IGN X-men Trilogy Character Analysis

[Abaddon]

or the studio,etc.

 

[04nbod]

Amazing. IGN also picked up on Singer's blindly obvious flaws, that impacted everyone but mainly the over development of some (Jean, Wolverine, Rogue) at the expense of everyone else.

have we been watching the same trilogy? rogue was important and developed in x1 yes. she had a small but alright role in x2 but was barely in x3.
cyclops and rogue were the most mismanaged of the entire trilogy.
i think that the problem was with introducing more characters in every movie. at the end of x2 they had the perfect team- why introduce angel kitty and colossus when they weren't going to be used and what time they did have took away from other characters.

 

[BMM]

have we been watching the same trilogy? rogue was important and developed in x1 yes. she had a small but alright role in x2 but was barely in x3.
cyclops and rogue were the most mismanaged of the entire trilogy.
i think that the problem was with introducing more characters in every movie. at the end of x2 they had the perfect team- why introduce angel kitty and colossus when they weren't going to be used and what time they did have took away from other characters.

I think that may be why they began toying with the idea of shooting X-Men 3/X-Men 4 back-to-back. Someone realized the difficutly in attempting to service so many characters and their various storylines in such a short amount of time.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Some of their points I agree with, many I don't.

For instance, despite getting shafted in X-Men: The Last Stand, I don't feel Cyclops was shafted in X-Men or X2.

Cyclops was VERY prominent in X-Men, and probably had the biggest role on the team behind Wolverine. I think he was done rather well.

In X2, despite the fact that he got kidnapped, and was missing for a portion of the movie, that choice was made for story purposes, not politics, and when Cyclops was around (before being kidnapped, and after), his character was golden.

Cyclops' screentime was definatley quality screentime.

I think that X-Men: The Last Stand was the only movie where he really got shafted, because the choice was political, not for story purposes. Luckily, his few scenes that he did have remain as brilliant as his scenes in the other 2 films.

Overall, Cyclops is one of my favorites (but not my favorite) in the comics, and the same holds true for the movies as well.

There are a few characters in the films I like better than Cyclops (Magneto and Beast), but he's still one of my favorites, and I thought he was handled rather well.

I do agree that Storm was done all wrong in all the films. Not a trace of her comic book personality was evident in the films. I hate the term, but Storm really was Storm "in name only".

Wolverine, Magneto, and Xavier were done brilliantly.

What the article (and many fans) neglect to take into consideration is that Rogue is very timid and mousy in the comics, pre-sexed up, mid 90's runs. Her character was accurate to one interpretation of the character.

Iceman was off, and that was a disappointment.

Being secondary characters, I don't feel too disappointed over Colossus, Kitty, Angel, etc... getting a bit neglected in the character department. Every movie will always have characters that aren't developed as much as the mains. I would have liked to have seen more from Angel and Colossus (Angel especially, since he actually had a significant arc in the 3rd movie that had hardly any depth to it), but being secondary characters, you can't expect too much. But a bit of Colossus' Russian heritage would have been great.

I also agree on Jean that she was done wonderfully. I also agree that the Phoenix explanation we got works, but in their words, "barely". It works, but it only provides the bare bones minimum for that arc. More should have been done.

For the characters that weren't covered (and I believe that Nightcrawler, Mystique, and Pyro should have been covered, as they were full, 3 dimensional characters in the saga, not just "henchmen" like Sabretooth, Toad, Lady Deathstrike, Colossus, Angel, Kitty Pryde, etc...), I will say that they were done great, even though I don't like Mystique.

Mystique was handled really well, I just don't like the character.

Nightcrawler I think was handled very brilliantly, and is up there on the level of Magneto, Xavier, Wolverine, and Beast as best adapted.

Pyro, although not much to his comic book counterpart, I still think was done rather well. I appreciate his arc in X2, and I really like him in X-Men: The Last Stand. Although, I guess technically, one aspect of his character remained in tact; in the comics, Pyro is pretty much a mercenary, fighting for whatever has the most in it for him. This is shown a bit through his defection from Xavier to Magneto.

In the end, I agree with their closing statement; more was done right than wrong. This goes for all 3 films. Many of the complaints they had, I don't find to be the case. They say Rogue was inaccurate, but ONLY cite her mid 90's sexed up version of the character, and neglect to mention what she was like before that, which is pretty much exactly what she is in the movies. They say that Cyclops got the shaft in all the films, but neglect the fact that he was a very major role in X-Men, and his moments in X2 were absolutley golden, and right in line with his character.

I do agree on Storm and Iceman, because I feel those could be considered "in name only", as there isn't much in common with their comic book counterpart.

But that's pretty much as far as I'll go with that.

