Apparently there was another 15-20 minutes in the movie, but Fox told the writers to edit it out (idiots). Like everyone else, they know there's more money to be fleeced on the dvd.
Just got back from seeing this. Could've been so much better. Yeah, there's deviation established storylines, but who cares? What got me was the numerous cheesy lines and the movie's inability to pack the emotional punch of X2. (EDIT: Wolvie’s “Let’s get ‘em” speech was particularly awful.) When Jean died in that film, you really felt it. In this movie, when ... major things happen, I just didn't feel it. Probably a result of their cutting so much from the movie and just stringing along a bunch of action sequences. I'd have traded the Danger Room sequence for some characterization and plot, for example. I think they really missed Bryan Singer. Some sweet action, though. The early scene with Magneto, Charles, the Brotherhood, etc. was amazing.
My thoughts are that my low expectations were met. I don't think very highly of Ratner as a director, but I think he did a good job. Ratner as a story teller is a whole other matter. After reading what nyquil just said about Fox forcing out 20 minutes of the movie, you can see why they were happy to have him. The guy is such a studio yes man, somebody they can easily reign in. The biggest problem besides the studio rushing this film was definately the writing. I guess I'll start from the end and work my way back since I just saw it. Spoilers: . . . . If Xavier needed Cerebro to find Rogue at a train station a few miles away in the first movie, how did he send his consciousness into another body all the way in Scotland? How could the X-men use the cure on Magneto when Storm was so against the cure and Beast resigned his post after finding out that the government had turned the cure into a weapon? And what was the point of giving him a quadruple dose only to have him start getting his powers back at the end? How could Juggernaut bust through one wall to get into the room with the Leech kid and then knock himself out by running into the wall on the otherside of the same room? What was the point of having Phoenix in the movie? She did absolutely nothing for the plot of this movie which was really about the cure, a plot that is absolutely brilliant and deserved a much better movie. You didn't need her at all. Prof. X says that the Phoenix is all about satisfying her instincts, then why does she end up following Magneto around? At least her death seemed like something that matches the spirit of the recent comics(Phoenix Endsong), just like the Iceman, Kitty, and Rogue love triangle which is from Ultimate X-Men. Why did it seem like nobody cared that Cyclops died? You'd think they could have at least spared half of a minute to show Xavier mourning Cyclops, who said that Xavier was like a father to him in the first movie. What was the point of putting Angel in the movie? He didn't really serve any purpose to the story at all. He's an original X-Man, if he isn't going to play an important part, then don't even bother putting him in. They could have used anybody to make that cure, they didn't need Angel's dad. I'm too disgusted to continue. You don't have to be a comic book geek to find things wrong with this movie, as some are saying. The problem is more about the poor writing, bad dialogue, rushed production, and lapses of logic. Nobody is griping about how it follows the comics, this is the third movie in and the previous 2 have already set their own continuity that comic book geeks have enjoyed. This movie doesn't stick to that continuity and it doesn't even stick to it's own (see X-Men curing Magneto). On the plus side, there was some good action (though it was kind of weird that all of Magento's "pawns" were able to jump 30 feet in the air) and I'm glad Wolverine finally got to kick some serious ass. In the first 2, he got beat up by Sabretooth, Mystique, and Deathstrike only to pull out the win at the very last second. That's not the track record of the supposed deadliest man alive. . . . . End Spoilers C-/D+ Really wish we could have seen what Singer had planned. He wanted to do X3 and X4 back to back and even when he took the Superman offer, he was still willing to go right back and do X-Men as soon as SR was completed. BTW, did anybody else get the new Superman trailer when they saw it? It's not available online and isn't attached to X3, the theaters pick what movies they'll show it with. I'm starting to get pumped for this movie when I was kind of luke warm to it before.
I believe he's talking about his comic origins. Juggernaut actually got his powers from some magic crystal or something.
It was a good movie, got away from the comics though, but very entertaining. It took me a minute or two to figure out the scene at the end of the credits and how it happend but now it makes sense.
Once the weekend ends and my personal spolier-free post waiting period ends, I'll try to explain why I think this movie was a good installment to the series (as I'm obviously in the minority).
