Preparing for the Apocalypse

So ahead of X Men Apocalypse coming soon i have finally watched First Class and Days of Future Past.

First Class to start with! I really enjoyed it. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are a great fit for the younger McKellen and Stewart!

Erik is such a confusing character. I find it quite difficult to see him as a proper baddie because he’s not really. He’s just not the best ideas of how to deal with things, but does want to protect mutants. I had the same problem with Ian McKellen’s version. I can’t help but like him a bit. Also seeing his back story in this film just reinforced that further. I mean I’m not into murder being a good thing but the way he got back at Shaw in the end – cheering at my TV! Bloody brilliant.

Interesting to see Mystique (sp?) being Charles’ good friend knowing it flips to her siding with Erik in the later set versions. Seems through Days of Future Past she’s still a bit between the two of them. Let’s see how Apocalypse goes.

I wish i remembered more about the cold war and cuban missile crisis from my GCSE history days as i felt a bit muddled up at times but it made for an interesting setting and i like how it shows mutants being part of everyday life and history we know.

One of my favourite moments was meeting Hank. Realising he wasn’t scary furry blue man yet so when he was suggesting an experimental drug i though…well Hank…think we all know how this is going to go buddy.

Also A+ cameo from a never aging Hugh Jackman…but i suppose that ability of his is explained.

Speaking of! Days of Future Past.

Well this was a fun one! Fantastic way to bring both generations of Erik and Charles together! All very dramatic. That speedy kid who sits around playing games is that the same fella from Avengers: Age of Ultron? Friends with Scarlet Witch? Quicksilver is it? He’s been doubled up a bit there.

I spent most of this film thinking “ERIK..WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!” We just never know what is going on inside his head. You think he wants one thing then he changes his mind. Yes, we need to get rid of Raven so she doesn’t kill that guy that leads to the destruction of all mutants. General plan seems to be…don’t let people see mutants as dangerous. No..Erik has a better idea…make them see mutants as so dangerous that they’re a massive threat. HOW IS THAT HELPING ERIK?! The only side he’s on is his own.

Final thing, cleverly done X-Men folk. Zooming back into the past and treading on a few butterflies..what a way to pretty much wipe out the original X-Men trilogy. Or at least any fatalities. Excited to see where it all goes.

In chess, the pawns go first…

Quick post! Because i keep forgetting to write about them and i wanted to give them a separate post before i started watching “First Class” and “Days of Future Past” that i’ve not seen before.

I watched the first 3 X-Men films recently because i’ve not seen them in such a long time and (as i said just before) i wanted to give them a watch through before i get to the films i’ve not seen yet.

First point, what an absolutely amazing cast throughout!

I mean, Ian McKellen i ADORE (now i think Eric/Magneto is born in…Germany was it?..i was trying to decipher his interesting accent. In the end i decided since he’d moved to America and had probably been all over the place he was allowed a bit of a mish-mash in there). Patrick Stewart – obviously brilliant, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Kelsey Grammer, Brian Cox (not the professor), James Marsden, the list goes on!

I enjoyed the first two films but i think i found X-Men: The Last Stand the most exciting. I liked that they didn’t really have a clear villain. Or not to my mind anyway. With Magneto it was strange because he was friends with Xavier though clearly a bit violence inclined…but i never saw him as a villain really. Just a guy who wanted to be accepted, but didn’t think it was going to happen without….well…obliterating all non-mutants. I was upset for him when he seemed to become “normal” again and i think the way they ended the 3rd film with the slight hint and then cut to the credits was just fabulous.

There was some good humour in the films but compared to the other Marvel films about it seemed quite dark and serious. I know it’s good to be a bit different but i do like the sort of crazy-fun times that comes with a superhero film..though i suppose these stories weren’t really framed as such.

I also liked that there were a lot of mutants with a big range of skills about without it getting too ridiculous. I mean sometimes i was a bit like “that’s an interesting combination of abilities you’ve got there but hey-ho!”. But the good thing is that a lot of the time they just…were. They didn’t try to endlessly go into each character and their abilities which can get confusing and tiresome. (Remember that TV show ‘Heroes’…yeah..i’m looking in their direction).

So yes, i definitely enjoyed them. I almost watched Wolverine Origins on TV last night but then i didn’t bother in the end. He did give me some of my favourite moments across the trilogy…including towards the climax of Last Stand where his struggling to get to Jean results in such power that he loses his shirt and even starts to lose his skin (luckily he’s a healer) but his trousers stay almost completely in tact apart from the odd bit of dramatic wear and tear.

Ha. Who needs realism in X-Men!