#WHO even needs a wolverine and deadpool movie UGH

[banjodanger]

X-Men: Days Of Future Past(2014);or, How To Squander Potential Without Really Trying

Yes, I should absolutely have posted this by now. However, what I actually did was doomscroll twitter and refresh three news websites constantly for a week and a half and give myself anxiety attacks.

We live in a country where seventy million people thought Trump was anything more than dogshit in semi-human form. Three turds in a poorly-tailored suit. Ugh. Can we please get just have a candidate that supports UBI and M4A? Like, basic human rights?

Anyway.

Let’s get something out of the way. The Rogue Cut is the best version of this movie. Hell, it’s the best of the core X-Men movies. They made a mistake not releasing this in theatres, because I can easily say this movie has everything that make the X-Men team great. It’s dramatic, there are fights, the movie is horny...it is everything you would want out of this movie. It builds off of what made First Class great and continues that story, while still bringing in the characters that made the first three two movies enjoyable.

Even things that didn’t work in previous movies comes back here and get a chance to succeed. Ellen Page was used as a dramatic tool in the(ugh) third one and her version of Kitty Pryde really suffered as a result. I won’t act like she’s given much more to do in this film, but she’s a bit more clearly defined. Her conversation with Logan involves more characterization than the entirety of the third movie. And by bringing in Rogue as Kitty’s salvation at Bobby’s expense, you get a dramatic tension that Ratner either isn’t capable or has never bothered to try.

I think what really makes this movie, and The Rogue Cut specifically, distinct is the amount of world-building it does. The expanded cut gives time to suggest Quicksilver’s mother is a alcoholic, which goes to explain his own risk-taking behavior. It suggests a world that exists beyond his moments in the movie, and that’s something this series has been extremely lacking in. A flaw in this series, and indeed in the entire superhero genre, is a fear of showing these characters as anything other than ON. It’s ok to allow these characters to breathe. Do we need to see his mother’s frustration and coping mechanism? No. But it brings us further into this world

Specifically, take a look at when Beast asks Logan if he makes it in the future. In the theatrical moment it’s a brief aside during the final battle. It’s not a bad choice, Hoult has played Beast as someone who is conflicted and not extremely self-assured; it makes sense that his character would look for encouragement before running off. However, in the Rogue Cut it’s placed before any excitement. We still get the character beat but here it is allowed to breathe, given it’s own room and it’s own focus. It’s seperate and distinct and much better as a result.

All of which makes everything that comes after this movie all the more frustrating. This movie goes out of its way to put the franchise in a new spot, and then it does nothing with it. Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds give us some great solo movies but Hugh Jackman has continuously been the highlight of this franchise, and Ryan Reynolds has basically been auditioning for Deadpool his whole career. There’s a reason he’s the only actor making the transition to Marvel from this series.

While I do still consider this the high point of the franchise, I do wonder if, in hindsight, the movie deserves a little reconsideration. Obviously hard work was put into making this movie, but where does the hard work go? Assume for a second Disney hadn’t consumed Fox into its gaping maw, as to go all intellectual property on its own sullen death march. Apocalypse had certain moments of fun but still brought nothing new to the series, and everything after Deadpool 2 was bogged down in reshoots and delayed releases(Dark Phoenix was originally scheduled for 2018, hardly the delay New Mutants got but by no means did it help.)

Which leads us into problematic stuff. You can’t make an X-Men movie at Fox without some problematic stuff, there’s an ancient incantation in the first movie or something. I mentioned this in the last post, but let’s go through it again. Days of Future Past is a Kitty Pryde story, not a Wolverine story. I get not introducing Rachel Summers and in fact I’m glad they didn’t. And before you get mad, Rachel Summers is a great character. But this movie introduces a half-dozen characters for their “film debuts,” and apart from Quicksilver it wastes every single one of them. Fox does this throughout the entire series too, and I’d rather they not introduce a character than use them for a cameo. This series introduced Jubilee three separate times to literally forget about it in the next scene, so yea, we should be happy they left this character for the inevitable Marvel reboot.

But they had already introduced Kitty. She’s supposed to be the main character in this story. Days of Future Past, in the comics, was Kitty Pryde’s first major story. She was coming in as the brand new character right after the Dark Phoenix Saga which(in case you somehow didn’t know) saw Jean Grey’s death and Cyclops leave the X-Men. It’s not a huge arc but it gave a brand new character a memorable introduction. And in the movie, she’s pushed to a supporting role. This isn’t to say Jackman isn’t great in his role, but that’s something that has been proven time and again. If the movie as a whole was about acknowledging the mistakes, then it stands out that they’re unable to cede the spotlight to another character. People have devoted time and energy to documenting all the ways female superheroes have gotten neglected and pushed to the side, and a lot of those thinkpieces are done by better writers than I. So I’ll just say that Kitty Pryde is absolutely a character that deserves better than this treatment. 

