- random facts & wrestling references -

A movie 20 years in the making. With a gazillion different scripts. Finally, it's here. And it rocks.

...It helps if you imagine those first two sentences being read by that movie trailer guy. You know, the one with the voice....

Anyway, X-Men the Movie does indeed rock very hard, and the reason is simple: it's the X-Men. It doesn't really matter if they don't look exactly like comic book characters. That's not the point. The point is that the X-Men are now real people, and (as Kurt Angle would say) that, my friend, is true.

- The Plot -
If you don't know what the movie is about, well then friggin' go see it. What's wrong with you?
The premise is simple, and if you know who the X-Men are, then you know what it's about. There's these mutants, see? And some of them are good, and some of them are bad. One of them doesn't like people, the other one wants to protect people. And the nice one who wants to protect people has all sorts of rad mutants helping him out, and they are called "The X-Men." They go on adventures and fight and basically rock the heezy.

There are lots of neat-o important messages in the movie, mostly about being anti-prejudice and not judging other people. The parallels between Hitler's persecution of the Jews and mankind's (namely, Senator Kelly's) persecution of the mutants are well layed out for everyone, and if you wanna think a little harder, Magento's philosophies are similar to those of the pre-religiously-enlightened Malcom X, whereas Xavier's ideals are like those of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I really hate movie reviews, how about you?

- Random Information -
The movie stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Anna Paquin as Rogue, Halle Berry as Storm, Famke Jenssen as Jean Grey, James Marsden as Cyclops, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Bruce Davison as Senator Kelly, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique, Tyler Mane as Sabretooth and Ray Park as Toad. It was directed by Bryan Singer.

I did that ALL of the top of my head. I've seen the movie three times so far: the first day it came out, the day after that, and the day after that. I've been trying to go every day since then, but alas, such is not my fate. The next chance I get, though, I am making my way to the movie theatre somehow.

The movie cost $75 million dollars to make, which makes me sick to think about because somebody could have been doing so many more useful things with that much money, but that's OK. At least it was a good movie. I believe that I alone have generated enough profit to give back tenfold what the movie cost, and considering that this movie was the #1 movie in America for a good chunk of time, I'm sure nobody involved in the making of it is starving on the streets.

X-Men the Movie also features over 500 special effects. That makes me sad to think about, though. I wish that the X-Men were real, and that their powers were real, too... not computer-generated. So let's move on.

MSN.com did a neat little thing not too long ago, called 25 Things You Need to Know.

Of course, they meant about the movie, not just in general.

I was quite amused by it, and, terrified that it might vanish from the face of the earth without my knowledge, I saved it. I will now share with you. And just so it's not a lame rehashing of something somebody else wrote, I figured I'd give my stupid lil' opinions, too.

- 25 Cool Things About X-Men the Movie -
I could think of waaaay more, but here they are:

1) How It All Began The movie is based on comic book mogul Stan Lee's 1963 X-Men series, which, despite a brief cancellation in the early '70s, remains Marvel Comics' longest-running and most successful title. Today, there are eight spinoffs published monthly.
(Yep I knew that. I'm not a huge comic book junkie, though, and I certainly cannot afford to buy comic books every month. Sad, but true.)

2) What It's All About The world of X-Men is populated by humans and mutants (or Homo superior), the next stage of human evolution. Most mutants suddenly develop their powers in puberty--along with pimples and voice changes. A growing fear of mutants, led by Senator Robert Kelly, is sweeping the land. In response, two camps are formed. Professor Charles Xavier hopes to teach his mutant students to live in harmony with humans. Magneto, however, believes mutants must take over the world or risk death from those who fear them.
(Just wait until fact #3... it's everything I already said.)

3) What They Think Prejudice is a strong theme throughout the movie. In fact, director Bryan Singer compares Professor X's advocacy of unity to that of Martin Luther King Jr., and Magneto's call for violent genetic overthrow of Homo sapiens is likened to Malcolm X's philosophy.
(Who called it? However, I don't see ANYTHING in there about Hitler, so ha. I'm better than MSN.com.)

