X-men First Class part 2

Professor Xavier and Magneto (Lehnsherr) have one of the most interesting relationships in all of fiction (in my opinion). You have two men on opposite views of an issue, fighting violently about it and are true trusted friends. You would think their origin story would be accurate in a movie. You would be wrong and I would be disappointed.

I knew going into the movie that characters would be messed up. I knew the original X-men weren't going to be in the movie. I figured that they would at least make the meeting, building of a relationship and strong friendship between Xavier and Magneto up to the standards that it deserves.

In the comics Xavier and Lehnsherr meet in a Holocaust survivor clinic in Israel where Lehnsherr is a volunteer and Xavier is visiting a friend. They become fast friends debating on what would happen to humanity if a "superior" race of human were to emerge. They have different views where Xavier has faith in humanity while Lehnsherr was a Holocaust survivor and thinks humanity would try and oppress this "hypothetical" minority group. They then end up revealing that they're both mutants in a fight and separating ways.
The movie shows Xavier saving Lehnsherr as Lehnsherr tries to catch Sebastian Shaw. They then start to locate mutants in the world to train and help them stop Shaw... in a montage. Did they really just develop the relationship between two of the most powerful mutants, the relationship that created the basis of 4 movies and countless comics in a fucking MONTAGE?!

The cherry to top this shit sundae is how they get Xavier to lose the use of his legs. The now "Magneto" wants to kill the humans with the missiles they have just fired upon them. Xavier disagrees. During the "struggle" Magneto deflects a bullet and it hits Xavier in the spine paralyzing him.

Horse shit.

In a much less dramatic fashion, Xavier in (comic book) fact had his legs crushed by a giant rock during a fight with an alien.

I get why the changes were made. I understand they have to make it accessable to a wider audience. I'm just not ok with it, because I know it so well.

Good things about this movie (this is much shorter):

The acting was great. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of  Magento was excellent. I also really liked Jennifer Lawrence. I'm waiting to see how she does in the upcoming Hunger Games movie(s). The best part was the history tie-in with the plot. Great setting for a movie.

The movie was good. If you're a comic book fan and pretend this is just a rip off of your beloved X-men then you'll like it a lot. If you just like summer action movies, you'll love it. I'll have to watch it again in a few months. I'm sure I'll like it then.

X-men First Class

I have a feeling this blog will be a two parter, because I'm about to go the fuck off.

I've been a big fan of the X-men since I was a kid. I watched the show, I read the comics, I've researched a lot of back story of things I couldn't get a hold of to read. I always wanted a live action movie growing up and I finally got it in 2000. I left the theater that day so angry. I've never felt so disappointed leaving a movie since Masters of the Universe in 1987. Everything was wrong. Characters were wrong. Timeline was wrong. Powers were wrong. My inner fan boy was crushed that day and then was crushed with two more sequels and a Wolverine Origins movie. However, after every movie came out. I waited awhile (6 months or more) to watch the movie again. Only then was I able to get over my fan boy-ness and see the movies as stand alone, non-cannon versions of the characters I loved. I like all of these movies now. In fact I think they're very good movies.

I heard a couple of years ago, they were going to do a X-men origin story movie and got excited. I thought, "Reboot! Awesome, I can get what I always wanted!" Then movie stills started and trailers started to emerge. Alright. I'm on board. This sounds awesome. This trailer is starting to look awesome... and wtf is Mystique doing there? Banshee? Is that supposed to be Havok?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

While the movie looked awesome, I knew this wasn't going to end well and I thought if I went into the movie knowing this was going to be another inaccurate X-men movie I'd be ok. I was wrong.

Premise: A young Charles Xavier meets a young Erik Lensherr they become friends. Xavier creates a school for mutants. They're involved with the Cuban missile crisis in the 60's.

Before I go off, let me say that the movie was good.

Here we go. The original X-men line up was made up of Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Iceman, Beast and Angel. Beast was the only one who made the cut apparently. The rest of the new line up doesn't make any sense. They were all X-men at some point but no way were they the first class.

First is Banshee. He's from Ireland. No accent wtf?

Havok is Cyclops' younger brother. Time traveler maybe?

Mystique was originally a villain in Ms. Marvel. She then turned into a prominant X-men villain later. Rogue's and Nightcrawler's mom? Wtf you ask? Yeah the other movies are screwed up. Xavier's adopted sister? Really?

Darwin made his comic debut in 2006 while Angel (bug chick) made her comic debut in 2001. How did they choose these characters?! Penny Arcade summed it up really well.

The bad guys. The Hellfire Club didn't make it's debut until 1980. Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost were the only two characters in the movie who were even apart of this group. Riptide and Azazel had nothing to do with the Hellfire Club.

