X-Men trilogy: standout acting

[Kevin Roegele]

Across the three movies, the performances were all far above average for this type of movie; certainly superior to anything I can think of, the Spider-Man movies or The Matrix series. Although stuntmen like Ray Park and Tyler Mane were not in the same league as the others, they are not actors and did sufficiently well with what they had.

Anyway, let's consider:

- Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, always sublime, set the tone for the others
- Hugh Jackman was terrrific. He added so much emotion to Logan.
- Anna Paquin is so good she doesn't even seem to be acting
- Famke Janssen was effortless as Jean and somehow made the role of Pheonix work
- Halle Berry, though she really didn't have much to do, did it all to her usual high standards.
- James Marsden was excellent, and in his scenes with Logan there is real hostility between the two of them
- Rebecca Romjin was first rate. Given that she was only a henchman, she added a real hatred of humans to go with her sleek menace.
- Brian Cox, always great
- Bruce Davison made a sympathetic Senator Kelly when so many others would have made him 2D
- Alan Cumming wonderful as Nightcrawler

I'll continue this tomorrow, but you get the idea. All three movies have real acting rather than action movie acting.

 

[Spidey 2007]

hmm i agree. the actors made it feel liek it was really happening somewhere in this universe. id have to tip my hat to anna paquin the most. her "scared" scenes and panic scenes were absolutley flawless. when she swung the x-jet around for teh team, her emotion was perfect.

 

[PWN3R]

I agree. As much as I want to hate X3, I love Ian in it. Magneto was the best thing in that movie.

 

[Halcohol]

I agree. As much as I want to hate X3, I love Ian in it. Magneto was the best thing in that movie.

Ian McKellan is one of those actors that can make ANYTHING sound incredible. Overall this movie series was well-acted, the standouts for me were Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, and Hugh Jackman. Anna Paquin was good in the first movie, but after that she kinda had nothing to do. Aaron Stanford was pretty good, too.

 

[FireandIce213]

Jackman, Stewart and Mckellan simply made this movie watchable...Choosing the wrong actors for these key roles couldve killed the franchise

 

[Cyclops]

I had gotten the impression that McKellen was bored with X3. He just... didn't have that certain charm that he had in the previous films.

 

[gap5ewl]

x-men really had talented actors which is rare for a comic book movie. I think the best was definatly Janssen. She was flawless especially her transformation from jean grey to phoenix. everyone was excellent thats why i cant picture anyone else in these roles anymore because the actors just made it come to life.

 

[Robin91939]

I agree with the fact that this was a well acted franchise: (McKellen, Jackman, Stewart, Janssen, Marsden, Cumming and Grammer were my standouts). However, you really can't say that a "movie like this" hasn't had this many good performances or great actors.


The SPIDER-MAN franchise had Dafoe who was brilliant as the Goblin. Franco who is spot on as the troubled Harry Osborn. Molina was the perfect Ock and a terrific actor. Thomas Hayden Church is a huge talent (what he does remains to be seen), JK Simmons plays Jonah to perfection, Rosemary Harris is an ideal May, and Tobey is a VERY good as Parker and Spider-man.

Sin City had an all-star cast and was very well acted. V for Vendetta was very well acted. Then there is this little movie called, BATMAN BEGINS.

Christian Bale
Gary Oldman
Michael Caine
Liam Neeson
Cillian Murphy
Ken Wanatabe
Tom Wilkinson
Morgan Freeman

I mean that series, on it's pace, will not only be the best acted and cast franchise, but simply- the best franchise.

-R

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Good thread!

I think these films had incredible actors for most of the roles.

The only actor I really had a problem with, as it was the only role in which I "saw" the actor, and not the character, was Halle Berry as Storm.

With everyone else, I get lost in their portrayals of the characters, and the characters feel real, and it doesn't feel like I'm watching actors.

But with Halle Berry, her performances just wreak of "Halle Berry in a wig", especially in the last one.

Sure, actors like Ray Park, Tyler Mane, Omyhraya, Dania Ramirez, and Ken Lueng might not be the best of actors... but they weren't cast in roles that required really in depth acting, so they were fine.

But I'm really impressed to see a comic book movie, of all things, to assemble such a cast of Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Shoreh Agdlashoo (sorry if her name is misspelled, I'm just winging it...), and many of the other fine actors and actresses this franchise got.

