Writer@Large

The character (Pyro) says it sarcastically; it isn't stated as "fact." The lines go something like ...

BOBBY'S MOTHER: This is all my fault ...

PYRO: Actually, they've proven that it's the male who carries the gene for mutation. [POINTS TO BOBBY'S FATHER] So it's really his fault.

It's played for a laugh. Pyro is a rebellious teenage punk type, and was rubbing salt into an open wound.

The movie itself is awesome. I loved it. It isn't deeply intellectual, but it really does what it does well, and it's an improvement in every way over the first film (which I liked ... but this was better!). Nightcrawler was nearly as perfect as Wolverine. The BAMF! effects were spectacular.

--W@L

Writer@Large

Yeah, I'm pissed at them, too. No one should be revealing that kind of info without a SPOILERS tag.

--W@L

elwoodblues

Just saw it. Very impressed. If you liked the first one at all, you'll love this one.

Okay, now for the spoiler material...

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

The opening scene, with Nightcrawler busting up the White House, is particularly memorable. The teleportation ability is very well done.

Lady Deathstryke was fairly disappointing. However, Storm wasn't frighteningly bad this time around, which more than made up for it. And Nightcrawler was very good. Jean Gray was an actual character this time around. Mystique was surprisingly good. Pyro, Rogue and Bobby Drake are pretty much in the background, thankfully. Pyro especially was pretty 1-dimensional. Cyclops is pretty much a non-entity.

Magneto and Prof X were, again, wonderful. High points of the entire movie. Magneto's prison break was breathtaking. And they kept Jackman, perfectly cast as Wolverine.

Someone want to outline the Phoenix saga quick? I have no idea what's going on. They're obviously setting up for the inevitable sequel.

Philosoft

I actually know very little beyond what I've read here and there. It's possible Grumpy could inform, perhaps in suitably spoiler-ized fashion?

MrFrosty

From the official Marvel site.

When the government unleashed a second iteration of Sentinels, the androids abducted Jean and the X-Men, and imprisoned them in an orbiting space station. The team escaped to Earth in a space shuttle but were forced to fly through a lethal solar-radiation storm. Because the pilot's cabin lacked sufficient shielding, Jean insisted on flying the shuttle, reasoning that her powers would protect her. The solar radiation, however, proved too great for her to hold back. Already succumbing to the agonizing effects of radiation poisoning, Jean was touched by the cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force. The entity created a body for itself that was identical to Jean's, duplicated her memories and personality, and absorbed a portion of her consciousness. It then guided the shuttle to a crash-landing in Jamaica Bay off New York City. The Phoenix Force placed the real Jean in suspended animation within a cocoon-like pod resting on the bottom of the bay.

Eventually corrupted by its own limitless power, the Phoenix Force [now Dark Phoenix] became a threat to all creation. Jean's persona ultimately regained dominance, and her psyche caused the entity to sacrifice itself to save the universe, committing suicide before Cyclops' horrified eyes. Months later, the Avengers discovered the pod and turned it over to the Fantastic Four. Finally breaking through the cocoon's psi-damping, the real Jean released herself. Fully healed, she reunited with the X-Men -- and Scott, whom she later married.

Answerer

Why is the storyline proceeding so fast? I don't even see Apocalypse or Mr Sinister entering in the X-men's life yet.

Besides, I always thought that there is a eletric shield protecting magneto, why is it not so in the movie?

cjack

I caught a sneak preview Thursday night, and for the most part, I liked it. Good action, great acting from McKellan and Jackman, and plenty of nifty sfx.

I've never read the comics, so I don't know how it stands up for "fans," but there's a couple of things that stuck out in my mind...

For one, why is Professor X so bloody useless??? In the first film, he was knocked out pretty easily, and the other X-men had to do all the work saving the world.

In this film, he's also helpless...trapped by the military nutjobs, and the other X-men had to save him...what gives? You'd think his awesome power would serve him at least as well as Magneto's power, but it doesn't.


The other thing that's been bugging me since the first movie...what's so special about Wolverine? I mean, you've got a mutant who controls the weather, a mutant who has awesome telekenetic power, a guy who blasts laser beams from his eyes...all these mind-bogglingly powerful mutants, and who saves the day?

The guy with the claws.


I understand that he has super-healing ability and an "adamantium" skeleton, but at the end of the day, his "superpower" boils down to the fact that he can kick your ass.

I know, I know...it makes for a good action movie...but it just kind of strikes me as odd.

tronvillain

Professor Xavier is not "so bloody useless." In fact, he appears to be so powerful that the only way people can deal with him is to trap him by surprise (poisoning, gassing, etc).

Now, exactly what about Wolverine bugged you in the first movie? The only point at which he "saved the world" was when Storm and Jean chucked him onto Magneto's machine, because he had a chance of surviving and Cyclops could take the shot if he failed. Still, Wolverine is special because if he gets close, he is going to kill you - most of the others are much more "hands off."

jess

What's... so... special... about... Wolverine...?

In a nutshell?

Sex appeal.

There is just no one in X-men more attractive or weak-kneey than Wolvie.

I could go through all the little things that makes him special as a mutant (which on a one on one are not impressive, but together make a power), but it's his sex appeal that does it.

Jackman does a good job.

(my friend noted that I had the extra napkins not for the popcorn but for the drool)

Shadowy Man

Just saw it last night!

Excellent.

I am a huge X-Men fan. I started reading the comics 20 years ago, and collected the various X-titles for over a decade.

Even though they've changed storylines and characters a bit, they got the spirit of the comic down, and that makes up for a lot of the flaws. I don't know what they'll do with Phoenix in X3, but it certainly won't follow the storyline, which MrFrosty reviewed pretty well (minus the best part - the role that the Hellfire Club played in her transformation).


Spoilers below:





The opening scene with Nightcrawler was awesome! The teleportation effect was really cool. And he used to fight like that a lot in the comics. One problem with the movie though was when Wolverine was shot by the cop. The bullet wouldn't have been able to penetrate his skull, which is laced with Adamantium. It was nice to see him let loose a little bit though against the invaders in the school. And of course, Magneto is just awesome.