While we're on the subject of fucking up characters, let's talk about Moira MacTaggert. In the movie she's portrayed as a CIA Agent. She's a very important character in the comics as a SCOTTISH GENETICIST and good friend/lover to Xavier. She's an important character and I'm so pissed they messed this up. This was one of the most unforgiving fuck ups for me.

I'm just getting started folks. Tomorrow I'll get into the reall messed up parts: Xavier and Magento. You would think the two main characters would be done some origin justice. Wrong.

Thor

Thor. God of Thunder. Summer movie blockbuster. Quick review.
Wasn't expecting a lot from Thor. As a comic book fan I've read only a couple of Thor comics. Why? Cause they're kind of boring. They're pretty mindless entertainment with little substance behind their characters. There's some action. Comic over.

The movie was pretty much the same...

... and that's what made it a really fun summer movie. The guys that made this movies took a lot of liberty with Thor comic book lore, which I think made the movie better. I really won't get into them because I'm not a Thor fan boy so it makes little difference for me. Though I'll give you one quick one... the giant gatekeeper guy? Not black.

There was fun action and great effects. Sir Anthony Hopkins made for a great Odin. And who doesn't like to watch Natalie Portman? She's adorable! (I sat through that Black Swan horse shit just because she's cute).

If you haven't seen it I'd wait for it to come out on blu-ray. It's a fun character setup for the Avengers movie next summer.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Christi and I didn't watch the first half in the theater, because we hate that "to be continued" shit. We decided to do a Harry Potter marathon this last week and then watch the last one over the weekend. I'd like to say that was a lot of Harry Potter to watch and at some points I wanted to kill myself.

Quick review.

I've read all the books and I'm a big fan. All the past movies were fun but I'll have to be cliche and say that the books are way better (as they usually are). HP7.1 pissed me off. Why? Mainly because Harry and Hermione spent a good 40 minutes not doing a damn thing and then Ron came back and they did nothing again for another 10 minutes. I watched HP7.1 RIGHT before HP7.2 and I think it left a bad taste in my mouth. I mean they just stretched part one out JUST to split the movie into two so they could make a shit ton more money. I get that, but damn give me something at least!

Sorry.

HP7.2 didn't disappoint. You got what you got from the other Harry Potter movies. You got action, little substance, and a slight acting improvement from the prior movie. And the ghost chick at the end was hot! Necrophilia? Yes please. Basically it's a great summer movie. If you have 2 hours to spare and you've watched the others, do it. It's fun.

Captain America

If you know me at all, you know I'm a nerd (shocking). If you know me a little better you know that I've been looking forward to the Captain America movie for years now. Well it just came out this weekend and I saw it opening night. This isn't really going to be a review, but more of a commentary on how people are reviewing this movie.

The movie has been getting mixed reviews from movie critics and people I know. Sure, I'm very bias because I love Captain America. I don't have as much knowledge about Cap like I do say the X-men (X-men movies rant inevitable), but I've read a share of the comics and I'm a big fan. I thought about it and it really makes a difference if you're a fan of Cap or not prior to seeing the movie.

Here are some negative specific things I've heard/read about movie (from people that can actually discuss something instead of just saying "it's awesome" or "it sucks") and why those things don't matter to a Cap fan (paraphrased).

Complaint: "Cap has lame powers"
Why this is a stupid complaint: DUH! Cap doesn't have powers. That's what makes him awesome. He is a super hero that has no powers. The super soldier serum gave him peak human abilities. He's just a regular dude who can kick your ass the old fashioned way.

Complaint: "The movie is cheesy"
Why this is a stupid complaint: Cap IS cheesy! That's why I love him. He a freakin' boy scout. He always does what he thinks is right. He's always the underdog. He says cheesy things. He represents the fighting spirit of America (not the country as a lot of people think). It's called a character for a reason people.

Complaint: "Didn't have a decent plot" (nod to my bud Tony)
Why this is a stupid complaint: Comic book movie. Saving the world is the plot. Give me a comic book movie about NOT good versus evil. Come on.

I think you get the point.

If you're not a fan of Captain America before you see the movie, you might be disappointed. You may expect him to have super powers and be cool and stuff. That's not going to happen.

Fans of Cap will love this movie because it's it captured the essence of Steve Rogers and the comic books. It's a story about the man, his character, and what he does because it's what's right. Is that cheesy? Yes. Is he lame? Absolutely. He's the always underdog that has no real super powers and fights in a "world" against evil with more power than he does, but he still fights because it's the right thing to do. This is why I love him and the movie that I think portrayed that very well.