X-Men, X2, and The Last Stand Review

you Hello and welcome to the tenth episode of

the MWIRE movie we can review. Today we're going

to be discussing the X -Men franchise, which

kicks off our first spotlight on a film series.

Over the next eight episodes of MWIRE, over the

next two months, you'll hear us reviewing a majority

of the Marvel films. I am TFG1 Mike, and as usual,

I am joined by Steve Megatron. Hello. Goodbye.

This is not AOHell. Yes, I know. I just thought

it'd be funny to introduce myself with goodbye.

Yeah, you're not Bizarro either, and that's a

completely different film universe. Sad thing

is I have no... I know what you're talking about,

but I have no idea what that reference is, so...

Bizarro is... Yeah, I know he's like the polar

opposite of Superman, but... Yeah. And Bizarro

is something that... It's very weird. He has

all the same powers as Superman, but he's basically

a dimwit. A dimwitted clone. Yes, exactly, but...

With none of the appearance. Exactly, and at

least ten times uglier. But the thing with Vizarro

is, some continuities, now I can't, you know,

our comic book fans, if we have any comic book

fans that listen to this show, to M -Wire, can

correct me on this. In some of the Superman mythos,

continuity, Bizarro completely speaks backwards.

Like, No, no, not like you. No, Yoda's at least

got some broken English, but it sounds close.

No, well like you said goodbye, same thing. Just,

it's basically opposite day with Bizarro. Goodbye

I say to you? Yeah. I don't know. Anyway, what's

been going on with you? What's that? What's been

going on with you? Not shite. Not shite. I explained

most of it in Headshot. Yes. Yes, we just recorded

Headshot 11. And I was actually really shocked,

even with all the stuff that we're going to cover.

I didn't think it was going to take us two months

to cover a majority of the Marvel films that

are currently out. on uh... on dvd and stuff

but while two months a marvel uh... yes and uh...

the great thing is i've managed to get my hands

on most of the uh... marvel movies yeah like

i said uh... it was a headshot ten not sure how

we're going to do the hulk in the incredible

hulk as i refuse to own those dvds uh... well

i own one if you can call it that but anyways

uh... So, I mean, we'll probably just go off

the wiki stuff that I get for it. Actually, I've

already gotten stuff for MWIRE. I've already

gotten all the information up to, I think, episode

30 -something? 33, 34, something like that. I

don't know. So yeah, we're going to be talking

about the X -Men films today. Stay tuned. Ladies

and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings

of another stage of human evolution. In every

human being, there's not many people that don't

understand people like us. There exists the genetic

code. You'll be safe here. What kind of place

is this? You're not the only one with gifts.

For mutation. The truth is, mutants are very

real. And they are among us. We must know who

they are, and above all, what they can do. A

change is coming. Are you a God -fearing man,

Senator? And those we fear, like myself, believe

that a war is brewing between mutants and the

rest of humanity, will be all that can save us.

If no one is equipped to oppose them, humanity's

days could be over. You're a mutant. The whole

world out there is full of people that hate and

fear you and you're wasting your time trying

to protect them. Are you sure you're on the right

side? I have made the first move that is old

enough. He could wipe out everyone in New York

City. Logan, help us. Fight with us. I'll take

care of you. Alright, our topic today as we said

before is the X -Men Marvel franchise. uh...

we're going to start with the first movie is

a two thousand superhero film based on fake fictional

marvel comics characters of the same name stricken

by brian singer who butchered uh... superman

and made him a brooding moron uh... the film

stars you jackman patrick stuart ion mckelland

in a pack one from kajansson bruce davison james

marsden heli barry rebecca romaine rick rey part

of those uh... notes romaine She and John Stamos

got divorced. Ray Park and Tyler Mane. It introduces

Wolverine Rogue into the conflict between Professor

Xavier's X -Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants

led by Magneto. Magneto intends to mutate world

leaders at the United Nations Summit with the

machine he built to bring about acceptance of

mutant kind, but Xavier realizes This forced

mutation will only result in their deaths I know

we'll talk about the cast later, but overall

just seeing a lot of these names Who would ever

thought who would ever think to put Captain Picard

as Professor Xavier? Just excellent excellent

casting with that. Oh, yeah, he fits perfectly

with the profile. Oh, yeah, well considering

he is I don't know, he might be naturally bald

now. Well, he's been that way. Like, he played

Captain Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation,

was exactly the same appearance throughout the

very... Oh, yes. So, we're gonna get right into

the plot of the movie. In Congress, Senator Robert

Kelly attempts to pass a mutant registration

act. which would force mutants to publicly reveal

their identities and abilities. Magneto begins

his plans to level the playing field between

mutants and humans. Meanwhile, a girl named Marie,

aka Rogue, runs away from her home in Marie in

Mississippi. She meets Wolverine in Canada. Suddenly,

both of them are attacked by Sabertooth, a mutant,

and an associate of Magneto's. Cyclops and Storm

arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue. To bring

them to the X -Mansion, Professor Charles Xavier

runs the facility and leads a group of mutants

who are trying to seek peace with the human race

in educating young mutants in response to the

use of their powers and stopping Mido from starting

a war with humanity. This film had been in development

for a very long time I think the original time

that they were gonna do this was back in the

early 90s like 1990 1992 Somebody I don't know

if it was I have a rad at Marvel or somebody

wanted to get it on TV and they eventually did

back then with obviously the X -Men cartoon which

we all know and love By the way, the volume three

and volume four DVDs come out this Tuesday. These

first scenes, just the way this starts, it's

just awesome. These characters, the way that

they're shown, the way that they're portrayed

is just great. What did you think of the beginning,

the whole story with the Congress and then with

Rogue running away and all that stuff? I like

the whole part where you first get introduced

to the brooding Wolverine and you see Rogue obviously

run away and somehow runs into Wolverine. He's

kind of like her in the sense because she gets

to watch him basically beat the shit out of some

guy at the bar and stows away in his minivan.

