Canon-Strike IV: X-Men

[Paddy]

First Class and Days off Future Past were pretty great X-Men films (they did a pretty solid job with juggling a large cast of old and new faces in DoFP). Apocalypse has its issues but I find it entertaining in parts. Dark Phoenix felt like it had anything that makes an X-Men film entertaining sucked out of it on the whole with great actors disengaged from their roles.

Perhaps the next X-Men film will return to the form of X-Men 2, First Class or Logan? We can hope so anyway.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 06 - The Wolverine
Sixth film in and the fifth to centrally focus on Logan. This time however we see the film veer away from prequel territory and instead the film acts as a loose sequel to X-Men 3 following the character as he travels to Japan to meet an old friend. Soon he has his powers stripped from him and discovers he's been betrayed, all whilst still suffering guilt from the death of Jean Grey. The film was well received, seen as a huge improvement on the last few Logan featuring films though some criticism came from references to how it was still somewhat more of the same for Wolverine.




How much of an improvement was The Wolverine and did it add anything of worth to the overall storyline?

[Dogg Thang]

It's very much a side-story and I found myself not all that invested in the movie, like even within just the movie itself things feel a little unimportant. And yet it's well made and I enjoyed it. It's about a billion times better than Origins. I think it's a good film. I just didn't connect with it perhaps as much as I should have.

[Neon Ignition]

I was the same, it toned things down but almost to the extent that it made it feel a little generic. There also has to be really good reason to ever to 'lost powers' as a storyline and Jackman/Magold had two goes at it and this first attempt I don't feel had enough of a hook to make it work. It very quickly just means they say 'ow' more.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 07 - X-Men: Days of Future Past
Taking place some time after the events of The Wolverine, we meet up with the remaining X-Men during the last days of mankind and mutantkind alike. In an effort to fix things Logan is sent back in time along his own timeline to change events in 1973 so that the future can be rewritten. The film scored some of the best reviews and box office results of the entire franchise and brought the original canon timeline to an end, launching a new timeline spawned from the events of the movie.



Though more of a Wolverine Universe at this point, how well did Days of Future Past do in terms of closing the overall arc and launching a new one whilst also being a cohesive film in its own right?

[QualityChimp]

IMHO, this is the best X-Men film.

[Asura]

The absolute excess of that Quicksilver moment just totally sold me on the ticket price. You know how sometimes, a movie can be okay, but it has a moment where you feel satisfied for the whole price just for that minute or so (with the buildup)? Like that.

[Dogg Thang]

That gif is the best part of the movie and, to its credit, it's an absolutely wonderful sequence. I really enjoyed DoFP. I was definitely a bit torn on it when watching because I never really thought the older X-Men movies were great, even when they were good. And so, for me, the fresh start of First Class was what I needed and I felt like they really could have built from there to something even better. Instead, I feel like it was a bit like Vaughan had in essence rescued the reputation of X-Men and then Singer came in and just shoved all his own rubbish into it, stuff that I would have been very happy to leave behind forever.

Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable movie with some great sequences.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm curious as to how DOFP might have been. Vaughn was supposed to have directed it and his (and Goldman's) story treatment was used for the film but as the later films showed Singer really embraced excess so it's hard to seperate how much influence each had (a bit like Ratner and Singer for X3). I'm in the camp too where I feel it's possibly the best X-Men film... maybe X2 is better. Only the ending really sags.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 08 - X-Men: Apocalypse
In a literal instant the efforts Days of Future Past made to reset the slate by shifting the franchise onto a new timeline and solve all the consistency issues was immediately shot to hell with the premise of the new film which see's villainous Apocalypse rise in the 80's. The younger incarnation of the cast get their third outing as they must decide whether to join or fight against him.



What went right and what went wrong with this entry?

[Asura]

Ultimately this can't get away from how any adaptation which goes near Apocalypse would really have to treat the character with build-up equivalent to or greater than Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet in the MCU movies. You can't possibly build up to that in a single film.

It makes me wonder if the MCU movies will go near the character, or if instead they might go for someone like Onslaught.

[Neon Ignition]

For me Apocalypse wasn't just a weak follow up, it was the film that effectively marked the end point for the franchise. It just felt like a film that was learning all the wrong lessons from its own and Marvel's past success and highlighted how much disregard for its own continuity it had so it made buying into its plot and what followed even harder.


Movie 09 - Logan
The third film of the Logan focused trilogy and the last one to feature Jackman in the role that had largely carried the franchise a lot of the time. The film joined up with Xavier and Wolverine in their old age when Charles is close to the end of his life and Logan is suffering from a failing healing ability. Taking place in the near future of the second timeline, both exist as survivors of some prior threat that has wiped out all of the other X-Men and mutants are disappearing as a species. Saddled with a young girl who appears to be a victim of the same programme that created Logan's adamantium, he sets out to reluctantly protect her. At the time it was notable not just for being Jackman's last turn in the role but also being one of the few major release non-family superhero films and met good critic and box office success.



How did Logan stack up as a closure of the characters long arc and against the rest of the franchise in general?

[Dogg Thang]

Oh I missed Apocalypse. It was atrocious. So, so bad. I don't know if it had any redeeming qualities.

Logan, on the other hand, was superb. A dark movie, not an easy watch being quite miserable the whole way through, and one that really hit hard in many places. I was easily at a point where I could have left Jackman behind long ago as Wolverine and yet he totally won me over all over again in this movie. He played it brilliantly. But Patrick Stewart? He was phenomenal. So much heart in that performance.

I thought Logan was excellent.

[Asura]

But Patrick Stewart? He was phenomenal. So much heart in that performance.

That's the thing; Stewart's role was distressing. It showed just how much investment we all had in the character due to his performance.

[QualityChimp]

I did think Logan was impressive, but flip me, it's bloody depressing.