icmasticc said
Well, slower in that it was much more plot and character focused than I anticipated. And I don't mean to say that as a negative, I'm just used to the bigger scope the X-Men films usually go for. It was still very enjoyable, but I was expecting a bit more action I suppose? And I'm probably the only guy who thought Wolverine was woefully underused as Wolverine has been my favorite since the comics lol.
As for Spider-Man, I truly don't understand some of the criticism. The villains were not very developed for sure, but I saw it as a setup for the eventual Sinister Six. Even disregarding that though, the movie was less about the villains and more about Peter dealing with the role of Spider-Man as it infects his personal life on every level. Basically, the plot of the original Spider-Man 2 XDD. On a superficial level, the action sequences were REALLY well done in my opinion. Marc Webb continues to capture the essence of Spider-Man in battle better than the originals did in my opinion. I don't know, maybe I'm simple-minded or something.
On a side note, I gotta say Halo, you're an intriguing person to talk to XD.
That's a fair comment, actually - I suppose I didn't notice because it had been quite a while since I'd seen the original X-Men films, and character-driven superhero movies are becoming much more common. The difference wasn't as striking to me because of that. On the other hand, I'm not sure I disliked that at all; the films have always been dedicated to showing the emotional repercussions of mutation, on the mutants in particular but also on non-mutants. It's always gone a little bit deeper than the typical superhero movie emotions, which tend to come down to romance and personal angst - X-Men deals with ostracism and society-wide issues in quite a mature way by comparison. Nolan's Batman trilogy does a similar thing on a more philosophical basis regarding the Batman and his role as a symbol in the crime-riddled society he lives in. For me, it paints a much more compelling picture to explore those issues in a more meaningful way, as they largely did for young Charles, Eric, and Raven throughout FC and DOFP.
I have to agree on the Wolverine aspect, though. I mean, damn, Hugh Jackman be fiinnneee. >_> The more time he's on screen, the happier I am. Plus, yeah, Wolverine's one of my favourites, though I never read the comics.
See, I don't even know what the Sinister Six are really, so you can tell I'm not really well-versed enough to be a good judge. I think the criticism comes from the fact that we've become accustomed to villains not being so two-dimensional. There aren't many Saurons anymore, who're evil... just because they're evil. Villains have depth, motivation, a
reason. We like them to be characters we can almost identify with; it makes it feel less stereotypically good guy vs bad guy, and the current obsession with "gritty" films demands that the lines be blurred. I think they handled Spiderman (and his relationship with Gwen) very well, though, no denying that. I think overall, people felt they tried to cram too much into just that film, though, and certain things got brushed over - like the... well, I don't want to spoiler, but let's say the major discovery he makes as a result of a broken calculator. :P I think they might deal with that in the sequels, though, and if they do that I think the criticisms will die away in retrospect.
In fact, that's the problem - people are treating it as a standalone rather than as a continuation of a series. You wouldn't criticise the villains so much if you realised it's just setting it up for the Sinister Six in the future; similarly with the personal issues Peter faces, looking at it as if it will be continued and developed in future, as if you're only part way through, removes a lot of the criticisms of "brushing over" people have.
But no, I don't think you're simple-minded at all, what? xD It's a freaking superhero film, the action sequences are like 70% or more of why we go! It's not superficial, those aspects are a core part of any action or superhero film, and I couldn't agree more - I absolutely love watching Spiderman fight in the new films, compared to the old ones!
Only because your excellent conversation is bringing out the best in me ;). Oh my God, I've fallen into my habit of writing freaking essays in response to everything, I'm sorry. ._.