If you want to call it that. It was a truck with

a trailer and a trailer hitch. Whatever. It was

a piece of shit. I doubt we'll see Wolverine

in a minivan. You never know. But anyways, yeah,

and then you can see that the whole difference

in opinion of Xavier and Magneto in the very

beginning, as well as Magneto's hatred towards

Senator Kelly, who doesn't want to try and understand

them, just wants to basically get his away. I'm

not really sure how, like which, like I am a

fan of the Axemen, but I don't know the entire

comics history of them. I just know what I've

seen in the cartoon. Yeah, that's pretty much

all I know as well. In the cartoon, the X -Men

end up saving Senator Kelly and he eventually

becomes president and that's kind of what happens

here except for the fact that at the end the

real Senator Kelly dies and Mystique takes his

form. I like the way that they incorporated that.

Again, I'm not sure if it's... ...in any of the

X -Men comic continuity, but I'm liking how they're

bridging the gap between the cartoon and this,

even though it's not directly from the cartoon.

I'm going to play two clips right now, one from

Magneto and one from the fight that Wolverine

was going to get into. We are the future, Charles,

not them. They no longer matter. And then there's

the fight. Whatever you do, don't hit them in

the balls. You said anything goes. Anything goes,

but they'll take it personal. Those are two scenes.

The fight scene was the referee telling the guy

not to pin him at the balls. Yeah. Yeah, that

definitely is not something you want to do is

piss off a guy with razor blades for punching

bags. Yes, exactly. And then... So, abducted

by a mistaken toad, Senator Kelly is brought

to Magneto, who tests a machine on him that artificially

induces mutation, though Kelly manages to escape

imprisonment with his new abilities. After an

accident, causes rogue to use her powers on Wolverine,

she is convinced by Mystique disguised as Bobby

Drake that Xavier was angry with her and that

she should leave the school. Xavier uses Cerebro

to locate Rogue at a train station. Mystique

infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine

at the train station. Wolverine convinces Rogue

to stay with Xavier but a fight ensues with Magneto,

Toad, Sabertooth arrived to take road arriving

at Xavier school Kelly dissolves into a puddle

of water when his mutation becomes unstable First

of all the Kelly me Un -un mutating I guess you

could call it That was just gross and disgusting.

I wanted a puke after I saw that It was like

a jellyfish is what I thought he turned into

and then all of a sudden. He just melts into

a puddle of water That's just disgusting It was

like he was de -evolving. Yes, you know, I really

like the way that they're doing the effects in

this film, especially how well they've gotten

the claws for Wolverine and Cyclops's optic beams.

And actually, as far as the train scene goes,

here is Sabertooth. Scream for me. And then,

of course, that would eventually come back. Later

on in the film. What did you think of the whole

abducting and all that stuff and then? Mystique

died disguising herself as Bobby Drake I didn't

notice it to begin with until I saw the eyes

change and then I was like, oh I says that was

so exactly And then later, you know it's a setup

because the real Bobby is walking with another

mutant and says, oh, she's supposed to meet me

for lunch. Then Mystique is Bobby, goes into

the elevator and goes down to Cerebro to sabotage

it. Yeah, and turns into Xavier partially. Well,

she uses her eyes. She kneels down and she changes

her eyelid or her iris or whatever. The X -Men

learn that Magneto intends to use Rogue's ability

on himself to power the between. Xavier attempts

to use Cerebro to locate Rogue, but falls into

a coma. Gene fixes it and uses Cerebro to find

Magneto's machine on Liberty Island, which Magneto

intends to use on the world leaders who are meeting

for a summit on the nearby Elmeth Island. Just

as the group arrives at the top of the statue,

Magneto and Sabertooth incapacitate the group.

and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers

his powers to Rogue, who is forced to use them

to start the machine. Wolverine breaks free and

initiates a fight with Sabertooth, but is thrown

over the side of the statue. The scene where

they end up getting captured here, and then Wolverine

breaks free. Thank God he's got healing powers.

I mean, he pushed his claws right through his

own shoulders to get free. You know, it's a good

thing. Yeah that would hurt like a bitch. Yeah

it would actually. I think one of the coolest

parts of that scene with him fighting Sabertooth

is when he's falling he extends his claws and

his claws latch onto one of the crown parts on

the Statue of Liberty and he like grabs and does

like some sort of flip and comes back up which

I thought was really really cool. Yeah, that

was an awesome move. Definitely Wolverine is

the powerhouse of the whole series. Oh, yeah,

very, very much so. Actually, in that capture

scene, you have Sabertooth saying this to Storm.

You owe me a scream. Hey, Bob, I'm not finished

with you yet. Which is really, really awesome.

And then I forgot to mention the... The best

thing about this movie is it really captures,

even though we're in the middle of a plot synopsis,

it really captures Wolverine and Cyclops animosity

towards each other. I really thought that Hugh

Jackman and James Marsden really did a good job

with that and here is part of it. Yellow spandex.

Wolverine returns, and Cyclops, with Gene's help,

blasts Sabertooth out of the statue. With Gene

stabilizing him, Storm uses her abilities to

send Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine.

With time running out, Wolverine attempts to

stop the machine and save Rogue, but Magneto,

now having regained some of his strength, halts

Wolverine's claws. Cyclops manages to find a

clean shot, wounding Magneto and allowing Wolverine

to destroy the machine. Placing his hand to her

face, Wolverine succeeds in transferring his

regenerative abilities to a dying rogue. Professor

Xavier recovers from his coma and the group learns

that Mystique is still alive when they see her

impersonating Senator Kelly on a news broadcast.

In an attempt to help Wolverine learn more about

his past, Xavier sends him to a military base

near Alkali Lake. Xavier visits Magneto in his

plastic prison cell, and the two play chess.

Magneto warns his friend that he will continue

his fight, to which Xavier promises that he and

the Axemen will always be there to stop him.

Overall, I thought this film, I mean I know we

haven't gotten really into the other parts, but

just the story of this film I thought was really

good. It kind of meshes a lot of the characters

together. Uh, like with, um, we didn't really

mention in the way this film starts out, actually,

is, I believe it's 1944, 1945, I don't know,

and you see Magneto, Eric Lencher, as a young

boy, and he gets separated from his parents in

some sort of German concentration camp or something.

