X

More comic booky goodness.

This review may be a bit snarky because I saw it in a theater with poor sound, thin walls, and a bass-bumping Nickelodeon theater playing next door which rattled off a goofy ditty during the more quiet moments of X-Men 2. This film was much more comic-book styled than the original. So much, in fact, that there were many many references that a viewer would only get if they'd seen the original and/or read the comic books. In fact, sometimes it seemed to ride only on targetting the geek crowd, hoping they'd be too busy oohing and ahhing to each other like the Simpson's Comic Book Guy that they wouldn't notice the lack of acting. Is it just me, or are the characters emotionless, insincere? Only Hugh Jackman as Wolverine seems to have any real character, actually noticing when he's in deep shit and expressing such. Nightcrawler shows a bit of it, as well as Rogue, but she's never more than a damsel in distress. Nevertheless, the FX and fight scenes are impressive. There's plenty of opportunities for variation when you include claws, eyebeams, teleportation, etc.

*** out of *****

I admit that I was never a big fan of the X-Men, but I am a big fan of good comic-book movies. Unfortunately, X-Men 3 is only barely passable and easily forgettable. It makes its pay with gratuitous heroic poses, tacky gimmick lines, and an unequal emphasis on characters. Yes, yes, awesome special effects. But we all know that FX alone doesn't carry a movie. At no point was I concerned for a character's well being or interested in their ultimate fate. I only wished to see more of them, and more interaction with each other in the form of plot progression rather than gratuitous sex scenes, love triangles, or pithy posturing. Scenes went by so fast, it felt like a rush job, as if it has to fit the film time, but there was too much plot to make it. More Angel, please! More Juggernaut! More actual X-Men story, instead of taking little snippets from many unrelated stories and cobbling them together into one big mess! Did Famke Janssen's character, Phoenix, ever do more than stand in one place and look constipated in any scene? Fun, but deeply unsatisfying.

**1/2 out of *****

Vin Diesel Stunt Spectacular

Rather surprisingly, this is an at least halfway decent action/spy movie interrupted every 15 minutes by either sex or a gratuitous XTreme sports shot. Vin's not exactly dapper or suave or even an actor. He grunts and drawls his way through, but he's not unbelieveable. He manages to retain an air of 'cool'. The stunts, while often wild, are frequently overstated, such as a completely pointless Superman move on a dirtbike in slo-mo, or the opening vehicular sequence. Still, as stuntshows go, I'd rather watch this than the Batman spectacular at my local Six Flags.

*** out of *****