THE TEN Franchises That Deserve Better

[TMC1982]

http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/the-ten-franchises-that-de serve-better.html#

Too soon? Actually I don’t think so. The X-men hitting our screens in 2000 was a genuinely exciting prospect, but after coming out of the first movie I felt a little flat. It was okay, it had its moments but I couldn’t help but feel we’d been gypped somehow. This wasn’t X-Men. This was Wolverine meets the X-men and that sort of annoyed me. I mean I love Wolverine (who doesn’t?), but this dude was hogging the X-limelight a little too much. The biggest crock however is that only one mutant, Storm, came close to being visually exciting in tune with the comics-when she came up the lift shaft with her white eyes and lightning bolts.

X2 was a vast improvement and is a real genre highlight. Letting the other X-members step forward and have a bit of time on screen, even if the main plot was still Wolvy based. X3, I actually really enjoyed the first time I saw it. The mutants were actually doing big mutants things. Freaky powers, fighting as a team, all the stuff the comics do so well. Ellen Paige’s Kitty Pryde was exciting and probably the closest they’ve got to capturing the feeling of a real X-member and frankly this was a lot of fun. The second watch was an altogether different experience. Wolverine is pretty awful in this one, the Phoenix saga was woefully underplayed and Brett Ratner’s direction just comes with zero amounts of drama and events merely occur. When they all but stated this was the last one I was actually quite relieved.

This year X-Men Origins: Wolverine arrived. Things got worse. After months of hearing Jackman promise Batman Begins style revamps, we got just another X-Men movie, except this time it was just missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Wolverine's origin story is wasted. Weapon X (a movie unto itself) amounted to less than what we'd already got in the X2 flashback. Deadpool (another favourite) was horrifically handled and Gambit was just thrown in the movie but no real use was made of him. Seriously I could list the problems I have with this one all day but I won’t. The X-Men deserves better.


Reboot Status. X-Men Origins: Magneto keeps getting spoken about (though I doubt it’ll ever happen) and recently X-Men: First Class was spoken about, focusing on, well, the first class of X-Men, which presumably would be Jean, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast and Angel but with the decisions made in this franchise so far, who knows.

The Top 10 Movies That Should Have Rocked

7. X-Men III

Bryan Singer spent all that time and energy building up X-Men’s rep in parts I and II, and then Brett Ratner – the Atilla the Hun of directors – went and demolished it all, laying waste the land for miles around. He kills off two major characters without giving a satisfying reason for either; he gives us incoherent action sequences; and he leaves us hoping no one ever makes another X-Men movie ever, ever again. Now the characters are being picked off piecemeal for their own movies, because no one ever wants to put them together again. Thanks, Brett. Any other franchises you’d like to cannibalize? All you Conan fans out there will be pleased as punch to hear he’s got his mits on the remake.

 

[BMM]

How does someone watch the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an origin spin-off directly related to the other X-films, and presume that X-Men: First Class will focus on the likes of Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Jean Grey?

 

[deathshead2]

How does someone watch the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an origin spin-off directly related to the other X-films, and presume that X-Men: First Class will focus on the likes of Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Jean Grey?

Because thats who the comic focuses on.

 

[BMM]

Which is obviously not the direction the origin movies are taking.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I think if X3 had lived upto expectations, and after the brilliant set-up of X2, there really is no reason it shouldnt have, this franchise would be looked upon as the guideline for all other comic book franchises, alas, Fox stepped in and ensured that couldnt happen.

 

[Phoenix_Flare]

but X:FC will not focus on the original 5 X-Men!!!!!! it'sclear in X1 & X3 that Angel/Iceman are young(teens/twenties), which messed up the time continuum...and even Lauren donner said young Scott/beast/Storm/Jean, etc...so you guys who want the first 5, will have 2 rely on the comics, and cartoons...cuz a movie w/the original 5 will never work, visual speaking, thats why Storm was in X1 and not Angel because you can do more w/characters who have projectile powers...n that could be why Angel's role in X3 was minimal because they probably couldn't think anything to do with him action wise...

 

[x1cyclops_rocks]

i can understand the point about x1, about wolverine meets the x men, but seriously if they used the deleted scene there was so much character development for the other x men, x2 i believe was far more balanced, and x3 is was annoyingly bad how much wolverine was in it, it was actually like the phoenix saga was based around him, with is laughable