I think that's what it is. and then we uh...

you know he starts finding out about his powers

and he's you know we see this this gate you know

just all yeah basically the metal's over bent

and everything else looks like someone took a

blowtorch to it um... the casting for this film

was just i thought it was just spot on normally

You know, I will hear of someone that's going

to play a role that say I've seen in a cartoon

or something like that. And I'm like, no, that

can't be right. But the casting for this is just

spot on. I don't think anyone else could really

play Wolverine as well as Hugh Jackman has as

far as live action. No, and see with the casting

for this movie They seem to actually capture

the essence the look and the characteristics

of the characters and this was probably the first

time that a movie series actually portrayed the

characters correctly which ended up being a kind

of a role model for future movies that had to

do with Superheroes the only one out of this

entire list that I really don't like and probably

people are gonna be like What the fuck is he

talking about? I don't believe he doesn't like

her I could not stand Anna Anna Paquin in in

this film. I could not stand her as rogue It

anyway, but yeah, I can see where she kind of

annoys you she's just kind of not really the

you're expecting the the Cartoon essence of rogue

and not this is that but I understand they're

telling a story because throughout the throughout

the three films they Expand on her character

But you know just if this was just a one -shot

movie. This is not the rogue that I wanted to

see No, yeah the one from the cartoon fly that

Yeah Bright red hair. Yeah which they did actually

add that in the ways to get the end of this film

uh... because she was attached to the machine

and it's in uh... future films um... rebecca

romaine as mystique the girl the woman is practically

naked throughout this entire film oh she's just

wearing like rubber patches over with a bunch

of that's it they need she she technically is

naked Painted or blue. Oh, yeah, they used patches

like, you know skin patches in places which that

is probably the best makeup job I've seen Time

and then another one of note is Darth Maul Ray

Park, which we've I don't think he ever did he

ever talk in the Star Wars films No, just like

in Star War and GI Joey plays snake eyes. Oh

in the in the new GI Joey main Whatever. Yes

Nobody ever had to play snake eyes in the cartoon.

He never had a voice actor because he never um,

and then another one of note for me Tyler main

is saber to that thought was really good. I'm

I know technically he probably died after the

blast from Cyclops and but i wish they were brought

him back in the other films can i thought he

did a really good live action saber tooth uh...

i'd just well see what i don't get about it is

he's supposed to be have the ability to sleep

will bring a shot like that would not kill them

uh... i thought time i mean played the character

really well and i wish that they would have done

more with him As far as the backstory, because

I remember in the cartoon we eventually find

out that Victor Creed is actually Sabertooth's

son. So I kind of wish that they went more in

detail with that, but I know they couldn't. And

then the last one for me to note is Sean Ashmore

as Bobby Drake slash Iceman. Sean Ashmore, actually

I thought he was in Smallville as Jimmy Olsen.

It turns out it's his older, slightly older twin

brother Aaron Ashmore that played Jimmy Olsen

in Smallville. I was like, wait, what the hell

is Bobby Drake doing in Smallville when I first

saw Jimmy Olsen? And I'm like, huh? And then

I went and looked and I'm like, oh my God, they're

twins. They're like... They're like 18 months

apart or something, or not 18 months, they're

like 18 minutes apart or something, or whatever.

18 months wouldn't be twins. Overall, the characters

for this were just awesome. As far as the production,

David Hader, Stanley, and Tom DeSanto make cameo

appearances. george booz of the voice of beast

in x -men the animated series appear the truck

driver who drops rogue off at the bar which while

i'd know i'd never do that's cool As we all know,

Gambit was considered for one of these students

at the Axe Mansion. Singer remembered, we thought

about Gambit as a young boy on the basketball

field, but the feeling was that if he had the

basketball and then releases it and exploded,

then people would be like, what's wrong with

those basketballs? A young Colossus appears,

sketching a picture in one scene. I'm not really

going to go into the big production details.

I will go into some of the casting. Russell Crowe

was Singer's first choice to play Wolverine.

Uh, no. No. Ouch. Yeah. That would have bombed.

Because, yeah, I would have said that looks like

a piss poor Wolverine right there. Hugh Jackman,

definitely. Oh yes, after Crowe turned the role

down due to salary demands, a number of actors

offered their services for the role before singer

-cast Dougray Scott. Part of Scott's contract

included a sequel, but Scott backed out due to

scheduling conflicts with Mission Impossible

2. Okay, so it was this film that I read that

about, because when Chris from Chicken Pot Pot

and I did the Mission Impossible films earlier

in episode six of MYR, I wasn't sure if it was

a die -hard movie or if it was something else

that Dougray was up for, but he had still had

conflicts with Mission Impossible. And then Hugh

Jackman, who was an unknown actor at the time,

was cast three weeks into filming. Keanu Reeves

also expressed interest in the role. Wow. Dude.

Oh, dude. Look at my sword. I mean my claws,

man. Can you imagine Bill and Ted as Wolverine

and Cyclops? He'd be like, whoa, look at my claws.

That'd be fucked up, man. I know Kung Fu! And

then producer Richard Donner first suggested

to Patrick Stewart that he play Xavier while

filming 1997's Conspiracy Theory. James Caviezel

was originally cast as Cyclops but backed out

due to scheduling conflicts with frequency. James

Marsden was unfamiliar with his character, but

soon became accustomed after reading various

comic books. Marsden modeled his performance

similar to a Boy Scout. Eric Mabbis expressed

interest for the role of Cyclops. Angela Bassett

was approached to portray Storm in late 1997,

as well as Janet Jackson. Wow. Uh, no. I'm so

glad they chose the cast they did. This series

would never have done as well. Anna Paquin dropped

out of the lead role in Tart. To in favor of

X -Men, Terrence Stamp was considered for a part.

Thomas Jane turned down a role. Which, as we

all know, Thomas Jane would eventually fulfill

a Marvel role being Frank Castle in The Punisher.