Yeah, I forgot they made him a mutant, that's ok for the movies and it does explain how he knocked himself out, though wouldn't he have shrunk down to the size of a normal person? That's just a minor nitpick.
The fighting scenes was cool, but the story line made absalutly no sense, and did anyone else notice that they said nothing about the professor and the jugganot been brothers?
After watching the end of x-men 3 (and also the one after the credits), it seems obvious that they're setting up for an x-men 4. As far as the possible spinoffs.. I think a wolverine spinoff would be a bust. I mean the guy really doesn't have an interesting power to begin with. And plus x-men 1 and 2 already went to great lengths to talk about his past. What more is there to do with this character?
Just saw the movie and my 2 cents on it: This one more then the other 2 has a more comic book feel to it, with the fast pace and cheesy bubblegum word balloon quote like speeches. Maybe that was what Brett Ratner was aiming for, a more kidsy back to the basic pulp comic movie. That doesn't mean it was significantly worse then the Singer movies, just a different angle. Put it this way, I didn't get the feeling that Brett "Joel Schumachered" the movie. It kinda irks me that some bastardizing on mutant powers were done, notably Callisto's powers, and was that asian dude Kid Omega or Quill?. I didn't mind Juggernaut being said a mutant, getting into the Ruby of Cyttorak backstory and being Professor X's hateful stepbrother was maybe a bit much at this time, they can always correct that in later movies and just say "No, you thought I was a mutant but here's what really happened...b****!" Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde was a little too young for my taste, couldn't they get Scarlett Johansson? Hopefully she'll grow into the character. For all of the that didn't make sense questions, I learned to suspend disbelief and be open to some holes and different interpretations, (but not on mutant powers, you can't invent stuff that already has cemented lore into it). *******************SPOILER************************** And Xavier says "Moira?" not Laura, as in Dr. Moira MacTaggert in the end bit I think the major characters that were apparently killed were set up in way they can come back, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and of course Xavier. Jean Grey/Phoenix is easy, she always has a rebirth. Cyclops, well that's tougher but since the death came off camera it still leaves open for a return, with maybe just a different actor. If Magneto can regain his powers back, so can Mystique and Rogue, with Mystique possibly siding with the x-men in the next movie, I'd like her backstory of mother to Nightcrawler and stepmom to Rogue explained in the next one. I read that Marvel wants the rights back to future x-men movies and is biding until Fox's right's run out. *****************END SPOILER************************
Ellen Page is 19, I don't know how old Kitty is in the movie, but 19 is pretty close to her age in the comics where she is a college aged young woman. Iceman and Rogue are definately younger than their comic counterparts. Almost forgot, when her character was originally introduced in the comics, she was 13.
Well, Ellen looks 13 in the movie so it must be purposeful to use such an adolescent looking actress, because Scarlett would have made a nice Shadowcat, or Callisto, or Psylocke, etc.
I think this movie is more of a setup for what is about to happen. SPOILER Proffessor X doesn't die, neither does Cyclops, and of course the great Jean Grey or Phoenix is too powerful to die. So you'll see them again. The characters are too integral to what X-Men is. And they never actually show Cyclops die for those who are wondering why Professor X doesn't show emotion for him.
Oski, see you didn't listen to me, you tried using your brain and treated the movie like a D&D thread, thus ruining the movie for you! DOn't think and by God, don't try to use comic canon to make sense of things, you'll only hurt yourself!!! Also, while Singer could have done this after Superman, Fox had to release this movie this year for a multitude of reasons. One of them was timing, they wanted this weekend, and this year since F4 was last year and SPiderman, F42 and Ghost rider are next year. There is also another even more important reason but that is lawyer stuff and it is boring and complicated. For those same reasons, I don't think there will be an X4. they can make spinoffs, but I think the rest of the characters revert back to Marvel if they go unused. on top of that, the actors were signed for 3 movies, X1 cost 75 mil x2 cost 125mil X3 cost 150 mil and for the fourth they need to redraft new contracts for Halle, Ian, and hugh? WIth their starpower now, its simply not happening and they won't be able to do it for under 180 mil. If there is going to be an X4, its going to be new actors or a reboot like batman begins.