X- Men 2000 and X-Men United 2003 Bryan Singer

[kennermike]

How do you feel about these films and also why do you think Bryan Singer stepped away from finishing the Trilogy? personally I love X-Men United the best it was done with such class and Brilliance.I dont fault Brett Ratner for doing X-Men Last Stand he had a very difficult job to live up to Singer but its does not exist for me as the Third film it wasnt in the same caliber of filmaking as the previous 2

[The Bat]

How do you feel about these films and also why do you think Bryan Singer stepped away from finishing the Trilogy? personally I love X-Men United the best it was done with such class and Brilliance.I dont fault Brett Ratner for doing X-Men Last Stand he had a very difficult job to live up to Singer but its does not exist for me as the Third film it wasnt in the same caliber of filmaking as the previous 2

I LOVED X-Men 1 & 2...an just like you, X-3 does not exist to me. Singer gave us two great X-Men Movies, but he couldn't have done it without a decent Script. X-Men was written by John Logan, Joss Whedon, Ed Solomon, Christopher McQuarrie and David Hayter wrote the script, with Hayter receiving sole credit.

The Biggest problem Brian Singer faced getting two decent X-Men Movies made was...that Rat-******* Tom Rothman(20th Century Fox Pres.). Here's the whole story:

Extremely Evil black market wit

[kennermike]

I LOVED X-Men 1 & 2...an just like you, X-3 does not exist to me. Singer gave us two great X-Men Movies, but he couldn't have done it without a decent Script. X-Men was written by John Logan, Joss Whedon, Ed Solomon, Christopher McQuarrie and David Hayter wrote the script, with Hayter receiving sole credit.

The Biggest problem Brian Singer faced getting two decent X-Men Movies made was...that Rat-******* Tom Rothman(20th Century Fox Pres.). Here's the whole story:

Extremely Evil black market wit

2005 was a busy year for me I missed all this thank for posting this never read it before but sounds accurate

[johnmiic]

I had hoped that after Singer was unable to score with Superman Returns he might return to FOX and fix X-Men. I was even hoping they might do an FF/X-Men 2-film story. I guess it will never be.

[Hector]

The first one was decent...but the special-effects were pretty rudimentary...especially the Wolvie/Mystique fight...and the Wolvie/Sabertooth Statue of Liberty scene...slow-footed action...plus insipid music soundtrack...kinda mediocre at best.

X-Men 2 is by far the best one of the series.

[MIB41]

I agree with Hector. I think the first one was fun, but overall pretty standard in effects, reflecting a modest investment from the studio. X-2 definitely looks and feels the best. The Last Stand was just too watered down to give proper justice to the Phoenix saga. They should have stayed away from that storyline if they could not devote at least two films to it...if not more.

[The Bat]

The first one was decent...but the special-effects were pretty rudimentary...especially the Wolvie/Mystique fight...and the Wolvie/Sabertooth Statue of Liberty scene...slow-footed action.

Like I was saying, Tom Rothman wanted X-Men to fail, and fought Singer on the Budget all the way. Singer made X-Men 1 for 75 Million. Quite an accomplishment I'd say.

[Brue]

I loved all 3. Yes, 3 had a different feel because it had a different director. But it was still a very good movie.

[Operation:Mego]

I saw no drop in quality for the third film (or a different "feel"), and don't get why people are dumping on it. Of course, I never read the Dark Phoenix Saga, so I can't compare the film to the original story. Personally, I felt like it was the best X-Men since the first one (United was too slow paced for me).

[thunderbolt]

X3 was just a big mish mash of characters and plots, Kelsey Grammer's Beast was its only bright spot.

[clemso]

Lots of reasons for why X3 was a big fail for me and Singer's decision to leave for Superman Returns and equally key, James Marsden's decision to follow him were pivotal. If Marsden had committed to X3, i'm not sure they would have bumped him off like that and the leadership of the X-Men would have centered more on Cyclops and not Storm carrying the responsibility for Xaviers school. I enjoyed X2 and Nightcrawler was the highlight for me, so again, his absence in X3 was a disappointment. Also, Wolverine did way too much blubbering lol.