Let's get to the reviews. Based on 143 reviews

collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 80 % were positive

with the consensus that the story is faithful

to the comic books and while the movie may be

too Wolverine -centered, it packs a freaky punch

in that is sure to excite the average summer

moviegoer. 60 % of 30 selected popular reviewers

gave it positive reviews. By comparison, Metacritic

collected an average score of 64 out of 100 from

33 reviews. Okay, here we go. As usual, Roger

Ebert of the Chicago Sun -Time said he started

out liking this movie while waiting for something

really interesting to happen. When nothing did,

I still didn't dislike it. I assume the X -Men

will further develop in the personalities of

their sequel and maybe find time to get involved

in a story. No doubt fans of the comic will understand

the subtle allusions and find points of the behavior

they should linger in the lobby after each screening

to answer questions. Which again, wow, a positive

review from Mr. Ebert there. and then it was

nominated for several awards. There is several

DVD releases now that all three of the films

are out. There's actually a trilogy three -pack

which I do not have. I have all three films individually.

I went to a local used DVD seller and I got the

X -Men 1 .5 DVD. It's a two disc edition which

basically has nothing on it. The second disc

has, I believe, trailers and a sneak peek at

X2. Other than that, it has nothing whatsoever.

It might have a commentary for the film, but

I don't know. It didn't really... It says, over

five hours of behind -the -scenes footage and

exclusive all -new extras. that's ridiculous

i could but unless they're like easter eggs and

i'm just not finding them you know you know you

can click on certain parts of uh... of a deep

yeah and i think it's like easter eggs and stuff

uh... i don't know overall for this being one

of the first new marvel films of the current

run of marvel films i really enjoyed it i would

probably give it a nine out of ten uh... Some

of the story parts were they're all right I like

the action and effects I would give the action

and the effects at 10, but just an overall score

I would give it a 9 just because some of the

story I don't know I wasn't really that into

it Yeah, probably give it an 8 Alrighty then

so we are going to move on we will be right back

Doesn't it ever wake you in the middle of the

night the feeling that Sunday they will pass

that foolish law that come for you and your children

Take you all away does indeed I feel a great

swell of pity for the poor soul that comes to

that school looking for trouble. What's happened

to you? Don't you remember? You said you'd kill

me when you had the chance! You're gonna kill

him! Bobby! No! No! Welcome, Professor. You haven't

told him about his past. Who is it? I can't remember.

Sometimes anger can help you survive. The war

has begun. All right, up next is X2, X -Men United.

It is a 2003 superhero film based on the fictional

characters of the X -Men, again directed by Bryan

Singer. It is the second film in the X -Men film

series. It stars an ensemble cast including Hugh

Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan

Cumming, Famke Jansen, Anna Paquin, Sean Ashmore,

Aaron Stanford. Rebecca Romaine, James Marsden,

Halle Berry, and Kelly Hu. The plot, inspired

by the graphic novel God Loves Man Kills, pits

the X -Men and their enemies, the Brotherhood,

against the genocidal Colonel William Stryker,

played by Brian Cox. He leads an assault on Professor

Xavier's school to build his own version of Xavier's

mutant -tracking computer, Cerebro, in order

to destroy every mutant on Earth. Just gonna

get right into the... This one, I don't know,

before we get into the plot, this one was pretty

cool. I like the fact that obviously they put

more mutants into it, like Nightcrawler, adding

him, and then adding Pyro, and the whole Pyro

versus Iceman thing I thought was pretty cool.

Yes. And of course the pyro iceman thing will

pay off in the in the third film This one starts

off nightcrawler a teleporting mutant attempts

to assassinate the president of the United States

in the White House But he fails and escapes Wolverine

reappears after discovering nothing at Alcoa

Lake While Storm and Gene find Nightcrawler with

the help of Professor Xavier and Cerebro, Cyclops

and the Professor visit Magneto in his plastic

prison to see if he had any part in the attack

on the President. Reading Magneto's mind, the

Professor discovers that a covert government

operative, William Stryker, has been extracting

information from Magneto. A trap is sprung and

Cyclops and the Professor are captured by Stryker

and his assistant, Yuriko Oyama, a military rate

of the expansion begins with soldiers sedating

every student they find. This film starts off

very well. I think it's nice of a backstory.

And as we've said before in other coverage, especially

last episode, episode nine, Brian Cox does good

villains. You absolutely hate the striker character.

Well, I did anyway. I really didn't see his side.

As far as x2 goes, yeah So what did you think

of the the beginning of this one? I thought they

pretty much just jumped right into it. I mean

it was it was pretty cool in that sense and yes

Again, this is the third movie we've reviewed

so far not necessarily in a row that's had Brian

Cox in it. Yeah Well, technically, it would be

the fifth, I believe. You had Super Troopers

and all three Bourne films. He wasn't in the

third one. Yes, he was. Oh, no, he wasn't. Okay.

Whoops. That's right. He died in the second one.

I'm just saying, yeah, as far as the episodes

go, not necessarily. Yeah, that's true. That's

true. Yeah. So impersonating Senator Robert Kelly

in Yuriko, Mystique gains information about Magneto's

prison and provides a means for him to escape.

Wolverine along with Rogue, Iceman and Pyro head

to Iceman's parents' home in Boston after a 911

call to the police arrive just as the group is

about to leave. The ex -gen arrives to pick them

up, and the X -Men team, with Magneto and Mystique,

Magneto has learned Stryker orchestrated the

attack on the President and has been experimenting

on mutants. Using a drug injected directly into

the back of their neck to control them, Gene

reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that

Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake, inside

the dam, where he plans to kill the world's mutants

by building a second Cerebro. As we've said before,

Wiki likes to basically Shorten actual film foot,

you know actual film story as far as their synopsis.

There's a lot that happens in here especially

with them going to Bobby Drake's parents house

and which This is what happened there Have you

tried not being a mutant If you tried not being

a mutant, it'd be kind of difficult. And then,

of course, you had this scene, which I thought

was pretty funny with Wolverine. This is just

a misunderstanding. Put the knives down! I can't.

Put the knives down. I can't. That's funny. Yeah.

