Lightning Strykez!
Former Mod On Pension Pay
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The Guard said:I don't buy it. One, I don't think Bryan Singer wanted Halle Berry, at least as his first or second choice. They fought almost constantly on the set of X-MEN. There is far too much evidence to point to the fact that FOX said "Hey, we're not going to cast for you, but there's this Halle Berry chick you should take a long, hard look at". Also, Storm is not written as meek and mousy in the X-MEN script, or the X2 script. These are acting choices Halle Berry made, in the same vein as most of her acting choices in her other action roles. The woman just does not do "intense" well unless she is ****ing or crying. Does Bryan Singer share some of the blame for her subpar performance in X-MEN? I guess. But remember, he was also pressed for time, and not in any position to tell THE Halle Berry how to act.
Okay. Let's look at the first film, shall we?
Tell me: Was it Halle Berry then who forced Bryan and his writers to make the "Storm" character do the following?
*Get strangled
*Smashed against glass
*Get kicked in the face
*Send carreening into various displays
*Get kicked in the stomach
*Get thrown down an elevator shaft
*Get gut-punched in the stomach
*Get stabbed (although technically that was really a morph, but Storm was still used)
*Say out-of-character lines i.e. "I can't control it like that", "I can't!" etc.
*Give the character the worst punchline in comic moviedom history
And that's just from the first film. Pray do tell, why wasn't Jean or Cyclops treated in a similar manner? Why should Storm get the lion's share of whoop-a$$?
These events spelled out one character trait for Storm to moviegoers: WEAKNESS. She can't fight, defend herself, and the baddies go straight for her and kick her ass. She only gets a lightning bolt in after she's had some time to recuperate and get some prep time in the elevator shaft! And if you read the reviews and the fans' displeasure that was the unifying theme among all--Storm was weak.
Now, who's responsible for that characterization Guard? Who is to blame for not giving the character much of anything else to do accept get her a$$ stomped throughout the first film? Who directed this "first impression" of the cinematic version of a character who is known to be a commanding Warrior "Goddess"? Halle?
True, to an extent Halle's responsible for her tone of voice with her lines, but even that can be directed--for example: the magically dissappearing African accent in X2--at Bryan's demand. . And of course, lacking the star power then that she has now, Halle didn't determine her own lines or screen time for those first two films. Bryan and the writers did.
I don't care if Halle and Bryan didn't get along. I don't care if Fox did insist that Bryan add Storm for diversity. Do such factors give him the go-ahead to make her into some unmitigated disaster? Was he getting some sort of latent revenge by treating her like ****? That's real mature.
And even if he simply didn't know much about Storm as a character, he should've done his homework and directed the character more accurately. Remember, Bryan got Wolverine, Magneto, Jean, Xavier and Scott right (more or less), so to screw Storm up says something--not about his talent--but about his motives and appreciation for the character.
It's not like he's not capable.