The Bottom Line: The "X-Men" Trilogy is given decent treatment on DVD in a bundle pack that allows fans to get the entire series - to date - in one set.
It's a tough thing these days to find a decent collection of DVDs assembled in a multipack at a discounted price. Often movies are paired together with little regard for whether or not they belong with one another and/or the quality of the various component DVDs. Fortunately for fans of "X-Men," the three (current) cinematic endeavors are compiled in a decent multipack that gives the fans of the essential cinematic superhero team a decent way to get all three films at once. Unlike prior multipacks that have included only the first two films, this package includes all three movies with their bonus features.
As a nice bonus, this multipack also has new packaging, allowing those who have waited to buy the "X-Men" Trilogy until now a chance to save some space on the shelves that those who bought the discs all along ate up. There are, however, no additional bonus features, discs or incentives to buy with this multipack. These are the original pressings of each film's DVD put in a new slimmer, space-saving case.
And for those who have not yet seen the "X-Men" Trilogy, this is a great way to get it all together in one fell swoop!
In "X-Men," Marie D'Ancanto finds herself nearly accidentally killing her boyfriend while making out and she comes to realize that she is a mutant. Mutants are simply genetically different people who seem to have extraordinary abilities. Marie flees, taking up the name Rogue, and finds herself in the Canadian wilderness. There she encounters a troubled cage fighter named Logan who she hitches a ride from. Soon, however, the pair is attacked by a massive mutant who is undeniably bad and rescued in the nick of time by other mutants.
Logan awakens in the protected facility of Charles Xavier, a mutant who can read minds. Xavier informs Logan of a conflict between his mutants who seek equality, social justice and cohabitation with the mundane humans, and the forces of Magneto, who seek for mutants to dominate humans and subjugate them. When Rogue is abducted by Magneto's forces, Logan must decide to join Xavier's team - the X-Men - or sacrifice Rogue because the fight is not one he wants to get involved in.
Okay, "X-Men" is not the most original movie in terms of plot. This is essentially the story of Rogue and Logan - who comes to be known as the Wolverine - learning to trust one another while Xavier and Magneto - who used to be allies - fall further away from one another as a result of incompatible ideologies. There's a remarkable sense of balance in the film on the character level that makes up for the almost ridiculously simple James Bond-like plot. After all, "X-Men" employs an over-the-top villain - Magneto - who has a dastardly plan to make a bold statement using violence - in this case, a device that mutates normal humans . . . with unstable results.
There is a forced sense of humor throughout the film. Any time a film begins with a boy being oppressed by Nazi's in a death camp, the viewer should not expect a lot of laughs. "X-Men" makes some legitimately amusing jokes throughout, like Wolverine commenting on the uniforms and Cyclops referencing the yellow Spandex outfits (from the comic book and animated series). But some of the humor seems forced, like some of Magneto's treatment of Sabretooth that seem like they are intending to force a laugh and fail.
For the most part, though, "X-Men" is a serious, intense film that keeps the focus on the characters and when it is not making a social statement, it takes a moment or two to use special effects that serve the story as opposed to overwhelm the viewer with plot. So, for example, Magneto's forces find themselves surrounded at one point by the police and Xavier uses one of Magneto's people against him. Magneto uses his power - which is to manipulate metal objects using magnetic fields - the threaten the police officers. As an example, he fires a gun, but holds the bullet off its target and the effect used to render this is impressive even by today's standards.
The characters in "X-Men" are interesting, if a bit sexist. Interesting in that the powers the "X-Men" exhibit are actually interesting. Unlike the villains Toad and Sabretooth, who are basically a man-frog combo and a big, dumb brute, most of our heroes are actually intriguing. Logan is powerful, has a strong healing ability and no memory of his past. Rogue's ability to absorb the life force or mutant power of others creates for an interesting and conflicted character, as she cannot touch another person. Bummer for her. Xavier is stunningly powerful with his mental abilities, but is confined to a wheelchair. Villains Magneto and Mystique - who has limited shapechanging abilities - are suitably impressive counters to the X-Men setting up for real conflict.
