorities? And if not minorities, then biker/punk looking folk? And if not biker/punk looking folk, then trans, like the kid (don't remember his name, must not have gotten enough screen time and lines) who sent out shock waves with his claps and appeared male but wore a bra under his fishnet shirt?
If this is just a cinematic device to let the kiddies know which guys are good and bad by looking at them, then we all need to examine this a little more closely. The good guys were all white (with one blue) and Storm. Everyone in power is white male. Magneto, President, Xavier and Wolverine. One black and one blue guy in the Cabinet. Bad guys are a bunch of leather-wearing minorities with tattoos and piercings.
Am i being overly PC and racially/gender paranoid, or do i have a vaild bitch here? This is coming from the viewpoint of a straight white hippie girl with a very dear biker friend and a punk boyfriend. Let me know, thanx.
PS Emmarigby, i had a huge crush on Disney's animanted Tarzan. Ooooh, if i hadn't a boyfriend, i'd be his Jane...
Oh, i am a tweaked one, yes i am...
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Wow, hey Hippie you're right. I noticed that but never thought in depth about it.
The shock-wave mutant was Arclight(sp?), I must admit I don't recall her from the comics but I may just have missed her.
A round of applause for the Browncoat that mentioned there have already been 3 Wolverine movies! *snark*
I also think Mystique exudes sex more sex appeal when Blue. Although Em... I have to call you out on the whole 'Beast = sexy' thing. That's pushing my boundaries on the whole fancying the cartoon characters thing!
For those wishing to be equally outraged about the Gambit issue... He was in the second film original script which was scrapped and re-written before filming. He was written out under the guise that his character was too much like Logan's and his powers couldn't do anything that Scott's couldn't do. That's the biggest pile of rubbish I ever heard, (although it threatens to be outdone by the Nightcrawler/Beast 'audience confusion' claim). Is it just me or do the writers think we're all Ritalin scarfing adolescents with an attention span that lasts all of about 3 seconds?
*****
Taya
*****
I'm going to S3!!!
(*Insert hysterical celebration dance here*)
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tayeatra:
I also think Mystique exudes sex more sex appeal when Blue. Although Em... I have to call you out on the whole 'Beast = sexy' thing. That's pushing my boundaries on the whole fancying the cartoon characters thing!
I know, I'm a sick, sick puppy! (And I don't usually like a lot of hair on a man!) You know, I didn't even realise until the credits that that was Kelsie Grammer under there. And I like watching Frasier! He did have the right voice, just a poor script that didn't allow him to sparkle!
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Oooh, I forgot to share with you guys the dream I had last night. It was a very weird cross between X-men and Firefly (that'll teach me to stay up till 3:30am writing about X-men on a Firefly site!)
Mal was a mutant (I can't remember his mutant power - possibly just being supercool!) who got captured by the hands of blue guys who exposed him to a small dose of Pax. This reacted oddly with his mutant genes and caused him to grow malformed wings. Zoe busted him out and together they stormed Alcatraz to get the cure. (Told you it was weird!!)
The thing is that even my subconcious came up with more witty and clever dialogue than the film. Sadly now I can't remember any of the best lines!
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