 

[Abaddon]

I wouldve preferred to see Cyclops take an active leadership role.

 

[Angamb]

The x-saga needs to learn a little more from drama movies, etc, about the chararcters's use, and the their developtment.

And yes, I'd like to see Cyclops in a leader role, and bigger than Logan, I think it's time already.

 

[The Batman]

ign is only saying what many have known for years.

The X flicks aint as perfect as everyone likes to believe. in fact, imo, its the most disappointing comic movie franchise

 

[Specter313]

ign is only saying what many have known for years.

The X flicks aint as perfect as everyone likes to believe. in fact, imo, its the most disappointing comic movie franchise

Oh please. What flaws that the X-films have had, other franchises have had just as bad or worse flaws, especially the Batman franchise.

 

[The Batman]

Oh please. What flaws that the X-films have had, other franchises have had just as bad or worse flaws, especially the Batman franchise.

My statement still stands.

The X-Franchise is the most disappointing of any comic movie franchise. Period.

 

[Specter313]

My statement still stands.

The X-Franchise is the most disappointing of any comic movie franchise. Period.

Yeah, you're not biased on that at allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

 

[Neto Magnus]

First of all, NO comic book movie has been perfect. They all had it's flaws.

 

[04nbod]

way to negotiate neto!

dare i say batman and robin was a whole lot worse than x3

 

[The Batman]

way to negotiate neto!

dare i say batman and robin was a whole lot worse than x3

There's a difference between disappointing and bad.

at least you knew Batman and Robin was piece of crap before it even came out...so how could one be disappointed?

 

[The Batman]

Yeah, you're not biased on that at allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

Nope.

 

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

Some of their points I agree with, many I don't.

For instance, despite getting shafted in X-Men: The Last Stand, I don't feel Cyclops was shafted in X-Men or X2.

Cyclops was VERY prominent in X-Men, and probably had the biggest role on the team behind Wolverine. I think he was done rather well.

In X2, despite the fact that he got kidnapped, and was missing for a portion of the movie, that choice was made for story purposes, not politics, and when Cyclops was around (before being kidnapped, and after), his character was golden.

Cyclops' screentime was definatley quality screentime.

It pains me do disagree with another Cyke fan, but seriously, the bad outweighs the good it's not even funny.

Trust me on this, I'm a huge Cyke fan. I tried real hard. But it just feels like we Cyke defenders are grasping.

X1:

Pros:

- Rescuing Wolverine BUT they were two mutants with rather strong projection powers against MUSCLE. Has more to do with the nature of their powers than leadership. How could they possibly f*** it up?

- Blasting a door open and "saving" Jean right after getting knocked out silly and have ANOTHER X-Men take down Toad. Huh huh.

- Blasting Sabertooth although all he did was OPEN HIS EYES. Ooooh. EPIC!!!!

- Blasting Mags. Mmm... He shot an old man in the back... Almost at the very last minute at that. Not doing that very first thing in the first place was quite the dicey decision.

- Blasting those metal thingies Mags sent at him before one caught him around the torso. That one is pretty much the only legit "feat" we can give him in X1.

- Oh, The Spandex joke and being a good sport about being given the claw, too.

- Oh, he has a super-bike, but we see LOGAN using it.

Cons:

- the train station. No need to elaborate on that. Also, comicverse Cyke would've felt like s*** about it and they don't even bother tackling the guilt angle

- That 'landing' joke. Right, the guy is the team's best pilot and they just have to show him screw it up. Ah ha.

- Logan not following his first direct order and thus kickstarting the Liberty Island Debacle. Not to mention Singer (damn you) cut the one order Wolverine took with that rather funny "it's one of mine" scene. But then Jackman has to say it's a tight fit...

- rather than repeat everything, I'll just sum it up to "Liberty Island Disaster"

- he somehow comes off as the bad guy in the love triangle and that awkward "Stay away from my girl" dialogue

- the "No, you were the one who stabbed her" (or whatever, don't remember) line. Once again, they just have to make him come across as an a$$$hole opposite Logan's righteous and noble hero. Gogo psychology 101

- the 'fry him' line. I'm sorry, but comicverse Cyke would've just f****n smirked at Mags and said "Yeah, I know. See you in hell, Lensherr." I don't remember comicverse Cyke having a problem with insanely dangerous and quite possibly deadly heroics when everything else failed. The reason he doesn't do it often in the comics is that there usually is a plan B or he's, ya know, passed out. There was no such plan in the movie except for Logan. Besides, comicverse Cyke would've told Logan to claw his way out and suck it up. It's sooooo obvious the writers put that line there just to show him crack under pressure in about the worst way possible.

Concensus: the "pros" (whatever) had to do with the nature of his power, not his skills. That, and the f*** ups sadly enough CLEARLY outweight the pros.