Stupid cop. What did you think of these these

scenes here the impersonation of the Senator

and in your echo and all that stuff? Your echo

Was kind of a I don't know more or less a drone

kind of throw out ish character for the most

part Well, that's only because she was being

controlled by by striker Yeah, striker was an

extremely big douche in this Course having his

own agenda as usual and Yeah, Brian Cox played

that character very well. Oh, yes, very very

well Let's see through his son Jason striker

gains control over the professor His son is able

to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding

a person to reality, and through this the professor

is instructed to use Cerebro to find and kill

all mutants. Mystique is able to infiltrate Stryker's

base, and as the X -Men enter, Storm and Nightcrawler

search for the kidnapped students. Gene Magneto

and Mystique are attacked by Cyclops while trying

to rescue the professor. and in the process cause

damage to the generators that keep the dam from

collapsing. The force of Gene's telekinetic blast

awakens Cyclops from his brainwashing, and at

the same time Wolverine finds Striker in the

anamentium smelting room along with Lady Deathstrike.

Wolverine manages to defeat Deathstrike and then

finds Stryker on a landing pad or Stryker attempts

to bargain with Wolverine for his life with stories

of his past. I like how they, again, I don't

know how it is in comic continuity, but as far

as the 1992 cartoon, I like how they kept Yuriko

slash Lady Deathstrike at her claws as kind of

like organic You know what I mean? Yeah, and

more or less her fingers are the cutters instead

of having blades come out of her knuckle her

fingers turn into the knife Yeah, because the

adamantium is you know to keep it in its raw

liquid form It has to be kept so hot as striker

says in the film But I don't know if you remember

watching the cartoon. I forget which episodes

it was In that episode basically Her fingers

became the claws like we said, and I thought

this was a nice live -action version of that

Which is really really cool, and then the way

she dies is just awesome full rain Just injects

the hot adamantium into her and it bleeds out

of her nose and her mouth She just becomes a

giant metal shell exactly While disguised as

Stryker, Mystique uses Jason to convince Professor

to kill all humans, and Magneto and Mystique

use Stryker's helicopter to escape Alkali Lake.

Chaining Stryker to a concrete rubble, meanwhile,

Nightcrawler teleports Storm inside of Cerebro,

where she creates a snowstorm to free the Professor

from his telepathic illusion. The dam bursts

out a malfunction. Aboard the X -Jet prevents

it from taking off. As the flood gets stronger,

Gene leaves the jet and creates a telekinetic

wall in order to stop the wave and raises the

jet above the flood waters. Gene activates the

X -Jet's primary engines before releasing the

torrent of water down himself. The X -Men are

able to supply the President with files from

Stryker's private offices, and the Professor

warns him that humans and mutants must work together

to build peace, for they will destroy each other

through war. The film ends with a voiceover by

Jean Grey on the process of evolution, a speech

originally made by the Professor in the introduction

of the first film. The camera floats over Alkali

Lake, showing a vague shape of a phoenix in the

lake. What did you think of these final scenes

here? Well, I liked the fact that Stryker died.

That was definitely cool. And chained up as well.

So yeah, that was pretty cool. Gene dying was

kind of unseen to begin with, as well as the

Phoenix idea coming in. Although it's an entirely

different take on the whole Phoenix idea Then

the the cartoons that's true But you know at

least At least it's there though. I mean at least

they're incorporating even though it is a little

bit different Thank God. They're not doing x

-men in space yet. I Don't know how many of these

people they'd bring back Yeah, especially with

after the third film and then obviously the what

I think to be the huge failure of The third on

the fourth one Yeah, Wolverine sucked The Overall

I would give this film again a nine just because

of a lot of the effects uh... and just because

of the actual actually i would give it a nine

overall for both effects and story because i

did like i had really new uh... again i'm not

big on i'm not a big growth of knowledge of of

x -men comic book continuity or comic book history

so i like how they brought in ice man i like

how they continued his story from instead of

just making a one -shot character in the first

film I like how they're continuing that through

this one. And then you have Aaron Stanford as

John Allerdice slash Pyro, which obviously is

the foil for Bobby Iceman. There really wasn't,

outside of Stryker and Nightcrawler and Yuriko,

there wasn't really that many new additions to

this cast. Which I mean it was nice to have what

we had with Pyro and with Pyro and Iceman coming

back into more instead of just one shots like

I said. I mean I think it was great that they

included Nightcrawler. I'm kind of glad they

didn't include Gambit in these because you just

wouldn't know how to do the character justice

I think. with these films. Yeah, they definitely

didn't need him in this. It carried well without

him. And especially with supposedly Rogue being

pretty much teenager -ish and putting her with

Bobby instead of Remy. I think that was a lot

better because you couldn't do what was done

in the cartoon in this film with these actors.

I don't think, not without a lot of makeup on

Anna Paquin. Overall, it's just an awesome, awesome

film I'm going down here looking for. Nightcrawler's

Tale was mainly computer -generated, although

Alan Cumming sometimes used one made of rubber,

which, wow, that's kind of cool. These hands

are kind of ugly though. I don't know. Comic

book references. One scene depicts Mystique going

through files on Yuriko's computer. Bryan Singer

purposely included various characters and hints

of storylines in the X -Men comic book on Yuriko's

computer screen. Singer finds great difficulty

in adapting all this stuff into two, two and

a half hour long movie. You know, which I thought

that was really really cool Let's go into the

release here. The first cut of X2 was rated R

by the Motion Picture Association of America

due to more violent scenes concerning Wolverine

when Strikers Army stormed the Axe Mansion. Very

few seconds were cut to secure a PG -13 rating

X2 opened in America on May 2nd 2003 accumulating

85 million five hundred fifty eight thousand

seven thirty one dollars in his opening weekend

Is it basically grows a hell of a lot of money?

Worldwide coming in at four hundred and seven

million seven basically four hundred eight million

dollars x2 is finance success its recouped its

production budget three times over X2 debuted

simultaneously in 93 countries, the largest North

American and international opening ever at the

time. In addition to the film, it is fifth highest

-grossing film based on a Marvel comic book and

was the sixth highest in 2003, also earning $107

million in its first five days of DVD release.