And the impressive thing here is the conflict is very real and very well conceived. Magneto's desire is motivated by the need to keep humans from eradicating his way of life, his very existence. Despite his villainy, his intent is good and his desire is to save his people, keep the minority from being exploited, catalogued or exterminated. These are surprisingly honorable goals from a villain.
Indeed, somewhat more villainous throughout "X-Men" is Senator Kelly, an ambitious American who seeks to pass legislation to define mutants and catalog their powers and keep them controlled and regulated. Kelly is motivated by fear, fear that is well justified as his high-profile attacks on mutants make him a target by Magneto.
Senator Kelly's political villainy lands him in a place and time that give Charles Xavier and his team a chance to show their true heroism. Xavier works to aid Kelly through understanding and peaceful coexistence rather than fighting his fear and hate with more of the same. Xavier is a man of peace and his character consistently fights the good fight in an above-the-board, honorable way. It's refreshing to see in a movie.
Of course, after years of watching "Star Trek The Next Generation" (series reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_346303991428 ), it's hard to expect less of actor Patrick Stewart. For years, Stewart embodied a philosopher king, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, a man who fought only when he had to and tried to use reason and logic and humanity to decide a conflict as opposed to advanced weaponry. In this way, Stewart playing Xavier is not a stretch of his acting abilities. Instead, director Bryan Singer simply exploits Stewart's stature, commanding abilities and paternal performance instinct to embody Xavier. He could not have cast better and Stewart plays the character with more immediate good-nature than he played Picard.
The only member of the main cast to underperform is James Marsden, whose portrayal of Cyclops is bland and dull. Rumor is, the character is dull in other incarnations as well, but here he's just flat and affectless, which made his character inaccessible. On the flip side, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos proves that she's not just a good looking body with latex and body paint as Mystique. Romijn-Stamos emotes remarkably well in scenes with Ian McKellen and Bruce Davison to add some humanity to her potentially flat character.
Ian McKellen and Bruce Davison make for wonderful villains in "X-Men." McKellen plays Magneto and it's wonderful to see such a powerful dramatic actor in the role of a supervillain. He is careful not to take his performance over-the-top, tempering Magneto's anger with his rationality. McKellen plays well of Davison in the few scenes they share and works quite well with Patrick Stewart. Davison plays Senator Kelly and the highest compliment I can muster for his performance is that he seems like a Senator, through and through. Perfectly cast, articulate and bearing some power, Davison is wonderful.
Halle Berry, Famke Janssen and Hugh Jackman round out the cast as Storm, Jean Grey, and Logan. They do quite well. But even their performances are not enough to overcome the inherent sexism written into their characters. I am not referring to Wolverine's brusque attitude or his attraction to Jean. I mean in the powers. X-Men have serious powers, X-Women might have impressive powers, but they get worn out from using them. Half the movie, I expected Berry to utilize her powers as Storm, then declare "Ah have tha vapors!" and fall down. This is a systemic flaw in the characters not unique to this incarnation of X-Men.
The one who steals the scenes and knocks the acting out of the park is actress Anna Paquin. Paquin is delightful as Rogue, seriously expressing an adolescent conflict with the desire to reach out with the inability to touch another. Rogue is instantly likable, empathetic and fun to watch given Paquin's soft, innocent and realistic portrayal of a young woman in crisis.
Paquin, and her part, help highlight the essential theme of "X-Men" with is the importance of diversity. It's easy to see why the lesbian/gay/bisexual community rallied around this movie. The mutants are judged and condemned, feared based on a single aspect of their nature and personality. The metaphor here is staggeringly easy to identify and appreciate and "X-Men" makes salient and open-minded arguments for diversity and treating one's fellow human being with humanity, even if it's using mutants as a metaphor.