4) What It Cost A measly $75 million, underwhelming for such an effects-heavy feature. Batman and Robin cost nearly twice as much.
(I said that already. By the way, Batman and Robin was really bad, huh? I liked Batman Forever, and I saw it six times in the theatres, but... they should've stopped there.)

5) How Long a Fan Must Wait Although rumors of an X-Men movie have been floating around for more than 20 years, producer Lauren Shuler Donner started the cinematic wheels turning on this version six years ago.
(And it's a damn good thing, too. What meaning would my life have without this movie? Pathetically, almost none.)

6) Get Me Rewrite! There have been at least six drafts of the script, from the writers of such films as Seven, Men in Black, Gladiator, The Usual Suspects and Ride with the Devil. The most vocal of these scribes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Joss Whedon, complained openly to the press when his version wasn't used as the final script.
(Well... I liked the script. By the way, for the SECOND Kurt Angle reference in this page, he really liked the movie Gladiator. I entered to win a trip to its premiere with him, but unfortunately, I did not win. It's true, it's true.)

7) This Ain't No Merchant-Ivory The film features some 500 special effects. Still, director Singer insists X-Men is not an action movie.
(Well, it certainly ain't no crappy chick flick. ...I like to think of it as a thinking person's action movie. Smart, but stuff still blows up.)

8) I Spy Despite high-level security, the production was under constant scrutiny by fans from day one. Sites like Ain't It Cool News and Coming Attractions picked over any extra's or set spy's online testimonials like buzzards on a carcass. Script pages, call sheets and costume specs were posted regularly.
(Surprisingly, I heard nothing about this movie until one day when I was watching wrestling and I saw an ad for it. I squealed.)

9) Mutant Musical Chairs Australian Hugh Jackman was not the first actor tapped to play Wolverine. Mission: Impossible 2 baddie Dougray Scott, also from Down Under, claimed the role first, but scheduling conflicts with the Tom Cruise project kept interfering.
(And now Hugh's gonna be a superstar. Poor Dougray. I mean, come on, the guy's name is Dougray. Like Stingray or something.)

10) From the Complaint Department X-Men fans are a finicky bunch. Some of the kvetching heard is over the switch from Wolverine's trademark yellow, black and blue costume to a black leather outfit; the casting of girlish Anna Paquin as the well-endowed Rogue; and Jean Grey's lack of redheaded tresses. The loudest howls, however, seem to be focused on the snow-white fright wig worn by Halle Berry as Storm. Perhaps they should have gotten Lil' Kim to play the part.
(I see NOTHING whatsoever to complain about. It's not a comic book, it's a movie, and it was awesome.)

11) They Ain't Lee Press-ons Jackman wielded not one, not two, but four different sets of claws during filming--not including the CGI-generated ones. They were made from plastic, wood, aluminum and metal. Although none were made from adamantium, the fabled indestructible metal from the comic books, they were sharp enough to cut him through his padded costume. A grand total of 700 individual blades were created for Jackman and the various Wolverine stunt doubles.
(Ouch. ... I still want some. I think they'd be very useful. You know, around the house, for every day household repairs, maybe some cooking. And the self-defense factor is priceless.)

12) Kelly for Prez? In the weeks leading up to the film's release, Fox has been staging phony pro-Senator Kelly and anti-mutant rallies across the country. From camera-mugging plants in the Today audience to faux picketers at Universal Studios Hollywood's tourist-crowded CityWalk, people have been seen brandishing signs and banners.
(I think that's great. Not that there are anti-mutant rallies, but that Fox is trying its best to make the movie real. It sure does make delusional X-Men-obsessed freaks like myself pretty goshdarn happy.)

13) Saved By the Bell--The Mutant Years Although this is the first live-action interpretation of the X-Men, an animated one debuted on FOX in 1992, and a second animated series bows this fall. In the feature version, however, most of the X-Men have been younged-down to teenagers, with Xavier as the headmaster of the school they attend. Wolverine and Storm are adults and act as mentors to the group.
(Oh, the animated series... I could write a book about it. Read my obsession.)