X2 had a video game tie -in on X2 Wolverine's

Revenge, which has nothing to do with the events

of the film, although Patrick Stewart voiced

Professor X. X -Men, the official game, bridges

the storyline between Eggman and X -Men The Last

Stand. Specifically, it explains Nightcrawler's

absence from The Last Stand. Chris Claremont

wrote the novelization of the film, which left

out its supertive cliffhanger. It's the critical

response based on 217 reviews collected by Rotten

Tomatoes. X2 received an average of 88 % overall

approval rating. The film was more balanced with

Rotten Tomatoes 37 top critics receiving an 82

% approval rating. By comparison Metacritic calculated

an average score of 68 from 38 reviews. Roger

Ebert wrote the storyline did not live up to

its potential and was critical of plot holes.

He was impressed, however, by how Singer was

able to handle so many characters in one film.

In addition, Ebert wrote that the film's closing

was perfect for a future installment, giving

X to three out of four stars. Wow. He's slowly

redeeming himself over the course of our show.

Oh, I'm sure it gets worse as we progress. Probably

not with these films, but... with others. The

DVD release of X2 probably had a couple of single

disc versions. I know as I said before in the

X -Men information, in the original films, first

films information, there is a trilogy set but

I have it on a two disc full screen edition where

it says there's over five hours but You know,

it's basically stuff about Nightcrawler, the

secret origin of the X -Men, a complete anthology.

There is a full -length audio commentary by director

Brian Singer and cinematographer Newton Thomas

Siegel. Overall, it's a great film. As I said

before, I would probably rate it a 9 out of 10.

What about you? I'd probably give it... A 9 out

of 10 just for the fact that it upped the ante

on a lot of various aspects of the whole saga.

Yes, very, very much so. So, we will be right

back in a few minutes. There have always been

moments when the course of history shifted. Such

a turning point is upon us now. They wish to

cure us, but I say we are the cure. A conflict

between the better and worse angels of our very

nature. whose outcome will change our world so

greatly, there will be no going back. I do not

know if victory is possible. I only know that

great sacrifice will be required. And because

the fate of many will depend on a few, we must

make a last stand. And finally up today is X

-Men The Last Stand or X3 or whatever the hell

you want to call it. It's a 2006 superhero film

and the third in the X -Men series it is directed

by Brett Ratner who took over when Bryan Singer

dropped out to direct Superman Returns or well,

Butcher Superman Returns. And Butcher X3? No,

Bryan Singer Butchered Superman Returns. i have

a completely different opinion that a lot of

people on on x three i actually liked the film

home i thought it was uh... uh... so anyway the

murder was around the interior that causes serious

repercussions among mutants in humans and on

the mysterious resurrection of jane gray who

apparently uh... who appeared to have done next

to the film is also based on two excellent comic

book story arcs writer Chris Claremonts and artist

John Burns' Dark Phoenix Saga and uncanny X -Men

writer Joss Wheaton and artist John Cassaday's

six -issue gifted arc in Astonishing X -Men.

The film was released May 26, 2006 in the United

States and Canada despite mixed reviews. From

critics and fans, the film did well at the box

office. It's opening day it grows to 45 .5 million

and its fourth highest on the record while opening

weekend gross of 103 million is the fifth highest

ever. Overall, I'm just going to come out and

say that one of the reasons why I like this film

was how they included some of the characters

like Angel, like Warren Worthington, how they

included Beast, which there was a lot of skepticism

of who was going to play Beast and how it was

going to be done. And as we all know, I forget

what his name is, he was... Kelsey Grammer. Yeah,

no, no, no, not Kelsey, the guy that played him

in the cartoon. I was hoping they would get him

to play because of the voice, get him to play

Beast. But seeing Kelsey Grammer and hearing

Kelsey Grammer as Beast was just super, super

awesome, and I thought it was a great way to

introduce the character. Oh, yeah. So getting

into the plot here. The film opens 20 years ago

with Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier visiting

a young Jean Grey, where they convince her parents

to let her join Xavier's school. Fast forward

10 years later where a young angel is seen cutting

off his wings. Back in the present, Xavier worries

about Cyclops who is still heartbroken about

the loss of Jean Grey. Mystique is captured by

the government and Beast watches her being questioned.

visiting the x -men beast tells them that the

mutant care has been invented uh... the beginning

for this was really really cool uh... is just

there i thought it was a nice beginning for the

third film in a kind of continue a continuation

from the second one this really is a a true trilogy

taking events from from each film as as they

go along uh... i don't see why people are so

Negative towards this one. Well, I don't hate

the film itself like is the whole film overall

was good It was just what they did with a few

particular characters Okay, and that they kind

of killed them off prematurely when they could

have possibly done more and then of course I

have to play this because it's just so funny.

It's part of the interrogation scene with Maseek

My family tried to kill me, you pathetic meat

sack. So Cyclops returns to Alkali Lake and hears

Gene's voice, begging for it to stop. Gene then

appears to Cyclops and as they kiss, appears

to kill Cyclops. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends

Wolverine and Storm to investigate, but then

they arrive, they encounter a telekinetically

floating rocks, Cyclops's glasses, and an unconscious

Gene. I think I get why they killed him off,

though. It was probably due to Marsden not wanting

to continue with the character. That might be

in the notes later on down the line after we

finished the Plasmonopsis, but I think they could

have continued if Marsden had wanted to. Very,

you know, like you said in the other one, it's

a very different uh... phoenix or dark phoenix

saga uh... i think uh... you know i i don't know

again i'm not a comic book aficionado so i'm

not really sure the next scene is of an older

angel who is to be the first need to take care

but he refuses and fleas meanwhile magneto ambushes

and military transport and freeze mystique juggernaut

and multiple men during which mystique blocks

a shot of the mutant cure aimed at Magneto losing

her mutant ability and she is abandoned by Magneto.