[Bruce Banner]

Always thought the X-Men movies were pretty much a missed opportunity on many levels.
There are certain elements of the films that I do like, but generally I feel that the franchise was mishandled.
The source material was poorly adapted, on the whole.
Some of the casting was truly inspired, but some was way off the mark.
Would love them to just reboot the whole thing, but that won't happen any time soon.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I actually like all 3 films, but X3 is of a lesser cinematic quality for sure. The cavalier dispatching of Cyclops and Professor X seems just wrong, although the comics kill off X-folk every 6 months. And I agree, Wolverine is a bit too blubbery in this one. Grammer was great as Beast.

But the first two flicks...now there they had something. You have to remember, X1 came out 3 years after Batman and Robin killed the franchise (it made money, but everyone hated it), and few people knew Blade was even based on a comic. So to me it really started the modern era of comic book movies. Yeah, the effects were here and there, but the script was tight, and casting was pretty spot on (although I never did buy Berry as Storm).

X2 took what was right with the first one and turned it up to 11. Just a great film. My only minor gripe is Cyclops is taken out of the movie too much. His character really gets the shaft in the series.

Chris

[emeraldknight47]

X-MEN was decent enough for a first outing, although to this day, I think you have their all black leather outfits to thanks for the current crop of "real life" comic uniforms in comics. Granted, some suits created for the comics simply would not work on screen, but you could easily do adaptations of them the make them more believable.

X2: X-MEN UNITED was a much stronger film and a much more cohesive film. It was a quasi-adaption of the X-Men graphic novel "GOD LOVES MAN KILLS" and in that respect, it was a bit off the mark as in that story, the protagonist, William Stryker, was a powerful televangelist, so I found turning him into a quasi-military type with ties to Wolverine's origins was something of a reach. I was glad to see them allude to the whole "Phoenix" storyline at the end with the death of Jean, but was sadly disappointed with the way that was followed up on in X3. Overall, X2 still stands as the strongest of the original three X movies.

CASTING MISCUES: Although I like Hugh Jackman as an actor, he never has actually captured Wolverine for me simple due to the fact that, in the X-Men world I grew up with, Wolvie was always way shorter, way stockier and way hairier than Jackman was/is. Don't get me wrong, I like Jackman's Logan, but he's still not Wolverine. Halle Berry's Storm was an epic fail, ranking right up there alongside casting Jessica Alba as the Invisible Girl/Woman. The actress just didn't fit the part; they should've gone with someone who was largely an unknown, much like Jackman was. Much like with Hugh Jackman and Wolverine, I like Anna Paquin as an actress, but she never captured the actual essence of Rogue to me, plus they had her character written a bit more whiney than I care for. But, but, but, the biggest misstep in casting (for me, and, as MIB 41 knows, I worship at this character's altar) was putting Famke Janssen in as Jean Grey. Way, way, way off!!! I'm still of the mind that Alicia Witt or Sarah Wayne Callies would've been far better in the role as Jean.

[Operation:Mego]

I saw no drop in quality for the third film (or a different "feel"), and don't get why people are dumping on it. Of course, I never read the Dark Phoenix Saga, so I can't compare the film to the original story. Personally, I felt like it was the best X-Men since the first one (United was too slow paced for me).

Wow, I can't believe I said that back then. Re-watching it I didn't notice any pacing problems at all, it pretty much flew by. As far as commenting on the third one again, personally I like it better than X-Men and is pretty much equal with X2. I view it as the epic conclusion we all (at least me) wanted from it. It continued the storyline from where X2 left off, introduced a new political problem for mutants to face (like in the previous films) and retained the films kick-butt action scenes mixed with real emotions and drama. It also left a few knots untied leaving the possibility of a sequel wide open. While this post may sound preachy, I'm not trying to convince anyone to like it, I'm just listing reasons why I like it.