14) Role Reversal In Apt Pupil, Ian McKellen's previous pairing with director Singer, he played a former Nazi concentration camp official. For X-Men, he does an about-face to star as Magneto, a childhood survivor of those same camps. (Hey, neato. Can't say much about that... except I really thought Ian McKellen kicked ass in the movie.)

15) Gonna Pump You Up Though McKellen's character has the body of a "normal" human, during the production he wore a body suit of sculpted muscle to enhance his chest, shoulders and arms.
(Right, like I said... he kicked ass.)

16) They Shoulda Had a Seeing Eye Mutant Although Cyclops' visor enhances his eyesight, the prop worn by James Marsden blocked his vision so severely he sometimes had to be led around the set. As Mystique, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos had similar problems with her yellow contact lenses.
(Is it just me, or has all I've heard about Rebecca playing Mystique been complaints?)

17) So Much for the Pitter-patter of Little Wolverine Feet Jackman became famous on the set for really getting into his character--so much so that when he screamed after accidentally catching his nether regions in a harness during one choreographed fall, everyone thought he was just crying, uh, Wolverine.
(That was about the 80th time I'd heard that story. For a better retelling go to The Hugh Jackman Homepage.)

18) Scotty, Beam Us into a Coproduction The X-Men have encountered the Star Trek characters not once, but twice. The first time, they teamed up with Captain Kirk and company in a comic book. The second visit took place with the Next Generation crew in the Star Trek novel Planet X. In that adventure, Professor X met Captain Jean-Luc Picard, which means Patrick Stewart has now played two different characters from the same book.
(The X-Men are ubiquitous. They rule the earth.)

19) Ding-Dong, Mystique Calling If this shape-changing mutant is always in a foul mood, there's a reason. Supermodel Romijn-Stamos spent as long as 10 hours a day in the makeup chair for application of her blue skin, strategically placed scales and some 90 prosthetics. And that doesn't include the daily removal process, itself a several-hour operation.
(See, this is what I'm saying. For goshsakes, woman, if it was so awful for you, why not let someone else be immortalized as a mutant? Someone *ahem* more deserving, if you will.)

20) Keepin' It Real Although the actors got along very well offscreen and often worked out together, Jackman avoided exercising with Tyler Mane, who plays his arch-nemesis, Sabretooth, in order to maintain a feeling of rivalry.
(Tyler's a wrestler. He's cool. That's... hmm... lemme see, my fourth wrestling reference so far on this page.)

21) Fashion Flare-ups The thick leather mutant costumes were made for looks, not breathability, and Jackman ended up suffering heat exhaustion after one particularly strenuous scene of tumbling, rolling and clawing.
(Hugh could be a wrestler, you know... wrestlers are people who bleed and suffer for their art.)

22) Moonlighting Comic book junkies and moviegoers with laser vision will want to keep their eyes peeled for Stan Lee, who has a cameo as a hot-dog vendor.
(I saw him.)

23) Fangs a Lot As Sabretooth, Mane wore two different sets of fangs, as well as a prosthetic forehead. He also wore four-inch heels, bringing him to a height of 7-foot-2.
(Did anyone else notice that in the toy version of the X-Men, he's about twice the size of everybody else? I mean, did the people manufacturing those toys even SEE the movie? He wasn't 10-foot-11. He was 7-foot-2.)

24) Where Are My Mutants? Although fan favorites like Colossus and Shadowcat have cameos, notable mainstays such as Nightcrawler and Gambit remain MIA. But with some 34 different X-Men created over the 37-year run of the comic book, let's cut the writers a little slack. Sequels is the key word here, people.
(I was wondering where Gambit was, too. But, hey, any excuse for a sequel!)

25) Speaking of Which... Sequels are already being planned, with rumors of another X-Man from the original team--the Beast--joining Xavier's gang. The sentinels, gigantic mutant-hunting robots, are rumored to be the baddies in the follow-up plans, with an evil Jean Grey a possibility for the third. Although all the principal actors have return engagements in their contracts, director Singer is not a definite.
(Yay! Trilogies are great! Well, ok, not all of them, but an X-Men triology would be. I'm looking forward to it even now.)