X-Men 2

[avram]

After the play, my folks drove us over to my place, and Chris and I hung out for a while then saw the second X-Men movie. I liked this more than the first, mostly because it just felt more like an X-Men story than the first one did. More superhero action, more interaction with the traditional X-Men backstory, more actual characters from the comic. More behind the spoiler warning....

• Damn, that opening Nightcrawler action sequence kicked ass.
• Nice shots of Kitty and Colossus during the raid.
• Every time Jean pushed her powers and we saw flames in her eyes, I could see the plot of the next movie being set up.
• They did a good job of giving all the major characters cool stuff to do.
• The ambiguous sometimes-ally, sometimes-enemy nature of the relationships among the mutant groups was well-handled. (Mark Millar does a good job with this in the Ultimate X-Men comic, too.)
• I didn’t much like how Jean “died”; if she could fix the plane with her mind, why couldn’t she do it while staying on the plane? If she was powerful enough to split the water, shouldn’t she have been able to just levitate the plane with herself on it?
• Did you notice that very faint outline of the Phoenix symbol on the water at the very end?

Comments

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

I thought Jean had to get out of the plane so she could actually see what she was doing with both the plane and the water, and focus accordingly. Missed the Phoenix symbol on the water, and I was looking for it.

I thought it would be cool if Iceman had tried to freeze the water, succeeded for a few seconds, and then the water broke through, because there's a lot of it and he's not strong enough, and -then- Jean did her thing. Did you catch the significance of the book Magneto and the Prof are reading?

I liked how the relationships are established rapidly when Wolverine returns. Reminded me of the Powers/Rathbone Zorro, where there is a complicated love pentangle in a 90 minute movie, which is packed with action.

I liked the fact that there were casualties. Wolverine killed, and I find it hard to believe that none of the cops Pyro attacked died. That said, I am wondering if it is disingenous to have that line about casualties "on both sides" when only one mutant died, however beloved. Or were there other casualties I missed? Oh yes -- Lady Deathstrike. And one could count Stryker's victims as, well, not casualties per se, but wounded. And I think Jason's being counted as a mutant casualty, though we didn't see him die.

I do wonder why Wolverine didn't just finish Stryker off, but hey, not in front of the kid.

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

Nitpick: I believe "casualties" include wounded, but I'm not sure.

I caught the two references to Once and Future King, but I'm not sure what the intended point was. Suggestions?

[snippy]

Just my guesses: One, both Magneto and Professor X see themselves in the book, but Magneto sees himself as correcting the Merlin figure into someone who *uses* his power, while X sees himself as Merlin coaxing all the Arthur-mutants to learn empathy and how to rule (their powers). Two, in the book Arthur learns to think by being turned into other creatures: a bird, a fish, and so on. Kinda mutant-like.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Causalties = wounded? I wasn't sure.

mnemex had to point this out to me. Forget the plot of the book. "Once and Future King". Think Phoenix.

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

Casualties = dead + wounded (I think)

It must be something more than a Phoenix reference. Magneto was reading the book in his cell, when there was no reason to be thinking of Jean Grey in particular.

"The Once and Future King" by T.H. White

[(Anonymous)]

Yea, I thought it was interesting that X-Men would reference "The Once and Future King" which is about Merlyn, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table. I don't think it was a Phoenix reference. It may be that Magneto and Jean-Luc both see themselves as the Merlyn character leading King Arthur. Or it may be that they see themselves as King Arthur leading the Knights of the Round Table.

Re: "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White

[avram]

I think you're taking it far too literally.

In Magneto's case, it's the title. He wants to subjugate humanity under mutantkind, and with him as the head mutant -- the future king.

In Prof. X's case, it's a reference to Arthur sleeping beneath a hill, seemingly dead, but ready to rise again at some future date. That's Phoenix. (Prof. X doesn't know this; it's a wink at the audience.)

Re: "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, but I think Prof.X did know that Phoenix lived. It appears that he sensed that she was still alive.