X2:


Pros:

- beating up four people in about 30 seconds. 2 of them in h-t-hand combat. Nice, BUT we get so see a close-up Deathstrike getting up for during about, oh, 75% of said battle and then she takes him down in ONE HIT. And we all know that Marsden had to fight to get that bit done and that they shot a longer version during which he picks himself up and fights with the guards' sticks.

- I'd say he came out on top of the motorcycle argument BUT, hey, let's have him catch the keys like a total wimp. Christ, Cyclops' part mutation has to do with f***in TRAJECTORIES, you don't catch him off guard THROWING something at him from across a room. And that wasn't a fastball Logan threw at him. Once again, pointless and ooc just to make Logan look good.

- getting up after Jean literally slammed him into a wall and falling down ONE floor. The way he kept his hand on his visor and blasted that jeep was nice, too. Okay, that rocked.

- almost surprising Jean during round two of their battle. He did get up before she died and could've easily killed her. Okay, that was nice too.

- the 'emotional' reunion scene with Jean. I fail to see how that falls in any category other than ACTING, but, what the hell, a lot of people use it as a way to justify that movieverse Jean/Scott EXISTS

Cons:

- suggesting that he blasts the door to Cerebro. I mean, WTF, in X1 he certainly didn't try it when Jean was inside. Where did that come from? Completely OOC and was put there just to make him look bad under pressure. Once again. Gogo character development and learning from one's mistakes!!!

- getting him and Prof X captured that easily (see above)

- the whole bringing the dam down business and getting the love of his life killed

- Speaking of 'love of his life', Scott/Jean hardcore fans will disagree with me on this one, BUT, it felt more like she decided to do the right/moral thing rather than CHOOSE him. It sounded more like 'let's find out wether he's alive or not first because I don't want to hurt his feelings. Well, for now anyway, gorgeous.' rather than a convincing 'I love him, back the f*** off you dishonorable wretch, for crying out loud, he's f***in MIA and even if he wasn't you wouldn't stand a chance!!!' My point here is that although Wolvie did say "she chose you" in the end, it could've been a lot more convincing.


Concensus: the few good points didn't end up doing anything remotely useful plot-wise in the end. Quite the opposite, actually. All we got to see he's that he's capable in combat, but that it's just not enough in the end against other mutants. RIIIIGGHHHTTT.

X3:

Pros:

- he never looked cooler (angsty Cyke PWNZ) and that one shot of him looking angry and letting out an optic blast was simply rad. Same thing for shots of him riding a bike.

- Could mention the hallway scene, but comic Cyke would've been 100x times more articulate and would most certainly not have given that cheap shot/below the belt "Not everyone heals as fast you, Logan" line. WTF was that. An appropriate way to tackle that scene would've been to, let's say, have Cyke say:

"I don't want your pity, Logan. I get what you're trying to do, but... you don't get to pretend you care. Just... don't."

Harsh, yes, but movieverse Logan didn't deserve any better IMO. And it DOES reflect what we did see of the dynamic between the two.


Cons:

- there's the whole business of him never getting over Jean and becoming a shadow of a man not worth saving. F***, Xavier gave up on him after 8 months and Wolverine didn't because HE FELT SORRY for the guy. Smooth, Rothman, real smooth. Rather than make Cyke look good, sum up the whole Cyke/Logan friendship/respect to "Wolvie feeling bad for the weepy kid" Brilliant.

- oh, right, the part about every character metaphorically pissing on his grave.


-------------


Anyway, I would really like to pretend Cyke got a fair treatment in X1, but he didn't. He did stuff, but wasn't the a$$$kicker he was supposed to be. Neither was anyone in X1, for that matter.

It's just that movieverse Cyke's ineffectiveness in the most crucial of moments kinda becomes a RUNNING GAG.

BTW, same thing can be said for Storm about how she's little more than her powers. She never gets to kick a$$ ONCE because of her brains and toughness. Not ONCE. Hell, the one time she could've done so, Wolvie had to save the day with a fastball special ina SIMULATION. Rotflmao.

Oh well, I'm done ranting for the day since it's poker night and soon I shall be off.

Hopefully I'll get better hands than Cyke did. But then again, getting a pair of threes would pretty much do it. Maybe a pair of six for Storm since she did get to win battles.

 

[gambitfire]

way to negotiate neto!

dare i say batman and robin was a whole lot worse than x3

ROTFLMAO

I'm sorry but that seemed like an attempted attack towards the Batmans posts.

In which case it's the funniest attempt i'd ever seen. I'm sure because he's a Batman fan he would of agreed with you (Oh look he did).

If it's not then sorry,....but if so LOL honestly did you think you would make a point in saying so. LOL.


