Monday, May 29, 2006
There was a small chance this morning that the day might have turned out nice, and that Lorraine might have consented to go to see "X-Men: The Last Stand" with Pynchon, Pynchon's Brother and Pynchon's Nephew, but it was not to be. More bad words. Pynchon walking out of the house. Pynchon getting soaked in a downpour while walking to the top of the hill to get a bus. The sun coming out while Pynchon was on the bus so leading to Pynchon steaming nicely while on the bus. The sun going back in and the rain coming out when Pynchon got off the bus. Pynchon getting soaked again while walking to his Brother's house and then to his Nephew's house.
(You don't really want to hear this, do you? Good.)
So, "X-Men: The Last Stand".
Frankly, Brett Ratner gets quite a bad press. He is described as a workmanlike Director and a journeyman Director. It's not the worst thing to be. Not everybody can be a genius Director like... (add your favourite here - I'll put David Lynch and David Cronenberg) and Brett Ratner has had some major hits ("Rush Hour", "Red Dragon" - was "After The Sunset" a hit? I liked that film a lot.)
The best thing I can say about "X-Men: The Last Stand" is that it is competent and will satisfy it's core audience. (My 10 year old Nephew thought that it was "Wicked".) It does suffer in comparison with "X-Men", and especially "X2", in that it lacks the strong emotional core of those two films. I also got the impression, perhaps wrongly, that a number of the cast were simply fulfilling contractual obligations to do the third film and as such only made extended cameo appearances. There were too many new characters, none of whom had very much to do. Hugh Jackman was subdued, Halle Berry was boring, Anna Paquin (down boy!) had nothing to do, Ben Foster - great story setup - but again, very little to do, ditto James Marsden. Thank God for Ian McKellen. He stole the film.
Shame. "X-Men: The Last Stand" is not a bad film, but it wasn't what it could have been. Roll on Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns".
Home. Things are OK. Lorraine and I did not argue. We watched TV all night. At one point she kissed me on the cheek. It was nice.
(You don't really want to hear this, do you? Good.)
So, "X-Men: The Last Stand".
Frankly, Brett Ratner gets quite a bad press. He is described as a workmanlike Director and a journeyman Director. It's not the worst thing to be. Not everybody can be a genius Director like... (add your favourite here - I'll put David Lynch and David Cronenberg) and Brett Ratner has had some major hits ("Rush Hour", "Red Dragon" - was "After The Sunset" a hit? I liked that film a lot.)
The best thing I can say about "X-Men: The Last Stand" is that it is competent and will satisfy it's core audience. (My 10 year old Nephew thought that it was "Wicked".) It does suffer in comparison with "X-Men", and especially "X2", in that it lacks the strong emotional core of those two films. I also got the impression, perhaps wrongly, that a number of the cast were simply fulfilling contractual obligations to do the third film and as such only made extended cameo appearances. There were too many new characters, none of whom had very much to do. Hugh Jackman was subdued, Halle Berry was boring, Anna Paquin (down boy!) had nothing to do, Ben Foster - great story setup - but again, very little to do, ditto James Marsden. Thank God for Ian McKellen. He stole the film.
Shame. "X-Men: The Last Stand" is not a bad film, but it wasn't what it could have been. Roll on Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns".
Home. Things are OK. Lorraine and I did not argue. We watched TV all night. At one point she kissed me on the cheek. It was nice.
# posted by Pynchon @ 10:29 pm 
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Can't decide whether to go and see this or not. I missed X2, is that likely to be an issue story-wise or, like most of these things, is story pretty limited and self-contained?
Stef - Personally I would suggest that you see "X2" first, but only because it is a superior movie. I suppose the new story is pretty self contained. It is obvious what Jean Grey's fate was before this story starts, and then you are off and away.
No, a) I am lazy and b) my wife doesn't really do sci-fi or superhero stuff which means I have to make an effort to watch them when I'm alone. See point a.
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