These movies got good, reputable actors, and proved that comic book movies can (and should be) taken seriously, not just movies to be for campy and fun entertainment, but something to truly be taken seriously.

The fine list of actors who appear in these films certainly lends credence to that credibility.

 

[Loganbabe]

Yeah, great thread! It´s always nice to read something positive around here!
And I agree with you, the acting was very good. Ian and Hugh were my favorites, and Hugh in special was a big revelation. There aren´t many actors around with the kind of range he displays, going easily from Wolverine to The Boy from Oz. Ah, and he´s absolutely amazing in The Fountain!

 

[AznBABYBANDIT]

true, too much negativity over here. I think Romijin was Nice as Mystique. And among other First class actors. Shawn Ashmore did good acting in final batthe with Pyro too ;p

 

[Kevin Roegele]

However, you really can't say that a "movie like this" hasn't had this many good performances or great actors.

I didn't, I said, "Across the three movies, the performances were all far above average for this type of movie; certainly superior to anything I can think of, the Spider-Man movies or The Matrix series." Begins, of course, had great acting, but I'm talking the entire series. So you can either say Begins is first in a series and can't be compared yet, or that the five Batman movies have some weak acting in parts.

The SPIDER-MAN franchise had Dafoe who was brilliant as the Goblin. Franco who is spot on as the troubled Harry Osborn. Molina was the perfect Ock and a terrific actor. Thomas Hayden Church is a huge talent (what he does remains to be seen), JK Simmons plays Jonah to perfection, Rosemary Harris is an ideal May, and Tobey is a VERY good as Parker and Spider-man.

But Kirsten Dunst, eh?

Molina and Dafoe were both fantastic (especially talking to their evil mask/tentacles), but in places they had to be so broad that they were doing cartoon characters. Now technically that's not a fault of the acting, but the script and direction, but it affects their performances, and Dafoe certainly copes better than Molina. That never happens in the X movies.

Sin City had an all-star cast and was very well acted. V for Vendetta was very well acted.
-R

Again, I'm taking about a whole series.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

I had gotten the impression that McKellen was bored with X3. He just... didn't have that certain charm that he had in the previous films.

Funny, since he's one of the cast members that spoke out about this film being the best in the series, wasn't he?

 

[ImOverIt]

As far as people dissin Halle, i think she did fine with her material. I mean, would it of been too difficult to work her claustrophobia into the script? Imo, it would of been great and she could of easily pulled it off not to mention she'd have a memorable scene besides the "Toad n lightning" phrase.

 

[phoenix_force]

Best acting was Famke Janssen as Jean/Phoenix
other excellent acting patrick stewart and Ian Mckellan
Rest with the exception of halle were good but nothing special
Halle sucked

 

[La_She-Beast]

I'll continue this tomorrow, but you get the idea. All three movies have real acting rather than action movie acting.

I thought Pyro here was better than ever=more evil than ever.
And obviously loved Kelsey Grammer's perfomance- actually that's what made me buy the movie. Great interpretation of his character. I dunno how he managed to be so upstraight with all that heavy suit on. Well and Famke She's the most EVEEEHHL

EDIT: Oh so it's the whole trilogy? I have to think about the rest later...

 

[Avalanche]

I thought Shawn Ashmore was really good in X3. Particularly when all of the deleted scenes are thrown into the mix. He got out some really convincing emotions. I think he should step up in any future movie.

 

[WideAwake]

Basically, the whole main cast was very good.
Ian and Patrick were especially great in X1 and 2, but as Cyclops already said, Ian seemed bored throughout X3, and lacked his charm.

Jackman, Janssen and Paquin all had interesting characters to play, and for me, they ran with it. Berry and Marsden were not so lucky. They're not bad actors at all, they just didn't have much to do. I especially would've loved to see more of Marsden.

Of the new castmembers in X3 Grammar was fantastic, maybe the best performance of the entire movie for me. Page was good too, but for her goes the same as for Foster: It wouldn't have hurt if we had got to see more of them.

Oh, and why does everyone think Kirsten Dunst is so bad in the Spiderman movies? I think she's a good actress, I look forward in seeing her Marie Antoinette.
I also thought Katie Holmes in Batman Begins didn't look as bad as she could have next to Bale, Cain and Freeman.

