shadow1
Registered User
- Nov 29, 2008
- 16,611
- 5,290
I didn't see a dedicated X-Men (movies) thread and I didn't want to throw this into the Marvel Discussion thread, but I did just rewatch 10 of these 13 movies in the past 2-3 weeks so I'm putting this here. You're welcome and/or I'm sorry.
I've had a soft spot for this series and I feel like it hasn't always gotten proper credit for its role in superhero movie history. This really was the successful proof of concept before Spider-Man before Nolan's Batman and before the MCU. Fox really let it wither on the vine with the last few movies and two of the directors in the series are awful humans, which also makes it easy to just memory hole and move on.
But I had been wanting to revisit for a while. Recently listened to a podcast that ranked the series and with the arrival of X-Men 97 and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, the time seemed right. So I did. My ranking:
Good-to-great
X2
The Wolverine
Logan
First Class
Deadpool 2
Fine
X-Men
Days of Future Past
Deadpool
Meh
Apocalypse
The Last Stand
Bad
New Mutants
Dark Phoenix
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I've seen Apocalypse, New Mutants and Dark Phoenix recently enough that I didn't revisit. And as you can see I didn't care much for any of them though the podcast I listened to had some really impassioned defenses of Apocalypse that have me considering a rewatch, but I remain skeptical.
Notes: One overarching thought was how well cast most of these are. They really nailed the key characters (in multiple iterations) and the times you might want to call a miss are at least somewhat due to a lack of material than the performance (like Halle Berry who gets absolutely nothing to do in four movies).
Several also have very strong openings.
I honestly think The Wolverine and Logan are the two best movies here but it feels weird to not top an X-Men list with a team movie so X2 gets a slight edge. Also it's the rare second part of a trilogy that actually hits some of the "this is our Empire Strikes Back" touchstones that trilogies love to claim. To be clear, not nearly as good, but you don't have to squint to see the structure.
Yes, I genuinely believe The Wolverine is better than Logan, though not by much. I won't prolong this but I bump a little bit against Logan's "we're not a normal comic book movie, we're a COOL SERIOUS R-RATED comic book movie" tone. It's self-aware to a point it almost pulls me out of the movie. And in case you don't get that it's "a Western" they literally watch Shane then quote it at the end. The craft and performances are undeniable though. James Mangold just makes good movies ...like The Wolverine, which gets all the world weariness without being precious about it. Plus Samurai Wolverine is just cooler than Western Wolverine.
And "deaths" in these things never moved me much in the first place and really don't now since no one ever really dies and nothing really ever ends in these worlds.
First Class is a load of fun. Big James Bond vibes I didn't pick up before for the spying, political intrigue, 60s setting and Kevin Bacon's very Bond villain Sebastian Shaw. The new kids are underwhelming but Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are a good pair.
The Deadpools: I think the hit rate on Ryan Reynolds' jokes is extremely low (sub 20%), which at times makes these a chore since he never shuts up. The thing that 2 does well though is it gives him more people and situations to bounce off of. There is a lot of humor in that, especially the X-Force segment which is genueinely hilarious. Good action in both of these. Uses music for humorous effect well too.
Days of Future Past is the one that dropped the most on this viewing. So much clunky exposition and this one has the biggest "these deaths are meaningless" problem. I understand the Hollywood reasons why Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique became central to these movies but that relationship triangle never worked for me and she already feels halfway out the door here (with two more movies to go).
X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Rare to see a movie that just makes wrong turn after wrong turn from story to casting to execution. Only positive I can say is that Hugh Jackman never phones it in. That dude works.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts! I have seen all of these movies, but many of them only once. Reading through your comments, you're higher than consensus on The Wolverine, so I'm going to have to give that one a rewatch. I watched it before I kept track of my ratings anywhere (IMDB/Letterboxd), but I remember liking it... though I can't remember much about it aside from being set in Japan. I agree with you that Logan is a little overrated, and though very good isn't the masterpiece it is sometimes made out to be.
My top-3 are First Class, Days of Future Past, and Deadpool 2. I understand your criticism with Days of Future Past though, but I still think it's great. I also kinda liked the universally maligned Dark Phoenix... well, there goes my last shred of credibility.