This movie does play fast and loose with history and I’d be remiss if I didn’t make notice here. The Paris Accords were signed in January of 1973, so Peter’s Dark Side of the Moon shirt and Hello Hooray are anachronistic by about a month’s time. Though RFK stadium was there, Washington did not currently have a baseball team in 1973. So, it’s nice that guy is maintaining the baseball diamond but he’s probably doing it for free, and Erik’s probably better off not accepting his help. It deserves mention, however, that this movie doesn’t gloss over the fact that the US decisively lost the Vietnam war. It’s not a huge leap but considering Hollywood in the eighties made “winning the Vietnam War” its own subgenre the change is respectable. The advent of examining DNA is also anachronistic by about forty years. As the last two core films in this series are both set up as period pieces I believe it becomes more necessary to call out these mistakes.

Throughout all of this I feel like this is an essential movie in the franchise. I also don’t think it would have the same impact without watching the six previous movies in the franchise. Not to say people wouldn’t enjoy it, but there’s some jokes and plot beats that I don’t think would hit the same. It’s nothing compared to where the MCU is now(in half the time no less), but I think Marvel as a studio had the benefit of seeing other studios screw up. Fox, in 2000, had no blueprint. I think a move like DOFP was always going to become inevitable, but that it would turn out so well was not. In the end, this movie proves that a launching pad does nothing if you cannot grab that next rung.

Up Next: Ryan Reynolds ensures this franchise will have a second legacy, and finishes out the longest streak of solid movies in this whole franchise.

#xmen #xmenmovies #foxmovies #days of future past #x-men #Movie Critic #movie critique #x men movies #x men films #x men universe

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 3

Chapter 3! Also if it wasn’t clear, this story takes place on two different time periods, switching between POV’s.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

His body hit the street below, hurtling into the pavement and leaving a sizable crater. Piotr had closed his eyes at the impact, opening them to find the grill of the truck barrelling down at him. In his steel form, he was resistant to most forms of physical damage, but that didn’t mean getting hit by a truck would be pleasant. He set his feet firm into the ground and braced for impact, squaring his broad shoulders and crouching down low with his hands out in front of him.

The initial hit would’ve sent a normal man flying, but as Colossus, he was no normal man. The head of the truck smashed inwards but kept pushing forward, metal and gears warping around him, sparks flying as metal crunched against metal. He grit his teeth, feeling his feet being pushed backwards, struggling to find traction against the truck, pushing against it with all his strength. He could feel it beginning to slow and bared down, hearing the sound of police sirens getting louder behind him - the blockade. They were getting close and still going too fast; he yelled in frustration, digging his feet into the ground and leaning his weight against the speeding hunk of metal. It shrieked in response, but slowed, eventually coming to a stop mere feet from the first of the police cars.

The police had long scattered at the sight of a semi truck barreling towards them with no sign of stopping, those that had been chasing the truck to begin with swerving off at the sign of the jet dropping into view; Piotr was thankful for that, the X-Men and police having a strenuous relationship to begin with. He had been hoping to avoid a possible firefight and needless violence. Speaking of, that left the matter of the truck driver.

Piotr stepped out from the front of the truck - a Piotr-sized indent left in the crushed metal - and to the side. The truck’s doors were crumpled but not crushed, and he reached up to grab the handle, only to have it swing open into his waiting hand.

“There is no need for violence, please calmly step out of the truck and -”

He didn’t get the chance to finish as a bright, white light erupted from inside the cabin and formed itself into a beam, shooting out of the open door and sending him flying off his feet; he flew through the air and crumpled into a heap onto the asphalt several feet back.

“Holy shit!” Wade crowed from somewhere in the distance.  

Piotr got to his feet, slightly dazed at the brute force that had knocked him back; he hadn’t felt anything quite like that since his fight with Juggernaut. His eyes darted back to the truck, falling on a figure that stepped out of the cab and shut the door behind them.

They were small, clad in dark body armor that covered them from head to toe. Their helmet reminded him of something out of a sci-fi movie, a dark visor inset into a sleek, black headpiece. They cut an imposing figure, all dark metal and interlocking plates that spoke of something high tech and dangerous. They were walking towards him purposefully, their fists curled into tight balls

“Stop this, now.” Piotr yelled, his voice low in his chest. “I do not wish to harm -”

They ran at him and leapt, cocking back their fist that began to glow with the same white energy that had knocked him back from the truck. He dodged and grabbed them by their wrist, hoisting them out of the air and throwing them to the pavement hard on their back. If it had hurt, they made no sign of acknowledging it, rolling onto their feet and springing back. Piotr knocked away a blow to his jaw and sent them back to the ground again, but this time they rolled and landed a solid kick to his lower back.  