 

[flavio_lebeau]

I really think Rebecca and Alan Cumming should be worshiped. Rebecca made, imo, one of the best caharcters of the trilogy. And dont tell me its because of the body or make-up, she does have that menacing presence, the indifference and careless attitude both towards the X-men and humanity. This is best expressed in X2. I love when Storm asks something to her and she answers in the most "" way possible: "no...". I absolutely love what Rebecca did to Mystique. She is a way better chararcter in the movies than in the comics. Even in X3, the "i dont answer to my slave name" and "homosapien" lines are wonderful. Really, Rebecca did an awesome job, and i dont get tired of saying this.

Same for Alan. He expressed all the tenderness and goodness of a demoniac-semblant character. His prayer when Jean died was so subtle that it became one of the best moments of X2. I love his ingenuousness.

Needless to say most of the actors did awesome job, Anna Paquin (scared, but in some weird way sexy.), Famke Janssen (both sincere, loving, and spicy at times. She handled a poor role in X3 brilliantly), Hugh Jackman (Wolverine.), Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier.), Ian Mckellen (the best, most tridimensional villain of a comic book franchise ever. Elegant, smart, classy. Sometimes you would root for him) and others. Unfortunately, Halle Berry and James Marsden coulnt show much, both because the characters weren't made some kind important, and because the production, writers and directors weren't interested in finding a tone for them. But i have no doubt that both these actors have an extreme talent.

 

[FireandIce213]

I agree about Famke Jannsen, dont know how I forgot about her...She was perfect, spot on...She portrayed a character that had two conflicting sides perfectly, this is why i think they shouldve kept the scene of her looking at the little girl in the car in the film...Her facial expression went from sympathetic to stern and evil within a matter of seconds...That part was acted perfectly by Famke. Oh and whoever said Ken Leung is a bad actor i have to disagree Ive seen him in Oz, Saw, and Rush Hour and I liked him in those movies...Though he wasnt particularly good in X-Men 3, I think its just that the character he played sucked. Same goes for Dania, watch her in Little Black Boot and She Hate Me she's pretty versatile, U cant judge Leung and Ramirez on their performances in this movie cuz like u said these roles dont require that much acting.

 

[Celestio]

I really think Rebecca and Alan Cumming should be worshiped. Rebecca made, imo, one of the best caharcters of the trilogy. And dont tell me its because of the body or make-up, she does have that menacing presence, the indifference and careless attitude both towards the X-men and humanity. This is best expressed in X2. I love when Storm asks something to her and she answers in the most "" way possible: "no...". I absolutely love what Rebecca did to Mystique. She is a way better chararcter in the movies than in the comics. Even in X3, the "i dont answer to my slave name" and "homosapien" lines are wonderful. Really, Rebecca did an awesome job, and i dont get tired of saying this.

Completely agree with you. Storm asks if she can shut down Dark Cerebro from the control room and she just says 'No' as if it was the most stupid question ever.

Love Rebecca!

 

[La_She-Beast]

I love when Storm asks something to her and she answers in the most "" way possible: "no...". I absolutely love what Rebecca did to Mystique.

Oh yeah loved that

 

[TKing]

Definitely agree, Rebecca Romjin and Hugh Jackman give an outstanding sense of reality and depth to their characters. Of course, Anna's and the others' supporting roles are superly done.

The only real let down is Halle Berry's performance. But given what the directors tore out from the character's background, I don't think Storm was ever going to be one of the most dramatic and emotional character.

 

[tonytr1687]

X-men: All of the actors did a good job
X2: Even better performances from the cast, although Anna didnt have a lot to do. Hugh delivered a few lines stiffly but otherwise was great.
X3: Romijn, Marsden, McKellen, Stewart, and Famke were good. Ben, Aaron, Shawn, Anna, Hugh, Ellen, and Grammar were off and on. The rest were either bad (Halle) or terrible (Vinnie).

 

[_BB_]

I think im gonna book some tickets to see McKellen as King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare next year, he is such a fantastic actor and it would be amazing to see him on stage.

Patrick Stewart is performing there right now actually in the Tempest...must find someone to go with me, i only live about 40 minutes away

These two stage actors just made the films so much better and it was them alone that made people realise "hey, these arent just comic book movies after all". Hugh, Famke, Kelsey, Aaron, Shawn, Alan, Brian Cox and Rebecca all suberb actors but as for the rest, they were rather meh. I really dislike Anna in these movies *hides from anna fans*. She just plays it so whiney and kinda forced, especially her last scence in X3, theres something about her that just irritates me