In "X-Men 2," the story continues with Magneto trapped in his plastic prison and Wolverine has gone in search of answers at Alkali Lake and the rest of the X-Men are doing their things. Well, except Jean Grey. There's something not right about her. Their little routines are suddenly shaken up by a Mutant who attacks and nearly kills the President of the United States. While Storm and Jean Grey go in search of the would-be assassin (a likable teleporting mutant named Kurt Wagner), Professor X and Cyclops got to interrogate Magneto, reasoning that he had something to do with it. While all of them are away, Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman and Pyro find themselves under siege by commandos who are determined to capture the mutants at the professor's school. The raid is the brainchild of William Stryker, an embittered man whose mutant son is the cause of his wife's death. Stryker has used Magneto to come up with a plan to kill all of the mutants on Earth, using Professor X and Cerebro. It's up to the X-Men, in tandem with their adversaries Magneto and Mystique, to save mutantkind.
Big surprise.
However, the film is entertaining and it does an excellent job at continuing the themes and positive messages from the first "X-Men" film. Bryan Singer does an excellent job directing, quickly returning the viewer to a world in the no so distant future that seems instantly familiar to the audience, yet different enough to remain engaging. His style, especially in the big bang of an opening, is very accessible and makes the story easy to follow.
In fact, the only severe problem with the film is that it comes across as highly derivative, especially to fans of the "Star Trek" franchise. "X2" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_353653722756 ) from its obsessed, deeply hurt villain to the disastrous scenario which opens the movie to the sacrifice at the climax of the film. Outside that writing fault, the only problem of note is the director's insistence on making things terribly obvious to the viewer. I, as an intelligent person in the moviegoing public, found myself insulted by the reminder that Senator Kelly is actually Mystique. This is done by a disgustingly obvious long hold shot on Kelly after meeting with Stryker wherein Kelly's eyes morph into Mystique's. The viewer didn't need such an obvious reminder (considering "X-Men" ended with a similar visual note).
The nice thing about "X2" is that it manages to be an intelligent, character driven story more than simply a senseless comic book action flick. Stryker is easily one of the best villains ever to crop up in science fiction. His actions are reprehensible, his methods are horrific and his hatred seeps into every moment he is on the screen. Stryker makes it believable that those who are historically enemies (Magneto and the X-Men) would come together. Pooling their resources seems the only way to counter this very nasty character.
But the character is not limited to the villainous Stryker. Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler, leaps into the series as a compelling, intriguing mutant with a great deal of backstory and a compelling philosophy of kindness to all. While this newcomer takes much of the time on-screen, there is still ample time to explore Rogue and Bobby's burgeoning romance and Pyro's descent into the dark side of mutantkind.
And of the regular X-Men? Singer seems to make the right choice by jettisoning the bland, white bread Cyclops for much of the film, favoring instead the dim-witted, but interesting Wolverine. As Wolverine learns more and more of his past, he becomes more interesting, if not more intelligent (the movie would not have happened had Wolverine been just a little more clever at the beginning and actually looked around Alkali Lake). And Jean Grey's strange transformation makes her character even easier to watch.
What separates "X2" from a lot of the science fiction, and especially comic book adaptations that abound, is that the franchise has invested in some high caliber actors and actresses. Brian Cox portrays Stryker and does such a magnificent job that he is almost unrecognizable to fans of some of his other works, such as "25th Hour." (reviewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_128759795332 ) Cox has real screen presence and he manages to envelop himself in the role completely.
Similarly, the always-wonderful Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart bring dignity to their roles that no one else could. Anna Paquin is underused in "X2," which is unfortunate considering what a plum role Rogue had in the first. Still, Paquin does an excellent job in the scenes she is present for.
Much of the movie hinges on the performances of Alan Cumming and Hugh Jackman. Hugh Jackman was cast perfectly as Wolverine for "X-Men" and here he continues to illustrate that he has more than just the physical type for the character, he has a growl and a berzerker look to him and he is able to play the character as strong, swift, egocentric and just a little dim. In contrast, Cumming creates a character that is deeply spiritual, philosophical and flat out cute. He adds a gentle voice and evokes emotions using his eyes in a way that is not lost beneath all of his make-up.