Shortly after, Beast resigns his position as

Secretary of Mutant Affairs and Xavier explains

to Wolverine that when Jean was a little girl

she was so powerful that he had to put a telepathic

blocks on her mind to help her keep her powers

under control. Her bottled up powers manifested

themselves as an alternate personality called

the Phoenix. a purely instinctual creature ruled

only by its own violent desires. Initially skeptical,

Wolverine becomes more convinced when Jean reawakens

and she seduces him. He talks about Cyclops,

but she cannot remember and fears she killed

him. Jean pleads with Wolverine to kill her before

she harms anyone else, but when he refuses and

offers to have Xavier help her, the phoenix resurfaces

and Jean flees to her childhood home with Xavier.

Wolverine and Storm in pursuit Magneto also aware

that Jean's powers are loose meets Xavier at

Jean's house and the two men Plead for Jean's

loyalty or the Phoenix resurvices unleashing

her devastating power Furious at the being caged

within Jean's subconscious for 20 years She lifts

and destroys her family's house and engages in

a psychic battle with Xavier whom she eventually

overpowers Wow You know, there's a lot of imagery

and a lot of good stuff. Again, I like that they

included Angel in this. I like the character

of Warren Worthington. I don't particularly like

his Angel version. I like the Archangel that

was done in the cartoon better. But I like Warren

Worthington himself. And it was just really good

to see that in live action, finally, and not

just comic book. Yeah, I liked his character

as well. Although, yeah, I'd have to agree with

you. I liked the dark version of him better.

Archangel. The metallic wings. Oh, yeah. And

as for Jean or slash Phoenix, going back to her

family home and destroying it and destroying

Xavier, it was kind of sad to see him go in that

particular fashion, knowing that he He was going

to be overpowered and killed. Maybe, maybe not.

We'll have to wait and see. Because as if, you

know, if most people stayed till the end of the

film, throughout the credits, through the credits,

at the end, he seems to be alive in somebody

else's body or his mind anyway. I didn't catch

that. You never saw that? No. Yeah, everybody

said with this film, you have to actually stay

through the entire film through the end of the

credits. I'll have to pop in my DVD then. Yeah,

it's at the very end of the credits because it

shows Moira McTaggart. I believe she's on Muir

Island. I'm not sure if that's where she is in

the film or not. But here's introducing beast

mystique was recently apprehended. Who's the

furball? Hank McCoy secretary of mutant affairs

secretary Nice suit Henry. This is Logan. He's

Wolverine. I hear you're quite an animal. Look

who's talking Very good good scene And then,

so Wolverine leaves the school to find Gene and

finds out that Magneto and his army plan to attack

Alcatraz Island and goes back to the school.

The president is also aware of Magneto's plan

and orders an army attack. on Alcatraz. The X

-Men regroup and confront Magneto's army on Alcatraz.

The Brotherhood's first charge is ineffective

and the first group of mutants are hit with the

Cure cartridges and overpowered. As the X -Men

arrive, Magneto derides them as traitors and

orders his army to attack the X -Men and confront

them to give To give Kitty time to save Jimmy,

Jimmy is the boy who apparently his DNA is where

the cure is made from. After this, Wolverine

nearly coaxes Gene back to sanity. However, more

soldiers arrive and fire upon Gene. The Phoenix

quickly resurfaces and in her rage begins to

disintegrate everything and everyone around her.

While the other X -Men soldiers and the remnants

of Megiddo's army flee to safety, Wolverine fights

his way to Jean, relying upon his healing abilities

to save himself from her destructive power. When

he reaches her, the phoenix coldly sneers at

Wolverine, being willing to die for the others,

to which he retorts that he would only die for

her. Momentarily regaining control, Jean begs

Wolverine to save her. Wolverine confesses his

love for Jean and reluctantly stabs her with

his claws, killing her. This fight scene was

really, really great. And I like the animosity

from the fight scene from before at Jean's house

between, I believe, I believe it was supposed

to be Psylocke, the chick that kept teleporting

and has, I believe it was supposed to be Psylocke,

I'm not sure, I'll have to look in the cast a

little bit later. But Psylocke versus Storm,

and then in the battle you had Psylocke versus

Storm round two, which I thought was really,

really cool. And then of course you have the

payoff between Bobby and John, Pyro and Iceman,

which I thought was really, really good. Yeah,

that was definitely pretty cool. Oh yes, very

much so. And I do have two more clips from Beast.

Here is one of them. And then there's the other

one. Not all of us can fit in so easily. You

don't shat on the furniture. Let's see. Oh yeah,

and then when Kitty was going after the kid and

trying to save the kid, obviously she can walk

through walls or she can go through walls and

stuff. You have Juggernaut chasing her and this

is what he says. Don't you know who I am? I'm

the juvenile, bitch! That was awesome. I'm the

juvenile, bitch! Very, very cool. I'm trying

to think here. What else do we have? Despite

the X -Men's losses, life goes on. School continues

without Xavier. With Storm now in control, the

President appoints Beast to the United Nations

to represent the entire United States. Human

and mutant rogue returns, telling Iceman she

has taken the cure. Magneto, now without mutant

powers, sits in a chess board in a park and reaches

out towards a metal chess piece that moves slightly,

indicating that the mutant cure may not be permanent.

Following the closing credits, the scene cuts

to Dr. Moira McTaggart checking on a comatose

patient who greets her with Xavier's voice. The

whole rogue thing, getting the cure, not getting

the cure, in the film, she does. There's an altered

ending where she comes back and it's her and

Bobby and she says, you know, I am what I am.

You know, take me or leave me or whatever. You

know, overall, you know, just... Overall, this

film, I really, really enjoyed it. I do kind

of agree that they shouldn't have killed off

some characters, but for the story that they

were telling, it was necessary. I don't see why

people outside of that really cannot stand this

film. Oh, I like it. It's just I don't like the

fact that Xavier died. That was about the only

character that I could see that irritated me.