Sorry....sorry......i'll stop








Batman and Robin was horrible but i agree with The Batman X3 was just dissapointing. Big difference.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

There's a difference in a neglect between Scott and Ororo.

Scott, whose role got smaller and nothing was fixed and Ororo whose got bigger but nothing was fixed.

A big role means nothing if you don't have a character, and Ororo did not have a character. She just said or did whatever the writer's felt the need for her to do, some of it VERY out of character for the comic version of Ro.

Amen.

And well put.

 

[04nbod]

ROTFLMAO

I'm sorry but that seemed like an attempted attack towards the Batmans posts.

In which case it's the funniest attempt i'd ever seen. I'm sure because he's a Batman fan he would of agreed with you (Oh look he did).

If it's not then sorry,....but if so LOL honestly did you think you would make a point in saying so. LOL.


Sorry....sorry......i'll stop








Batman and Robin was horrible but i agree with The Batman X3 was just dissapointing. Big difference.

i was saying theres a whole lot worse than x3 out there. i wasn't around at the time of batman and robin to find other fans opinions so i can't really speak about disappointment. i think every one was disappointed in x3 not because of the overall quality in my opinion but what it could have been that wasn't delivered.the movie was decent but we expected a whole lot more meaning many people mistake it for an awful movie on the whole.

 

[body_crumbles]

There they go skipping over my favorite character... again. Oh well.

 

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

have we been watching the same trilogy? rogue was important and developed in x1 yes. she had a small but alright role in x2 but was barely in x3.
cyclops and rogue were the most mismanaged of the entire trilogy.

Storm, too. It's just that people forget about it because she gets to kick ass. Not once do we get the notion of her being tough or smart. She has these strong powers and, well, that's it.

For my opinion on how badly Cyke got f****d, I think my rather long post covers it up.

And Rogue, well, she gets to... huh... sneak into a trailer, run away from the school, get captured, kiss, feel sorry for herself, knock out Pyro by touching him (ooohhh! EPIC!!!) and, huh, do absolutely nothing in a simulation. Oh yeah, then she gets all EMO and takes the cure.

At least Cyke got to TRY to win fights, lol. Never cared much for Rogue, but I do get why her fans are pissed off. Have every reason to be.

i think that the problem was with introducing more characters in every movie. at the end of x2 they had the perfect team- why introduce angel kitty and colossus when they weren't going to be used and what time they did have took away from other characters.

Eh.

As far as I'm concerned, the team should've been Cyke, Jean, Storm, Angel, Beast with Wolvie being brought in in the first movie. That's it. Good solid team of ADULT X-Men, thus sparing us the disturbing "I'm a saint but I send teenagers into battle" angle.

They should've progressively added more VILLAINS, not heroes. The fun with heroes is to see them ADAPT, not grow bigger in numbers.

I mean, really, Magneto fights the X-Men for, what, 60-75 seconds in X1 and X3 combined? Exactly when did we get the sense that there was this ongoing feud between the two? They keep babbling on about how they're each other's enemy, but they hardly ever, ya know, fight.

And what about X3's enormous amount of villains? Hey, let's add like 300, but Wolverine can kill them in like 3 seconds, soldiers shoot a bunch of them with the cure and the rest gets smoked by Phoenix. Just... HUH?????

I'll stop right now before I go into full-ranting mode. The point is, I totally agree there were way too much mutant. And just for good measure, screw young X-Men.

Oh well, too bad Fox didn't get that less can be more.

 

[04nbod]

i agree but our view of the perfect team differs alot. given what we got at the end of x2 in size and variety i think that team would have been perfect

 

[The Batman]

they've edited it to add more brotherhood members

 

[X-Maniac]

The lack of writing prowess, studio politics, and lack of intimate character knowledge ruined this franchise. I can't possible say that enough.

Amen to that.

 

[gambitfire]

i was saying theres a whole lot worse than x3 out there. i wasn't around at the time of batman and robin to find other fans opinions so i can't really speak about disappointment. i think every one was disappointed in x3 not because of the overall quality in my opinion but what it could have been that wasn't delivered.the movie was decent but we expected a whole lot more meaning many people mistake it for an awful movie on the whole.

Sorry about the misunderstanding then.

As for X3 i don't think it was the most awful movie ever, but i wouldn't say it was decent either. A week before the movie came out i had lowered my expectations and it still didn't meet them. So IMO it's almost below decent.

As for "we expected a whole lot" well some ppl did but over all you saying it's decent is just your opinion.

If anything as far as opinions go we can agree it was dissapointing.

 

[RagingTempest]

There are 11 new character analysis with Mystique, Angel, Kitty, Juggernuat, etc.!!!