Days of Future Past Jennifer Lawrence/Mystique: Oscar Winner Edition - Part 2

While I prefer the prosthetics over the body suit, First Class bombed regarding her look. It isn't the overall shade of blue that's the main issue for me, it's the mere fact that it's all painted one singular blue. In the original trilogy the scales are tonally much different from her underlying skin. All dynamics and layering of those scales, all of the interest in her look was completely lost in First Class with the execution of her prosthetics. I think DOFP is a step back in the right direction, though I loathe the dainty facial scales and still miss her layered voice effects from the original films.
 
The greasy paint just kills it for me in DOFP. And made the suit that much more obvious. I just think the paint sans scales looks more... Natural in FC. And looks less like a person painted blue (as "natural" as a blue person can look haha)
I also think that the blue looks bad in DOFP and is really dark, that the darker scales don't really even stand out that much on her face. Even without the scales painted, FC scales had more definition to them because they were totally flat pieces.
If the blue was a bit darker and the scales were painted, FC would be visibly better. I think the over all execution(prosthetics vs body suit. Not overly greasy paint) is stronger in FC. It just needed a few more weeks to get It totally right.

They both suck compared to the original, though.
 
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Agreed. A huge reason there's so much shine on her face in DOFP is because there are very few prosthetics. More skin to paint, more of that glare. In the original series and First Class, 3/4 of her face are covered by latex prosthetics, which have different properties when painted. In DOFP, about 1/4 of her face is covered and each scale seems to be individually placed, instead of these massive full masks of latex from the OT.
 
It's a step up from whatever the hell they were doing in FC, but it still just looks bad.
 
She looked really awful in the x uniform. That's for sure.
I still don't see how the new one is at all a step up though.
 
Cause it's a better color. And the scales are a different tone, as they should be.

Never said it was a big step up. :p
 
Granted. But It looks so flat. Comparing to the original which had slight variations all over. At least it's a bit closer to the original though.
And I'll take the 3 dimensional scales over the flat darker ones any day. Making it darker didn't really help. They look like pieces of flat rubber glued on.
I hope they go back to the full body paint. I know the body suit cuts time, but it just looks so... Yuck.
 
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I had big issues with the FC scales. They were raised so much higher than they ever were in the OT and it was not flattering at all. Add to that, the fact that they were the same shade of blue took any possible definition away from them.

I also hated how visible the "blocks" of scales were on her body. It looks like they just slapped them on. In the OT it always looks like each scale was placed on individually. Obviously that wasn't the case, but the makeup looked so effortless that I didn't notice were the patches began and ended.
 
It just goes to show, the development of the application process onto the actresses playing Mystique may have improved time wise, but the quality took a steep drop. Nothing compares to the artistry that went into X1's Mystique (and X2 for that matter).
 
Agreed. I hate how they weren't blended. They looked very much like pieces stuck on. In the OT, they looks so great. Very organic.
But that's my biggest problem with the DOFP makeup. It looks way more lazy. Even with the big blocks of scales, you can tell a lot of work went into molding them. The body suit with flat, ugly little scales is just an eye sore.
I know they probably cut costs in the makeup department, but they shouldn't. Mystique is their most visually interesting character. Played by one of their biggest box office draws. How does the character in the OT, who wasn't nearly as big a role or played by a big name actress like here, get such fantastic makeup? It's crazy.
I really hope they realize this for the next.
X2 was as easily the best. They had highlights( like the FC blue) mixed with the darker blue. Not one or the other. It also had a bit of a "glittery" look to it. So so good.
 
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Perfection...



I mean, look at than hairline!
 
That's another thing. The awful hairlines.
FC- massive forehead
DOFP- slightly crooked.
 
It's really interesting (albeit disappointing) to see the look change throughout the films. Now, it's hard to judge the color because most of these are stills from the film, so setting changes the values dramatically. However, you can definitely see the change in the way the prosthetics are sculpted, applied to the body, painted in contrast to the underlying skin, etc...

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For a larger comparison:

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That's the only DOFP pic I sort of liked the look in.
Those first 3 ❤️
DOFP easily has the worst scale designs, though. The breast design is so lame. Look at all the others!
 
I really think DOFP went in the right direction of Mystique returning to a more lithe, athletic look.
 
Yeah, that's one of the few decent shots of her in DoFP!
 
The character was by far better. I really enjoyed the characterization.

It looks like they toned down the shine on her face for the photo. Thank goodness.
 
Well, she does look pretty decent in the finale sequence. There isn't much shine at all on her face.
 
True, true. That was the only scene I sort of was okay with her look.
 
The eye's look really good in that last pic.
 
Much better than the awful promo pics, at least.
 
I just realised why I found her DOFP look odd, she still has her eyebrows! :huh:

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I thought she looked alright in the FC BTS but terrible in the film.
 
I disliked her look on this one.

In some scenes you can clearly notice the body suits.

I can understand though... they wouldn´t let an oscar winner to spend 6 hrs on make up.

I hope this body suit is improved for XM:A.
 
I thought that the bodysuit and scales worked much much better in the movie than I anticipated - and I pretty much cringed every single time I saw a Mystique still.

Characterisation though I was not really satisfied with. It's like, Mystique is the character whose actions change the world, but the movie mostly treats her like an ass-kicking rogue missile that needs to be stopped, with very few humanising touches or insights into the character and her motivations. I thought her character suffered from the 10-year-skip the most - at least with Charles and Erik we got some background information to fill in the gap, but for Mystique there's literally nothing, except Erik's words that she was "strong" the last time he saw her. What did she do for the last 10 years? Did she split from the group right after Erik was captured? What was she doing in Vietnam? Was she already tracking Trask by that point? Was she trying to find out what happened to her Brotherhood friends? When she finds the autopsy photos in Trask's office, was that meant to be a big turning point when she really decides to go after Trask? If so it didn't really come across that way to me - from what I could see Mystique was already mighty angry and determined even before she finds them, so I can't say that moment felt particularly significant.

Also, at the start of the movie old!Charles makes a big deal of the fact that Trask was Mystique's first kill, and that she truly became Mystique on the day she murdered him. That crossing of the line when Raven really loses her soul could have been interesting to explore, except that the Mystique we see in the film seems to be totally onboard with killing already, with no moral qualms or hesitations in sight, ready to choke Stryker (?) to death in the very fist scene she appears in. If anything I found it hard to believe that Trask was going to be her first kill.

I can't say I'm very clear on Mystique's actions and motivations at the end either. When Erik tells her that he tried to kill her because her blood was going to doom them all, why doesn't she go, "um what blood what on earth are you talking about?" Does she already know everything about her DNA, the Sentinels and the dark future at this point? How? Supposing that Charles somehow manages to explain all of this to her in the brief time before Erik tries to kill her, why does she appear not to give a slightest damn and just keeps repeating that Trask is the enemy? Why, in the airport scene, does Charles keep appealing to her better nature and never to the fact that her actions might doom the entire mutant race? Why does she herself not seem to care about that fact until the very end, when she suddenly gets convinced that not killing Trask would be really great PR for the mutants? I don't know, maybe the movie was meant to show her so obsessed with Trask's death that she's blinded to everything else, but if so it wasn't well executed at all and just made her character look all muddled. Even that pivotal moment in the end when Mystique decides not to kill Trask is not really about her - it's really all about Charles and his decision to give Mystique a choice.
 
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