The mystery assailant was relentless, coming back from every punch he threw with one of their own, dodging and evading his fists with practiced precision, catching him with quick, glowing jabs that dinged against his armor. Even whenever he connected a hit, which he did several times, they just came back for more. He grabbed at them after a particularly heavy swing and hurled them back into the truck, leaving a sizable dent against the metal exterior.

Wade, Cable, and Domino had caught up by now, guns cocked and aimed at the mystery assailant. They were struggling to get up, but still moving.

“Who the fuck is this guy?” Cable grunted, hoisting his gun up and putting his finger on the trigger. “I say we blast them to hell right now.”

“No! We don’t kill.” Piotr yelled, “First rule of X-Men.”

Cable turned to look at Deadpool with a ‘is he serious?’ expression. “Alright, fine, what do you suggest we do with them?”

“Guys, hate to break up your sexual tension, but they’re doing something.” Domino announced, causing Piotr to bring his attention back to the matter at hand.

Sure enough, the attacker was punching something into their arm, which Piotr now realized was actually a command console input into their armor. High tech indeed. From the back of the disconnected trailer there came a low rumble, and from the underneath of the truck several disks detached themselves, propelled by spinning blades, looking like sleek drones. They slid apart into two pieces - a body and a sort of head attachment that was inlaid with a red camera eye. There was more movement, and from inside a body was a barrel attachment that extended itself outwards.

“What the fuck is with this high tech shit?” Deadpool asked, moving to step closer and poke at one with the end of his katana.

“Get down!”

No sooner had Domino yelled that had the drones open fired, shooting out bullets at a high speed from their barrels. Piotr scooped all three of them under him, shielding from the spray of bullets with his armored body.

“That must have been the movement we were seeing on the scans.” Cable yelled over the solid ping-ping-ping of bullets against Piotr’s back. “Can anyone get a clear shot?”

“No, but I have an idea! Up for a little fastball special?” Deadpool yelled into Piotr’s ear.

“What on earth are you talking about?” Piotr yelled back, the steady stream of bullets still hitting his back. Still not painful, but far from pleasant.

“Ugh, just pick me up and throw me at them!”

Domino and Cable scattered for cover as Piotr hoisted up Deadpool and lifted him into the air, Deadpool sitting back on his haunches with his swords extended. With a mighty heft of his shoulders, Piotr threw the red-clad mercenary at the firing drones.

“Oh, yeah!” He whooped, slicing through the air like a bullet and slashing into the drones with his katanas. “Wolverine can suck it!”

The robots fell to the ground in heaps of metal and sparking machinery, Deadpool landing on his feet and looking back over his shoulder. “Now, where’d our little psychopath go?”

“There!” Cable shouted, aiming his gun up high onto the roof of the trailer. “Up on the roof.”

Colossus looked upwards to see the black-clad figure standing right where Cable was pointing. They looked beaten, a crack had appeared in their visor, but had their hands extended, glowing in the white energy, aimed towards - Colossus felt his heart sink to his stomach - Ellie and Yukio. They had landed the jet several yards away and were running up the interstate into the fray.

“Girls, get back!” He yelled, but it was too late.

Wade was sprinting towards the two girls, Domino and Cable had begun firing, and all Colossus could do was watch in horror as the radiant beam of energy blasted from the attacker’s hands and towards his trainees. It hurt to watch, blindingly bright as it erupted into a straight line, heat crackling around the space it occupied as it sliced through the sky.  Bullets were flying, Piotr couldn’t find his voice to tell the mercenaries to stop, and then Wade was flying as well, jumping high up into the path of the beam and catching it square in the chest, less than a foot away from Ellie and Yukio.

He fell back to the earth in a smoking heap of red. He didn’t get up.

“Wade!” Cable was yelling, already holstering his gun and running towards his fallen friend. Piotr was running as well, his heavy footfalls clanking on the asphalt, his heart racing as he reached Wade’s prone body.

#stonetag #stone writings #celestial steel #fractured psyche #deadpool fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #xmen fanfiction

[psychologymajor226]

Dark Phoenix: Full Review

Alright, y’all. I just got home. I’ve had 1.5 drinks, so not that much, and it’s 1am in the morning, but I’ve finally seen the movie in person, and I’m ready to write this thing. (Sober, morning edits to be made in about six hours.)

SPOILERS Y’ALL. DUH. WARNING. 

