Additional, spoiler-filled analysis after the jump...
Okay, now that you’ve read the real review, I can go into
spoilers/annoyances.
These are nit-picky.
I actually enjoyed the film. But
when you stew on this the way I’ve been for the past few days, writing this
review, oddities and irregularities stick out like a sore thumb. So, if you haven’t seen the movie, STOP RIGHT NOW AND READ NO FURTHER. If you have and were left baffled, please
continue. Okay, last warning, there be spoilers ahead…
1)
The Rogue plotline should have been left in – even if
it required reshoots. The story that
makes Mystique the key to the Sentinels’ adaptive qualities works well to a
point – until you realize that she only has the power to appear as someone
else, not to replicate their abilities.
Honestly, this is the one thing that really stood out to me and annoyed
me the whole time. Now, it’s not too far
out of the realm of believability that the Sentinels had gotten to Rogue before
the events of the film, but there could have been a line of dialogue explaining
her absence, just as there was with Magneto explaining why Emma, Angel, and
others were missing. But the adaptive
responses of the Sentinels needed more explanation besides Mystique. Rogue was the key here.
2)
Wolverine’s 1973 introduction was clearly directed by a
gay man. It was just awkward to
watch. I’ll give Hugh Jackman some
serious props for staying so ripped through the evolution of his character (no
pun intended), but that much exposure wasn’t necessary unless you’re just
trying to satisfy the gay men and straight women who were dragged into the
theater. I guess I should just be glad
that it wasn’t a teenage version of Wolverine.
Too soon?
3)
I know a lot of nerds who have too much time on their
hands (like me, clearly) have already pointed this out, but the flub on the
part of the writers to not nail what Wolverine told Xavier and Magneto in First Class for Xavier’s retort in this
film was quite notable. For those who
missed it, in censored form, “Go f--- yourself” does not equal “F--- off.” Some may attribute this to Xavier being
basically a junkie, but it was more like poor writing.
4)
Magneto being captured and held for JFK’s murder? Yeah, how?
He’s so powerful that they were able to get him down to a plastic prison
they’d made basically just for him? One
hundred floors beneath the Pentagon?
Yeah, kind of another plot hole.
5)
Once again, one of the most fascinating parts was
shortchanged – Quicksilver. His
backstory was only hinted at, his twin sister was missing, and he could have
been a huge help in the final conflict, but was left only to watch the television. They tried this approach with Gambit in Origins, but at least he got a sizzle
scene at the end – even if it was pretty lame.
Plus, Marvel kind of screwed up allowing Quicksilver in this movie and Avengers: Age of Ultron with different
actors. If they had treaded very
carefully, it could have been done quite well, and been a bridge between the
franchises without much studio drama.
6)
Kennedy vs. Nixon.
Once again, JFK gets lionized and Nixon looks like the idiot. I’m no Nixon apologist, nor do I think that
JFK was the worst. But I just don’t get
why JFK is so idolized. I get part of it
– he was young, had a beautiful family, and was fairly moderate. However, he was also a deplorable human being
when the cameras weren’t on him. I have
no respect for a man who will run around on his wife. But apparently we can forget about those
things if the president/politician/public figure is a Democrat. I’m really getting off topic here. Point is, Magneto infers that JFK was a
mutant and that the government was trying to get rid of him. Hence the assassination. However, it makes absolutely no sense. How would a mutant rise to power by
traditional methods? Why would a mutant
be totally okay with the happenings in Cuba in the events of First Class? Or was this just Hollywood’s attempt to
lionize him, while making Nixon look like the trigger-happy, anti-mutant
war-monger? As Rush would call them, the
low-information voters would read that as “Democrat good. Republican bad.”
7)
Magneto taking over the Sentinels was going to happen,
that was certain (did anyone see the previews?). However, how he took them over was a serious
plot hole. It wasn’t that he melded
metal to their bodies, but that he was able to re-wire their circuitry without
incident and give them voice commands.
It just didn’t mesh well.
8)
The cameo-like scenes with the Sentinels was fun until
you really thought about it. Sure, you
can buy that Trask and Co. had harvested Emma and even Lady Deathstrike, but
Darwin? Pretty sure there was nothing left
but ash when Shaw was done with him. And
to be honest, why would the Sentinels need Lady Deathstrike’s claws? The diamond skin would clearly have its
advantages, but so many of the mutants abilities are not personified
physically. I’m grasping here. Oh, and if their secondary methods of killing
(the scorching technique that looked way too similar to the Destroyer from Thor) was because of Cyclops, the same
could be said of Scott, post-Jean as Darwin, post-Shaw.
9)
Everyone knew that this would be like one big f-you to The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
This is especially exemplified by the appearance of not just Jean at the
end, but also Scott. It’s like Singer
was saying, “Sorry that I made Superman
Returns instead of returning for X3. So since all the fans hated it, I’ll undo it,
because I’m like the franchise’s daddy, and I can do that.” Not unwelcome, but annoying.
10) What
the deuce was that ending all about?
Sure, if you’ve read up on Apocalypse, you might know, especially
considering that Fox had already announced X-Men:
Rise of Apocalypse before this movie debuted. But it was almost like a tease of a tease
instead of something that really got people asking questions. Plus, it looked more like something out of The Last Airbender than something to do
with X-Men.
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