And you know by the time this third film came

out I kind of got to like Anna Pak when his road

because obviously she's grown up since the first

film And of course, you know Kelsey Grammer is

as beast that that was just ingenious casting

for that role Now that I've seen it on the screen

and then you have Sean Ashmore again is Bobby

Drake Iceman, and that whole confrontation with

him and Pyro, where Pyro is like, you still haven't

learned anything at that school. And he's like,

oh, you never should have left. And the next

thing you know, it's Iceman totally in ice. I

mean, it's just like out of a comics or the cartoon

or whatever. It's not just Bobby as himself,

which I thought was really cool. And then you

know you had Colossus and and all them it wasn't

really It doesn't list oh The Omega it was Callisto

not not Psylocke Yeah, because His kid Omega

was the porcupine. Okay, it was Callisto. So

basically what they did was they made the Morlocks

the Omegas Which was kind of kind of stupid I

think So yeah overall this film was really well

done I think I like how they're showing Professor

Xavier and Magneto in their like they first met

when they were children or when they were like

12, 13, whatever. And then they build up this

friendship and then they're showing them in their

20s, obviously, going to Gene's house and stuff

like that. As far as the reception, it grossed

$45 .1 million domestically for the seventh highest

opening day. The dark night, $68 .7 million.

was the highest, Spider -Man 3, 59 million, Pirates

of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest, 55 million,

and Star Wars Episode III with 50 million. Let's

see, adaptations. I'm trying to see, did Ebert

say anything? Ebert and Rober gave the film a

two thumbs up, rating with Ebert stating, I like

the action, I like the absurdity, I like the...

incongruous use of and misuse of mutant powers

and I especially like the way it introduces all

these political issues and lets them fight it

out with the special effects. So, you know, at

least he's getting better. There was a novelization

adaptation for it, there was video games, game

publisher Activision released X -Men the official

game, the official video game tie -in to the

film. Have you? I've played the Yep, it's pretty

fun very difficult you get to rotate between

Nightcrawler Iceman and Wolverine Some of the

missions you have to play as the other characters

But overall I liked playing as Wolverine obviously

and Nightcrawler more so than I did Iceman yeah

As far as the DVD release goes, it was released

in the United States and Canada on DVD in both

standard and collector's edition formats on October

3rd, 2006. The single disc standard DVD in either

widescreen or full screen features two menu settings.

Join the Brotherhood and take a stand. These

choices change the menu's design and deleted

scenes available and also the ending scene with

Magneto. Magneto was able to move the metal chess

piece. to take a stand, but not enjoying the

brotherhood. The DVD also features commentaries

featuring the director, writers, producers, 10

deleted scenes, three alternate endings, and

two Easter eggs. On the first day of its release,

errors were reported with the DVD. About 60 %

of the DVDs currently in circulation have errors

in them. Some DVDs come with only 10 deleted

scenes, while others come with 21, among other

errors. The quote unquote Stanley Collectors

Edition DVD is a widescreen standard DVD that

was packaged in a slipcase with a hundred page

booklet featuring a completely new X -Men comic

by Stan Lee. The Hollywood Reporter announced

that the 20th Century Fox will make films available

to buy online the same day as the DVD through

direct -to -drive. With X -Men The Last Stand

among the first such available. Also Walmart

stores included a special exclusive DVD titled

X -Men, revealed with 50 minutes of behind the

scenes look at the evolution of X -Men franchise.

The Walmart exclusive DVD disc is not what seems,

however. From the information of the exclusive

DVD front and back cover, it is supposed to be

a behind -the -scenes look of the X -Men movie

franchise, but instead is a brief history of

the X -Men comics. Target also has an exclusive

that comes in a tin case, the single disc DVD

plus reprint of the giant size X -Men number

one and four collectible cards from the movie.

Which, I've seen the Target version. I would

only want it for the tin case because it looks

so awesome. But I have the Stan Lee collector's

edition with the comic book. As I said before,

I haven't actually read the comic. I will eventually

one of these days when I'm interested or when

I get the time. When I just am so bored I...

want to read something dealing with X -Men, I

guess. Do you have any DVDs or did you just get

them on Netflix or something? I actually have

all three. I bought the first two in a two -pack,

used, and then I bought the third one used as

well. So I didn't get any of the special... Well,

I bought the first two because I originally only

had the... When we first started doing M -Wire,

I originally only had just the third one, the

collector's edition. I didn't have the first

two, so that's when I went out to that used DVD

store and found the two disc editions of the

first two films. It also has been released on

Blu -ray disc. The video was encoded in 1080p

with a 6 .1 DTS -ES HD Master Audio X -Men. The

last one was released in Universal Media disc

as well. As I said before, we are not going to

be talking about Wolverine, or X -Men Origins

Wolverine. I've seen trailers, I've seen clips,

I'm not impressed. I'm not going to be getting

the DVD when it comes out this Tuesday. I think

Fox really fucked it up more than usual with

that one. I mean, there's a scene where he has

bone claws, for Christ's sake. It's supposed

to be adamantium, you dumb bastards. Well, he

has bone until they put the adamantium in him.

Shut up, I haven't seen the fucking movie. I

don't want to see the fucking movie. Well, that's

why, you know, because he's supposed to have

that whole transfusion of adamantium grafted

to his skeleton, and that's why he has bone beforehand.

Which is breakable. Which is not good. No, although

it'll hurt like hell, but he'll still survive

it. That's really all I have for this episode.

What did you think overall for the entire X -Men

franchise outside of the origins of Wolverine?

Overall, I'd have to say it was a pretty good

series. As usual, another must watch, must buy.

Definitely great casting, great sounds, great

visuals, great plot line, although a few things

weren't to my liking, it still was a great series

of movies. I can understand why people disagree

with the killing off of characters, but as I

said before, for the story that they were going

after, With these three films it couldn't be

helped Now if they had written different a whole

different story, maybe it could have been but

with this story that they've set up Over these

three films. It just couldn't be helped So that's

I think we're gonna move into a Thing we're gonna

move into the closing and we We're gonna close

With this one. Who will you stand with? The humans?

Or us? Thank you for joining us here on MWIRE,

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We hope you enjoyed this episode of MWIRE and

wish that you'll join us next time when we'll

be reviewing the Marvel Spotlight Spider -Man

franchise. For now, I am TFD1Mike with Steve

Megatron Phillips. Say any more words of Bob

Barker? Uh, what did he say? Oh yeah. The price

is wrong, bitch!