Also, disclaimer: I’ve got about 6k words on chapter 14, so nobody say I ain’t been workin’ for ya. This movie was in the spirit of research. HEH. *SNORTS*

Ok. Pros:

1.)  Imagery: I’m glad I saw it. Truly. If you are an X-Men fan from way back, you would have been able to catch some of the subtle, beautiful details of the film, imagery that tugged at your heart strings. The X-Jet alone, exterior and interior. The way a basketball rolled off the court as the pavement evenly split open to let the Blackbird free. The kids with the nineties haircuts in the foyer of the X-Mansion, the same foyer (and set) used in X2 onward, even in Deadpool, even in DOFP where Hank throws Logan across the stairwell. All the shots of the mansion, really, are gorgeous, and the great lengths of effort that went into continuity were immensely appreciated by this gal. 

2.)  Teamwork: Never have I seen a movie that so thoughtfully considered how the X-Men might work together. In the past, it was either all of them conveniently being split up to showcase their individual powers or some weird scenario in X1 where we get Cyclops narrating how they’re gonna work together! (Storm, use your wind powers to catapult Logan up toward the torch! Jean! Steady him! If we blow Wolverine over the torch, I’m gonna fry it!) Instead, Kurt seamlessly moving in and out of speeding trains, while somebody intuitively helped him. Storm just knowing where she needed to be, while Cyclops just shot the fuck out of people. It was a nice nod to the comics. How it should have been done.

3.)  Some of the acting. James McAvoy (Atonement will forever pierce my soul, or maybe perhaps I’m simply partial to library sex scenes) and Michael Fassbender were, at times, on point. (Sometimes though, they just looked fucking tired. Not as characters, although they should have been, but as actors. Like “aren’t we done with this already! What the fuck!”) Their chemistry remained though, and I particularly liked the angle that perhaps Charles’ ego in this new timeline was problematic, especially with how well mutants were favored. (I think that could play into the Logan narrative. Peace…somehow leading to complacency.)

4.)  Kurt’s narrative arc. I don’t necessarily like the guy who plays him now, whatever his name is. (Alan Cumming wasn’t perfect in the role, but he was far better than this kid.) But I loved the fact they gave him something to do. He was genteel, almost too hesitant, even as he was saving the shit out of people on the spaceship. By the time we get to the ending scenes, he was fucking slicing some dude’s jugular with his fucking tail. That, my friends, is development. The look on his face, too, while he did it, was exceptionally satisfying.

5.)  Subtle hints at Genosha. Without explicitly stating it, I loved that it was recognized, and I loved that it was this shitty little island with a barely-there infrastructure, in a direct dichotomy to the luxurious life Charles was living.

Cons. I’ll keep ‘em short.

1.)  The plot sucked. The weakest points: Jean deciding she needed the help of Magneto and immediately changing her mind. Magneto wanting to immediately kill her after he found out she killed Mystique and then also immediately changing his mind. Stupid.

2.)  Dialogue. Come. On. I’m not a great writer at all, but I can do better than that.

3.)  Forced antagonism. The D’Nari were a fucking joke. And stupid. And flimsy.

4.)  Boxing them in. You put the most powerful X-Men on a fucking train. While some of the CGI was cool, at times it felt you were literally boxing them in to save money.

5.)  You gave up. Lazy writing, ignorant directing. You knew you were gonna be sacked, and you didn’t give the characters the story they deserved.

6.)  Ugh, I’m that person, but….no Logan. First X-Men movie (aside from the Deadpool movies, which at least mentions the goddamn bastard) to never, not once, mention or show him in any regard. And…it showed. I know I’m that stupid Wolverine fan who demands the most popular X-Man be in fucking everything, but did ya ever think that was for a fucking reason? It showed. But, at the same time, I thank fuck Hugh bowed out when he did. He seemed to have witnessed that the Titanic hit the iceberg, and hopped on a lifeboat before anyone else noticed. He made Logan, which was fucking spectacular, and said “fuck you all. I’m out.” Best move ever, as much as I grieve his loss. And I did feel it in this movie.

Overall? Worth renting on Amazon, for diehard X-Men movie fans who want screenshots and a little nostalgia.

I did it, y’all. I sent my little candle out on a lake, paying homage to this franchise and how much I fell in love with it. I said goodbye. I will inevitably pray the MCU does a better job, but I won’t count on it. I always have some of the movies to fall back on, and the comics to cherish. Stay strong, my friends. We might live to see a better day. And if we don’t, at least we shared some good memories while it lasted. <3

#dark Phoenix #logan #wolverine #Charles Xavier #erik lehnsherr #cherik #meh #i did it ok?