In "X-Men 3: The Last Stand," Nightcrawler has disappeared and the X-Men team is recovering from the loss of Jean Grey. The love of her life, Cyclops, runs off to where she died only to discover he has the ability to resurrect her. Poor Cyclops. Jean isn't well following her return and it is at this inconvenient junction that Professor Xavier informs everyone that Jean led a troubled childhood suffering from something much like multiple personality disorder where she battled for control of herself with an alternate persona known as Phoenix. Well, the Phoenix has come home to roost and after a fairly violent battle, she joins Magneto and his Brotherhood in his war against normal humans.
And what's the bug up Magneto's butt this time around? Well, it seems an incredibly rich human has managed to concoct a "cure" for mutantism. He's giving every mutant a chance to become mundane and this causes some conflict within the X-Men, but brings Magneto throngs of supporters who want to destroy the cure and wipe out humanity. Storm and Wolverine lead the X-Men into battle to defend the humans and it's all pretty extraordinary in a summer blockbuster, special effects kind of way.
"X-Men: The Last Stand" suffers almost exclusively through its attempt to take on too much, without actually giving the viewers anything new. In the past two installments, the storylines have dealt with alienation and prejudice. There's not much more to do with it, so the "cure" problem is simply a minor variation on the old theme, albeit a clever one.
Worse, though, is that the bloodbath ensues as the plot executes itself is certainly nothing we have not seen before. Following the big fight in "X-Men," which seemed to kill off Toad and Sabretooth, "X-Men United" had giant battles that brought an end to Deathstryke and Jean Gray as well as other antagonists. So, while the scale of the assault on Alcatraz is bigger than the Alkalai Lake or Statue of Liberty battles, it is not fundamentally anything different. And because so many of the mutants involved are new and underdeveloped, there is a severe lack of emotional resonance to the scenes. Indeed, the most significant death in "X-Men The Last Stand's" climactic battles leads to an extreme "ho-hum, I know I've seen that before!" reaction.
It's not all bad, though. Indeed, outside the feeling that this is a movie we've already seen, there is much to recommend "X-Men: The Last Stand." Fortunately, it's a movie we have already seen that we enjoyed. The whole concept of a cure to mutantism is a compelling one and part of the problem with the movie is that it undervalues the emotional resonance of such an idea. And while there is outrage over the cure being used as a weapon against mutants, which is very real and intriguing, the idea then of voluntarily taking the cure is subjugated.
And the effects are quite cool. The make-up for Beast is absolutely brilliant. And in many of the big battle scenes, the special effects are flawless and bring the viewer in, which is what special effects ought to do. Special effects ought to support, not dominate. With Beast, they certainly do that. With some of the other mutants, they succeed as well.
The problems, then, are that the plots motivate the story and move it, not the characters. It is, for example, laughable to me that actress Halle Berry appears in this movie as Storm, given her public declarations after "X-Men 2" that she would not return unless her character was given character. Berry and Storm certainly appear in more scenes in this movie, but not with more character. She becomes an appendage, an accessory to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
Similarly, the wonderful Anna Paquin, who was given such a compelling role in the first two installments, is neglected and shoved under a rug for most of the movie, leaving newcomer Ellen Page to take her place. And Page is not given much to work with, either. Come to think of it, the only new mutant presented that has a decent role is Beast.
It's hard not to love Beast, played adeptly by actor Kelsey Grammar. Grammar is genius casting for the role and he lives up to it. He shines in every scene he is in.
Alas, he is the acting bright spot here. Patrick Stewart and Anna Paquin who are usually powerhouses on the screen are given almost no screentime. Famke Janssen's part is reduced too often to blinking and Sir Ian McKellen is challenged to show us nothing new and he lives up to the challenge. Ben Foster, who ruled the third season of "Six Feet Under" is a wet noodle in "X-Men 3," being given a character with serious and difficult concepts to express and have those challenges brushed aside ridiculously quickly.
In a future where mutants are being born with special powers, the fate of civilization hangs in the balance in this three film collection. The X-Men: ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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