Just saw X-Men. Good lord, was that a bad script. I enjoyed parts of it, but ultimately it was unsatisfying: the pacing, the characterization, everything felt a little off. I agree with whoever said that it was too much to squish the "cure" plotline and the Phoenix plotline into one movie, and several characters were badly underused (Rogue and Angel, for starters). Not to turn anyone off seeing it, because it's a pretty fun way to spend a couple of hours, but just keep your expectations low.

Oh! And stay through the credits; there's a short scene at the end. Anyone else catch it?

I saw a Superman Returns trailer, Pete. Still, too much whining, not enough "I am the most powerful entity on the planet--but do not fear me" for me. It felt like it was coasting on Superman being an icon. But I think Superman the icon is...limited and flat. And the movie looks like another sort of limited and flat with Abercrombie Fitch models and Kevin Spacey eating the scenery.

Kate, I caught the end scene...it's too much that they apparently killed Cyclops offscreen, killed Jean without attempting to cure her, and castrated Magneto and depowered Mystique. By that point I'm not that concerned with Xavier being in a new body...and is he a mutant still?

I just saw X Men, too, Kate. I caught the scene at the end because I read in EW that you should stay through the credits. Thought it was one of the highlights of the movie. Don't know how sad I am about that, but there you go.

I will preface this by saying that everything I knew about X Men prior to the movies I learned from watching the cartoon or reading right here on Buffistas. I didn't hate this X Men. I thought it was definitely not as good as the second one, but I'd actually put it pretty much on par with the first. I was annoyed at the death of Cyclops. I thought it was shoddily handled for such a major character from the first two. I also know enough about the Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics from reading here to have been annoyed at the way it came off in the movie. What annoyed the most, though, was that they brought in about ten million new mutants and then none of them really did much of anything. I still don't know the name of that one mutant who could sense other mutants powers, and she played a pretty prominent role in the plot. And the Angel character had maybe two spoken lines in the whole movie. Pretty, though.

However, even given all that, it was an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. It was loud and mostly fun and there were a couple of WTF moments (I went in completely unspoiled). Nowhere near as good as the second, though.

I didn't think Angel was pretty either. I thought he looked like an awkward young man, which was fine for the movie character, but insufficient for the comic book character.

I thought he was pretty enough. Nice torso with the jeans and the wings and all. I don't know.

Nobody in the whole movies was as pretty as Patrick Stewart, anyway, and I'm including Hugh Jackman in that statement. Mmmm, Captain Picard.

I will say that Famke Jensen looked FABULOUS. Just goes to prove that everyone's sexier with a little evil in them.

Mmm. I thought Famke looked terrible. Well, for her. Which is great for most mortal females. She looked tired the whole way through. Hugh looked almost peaked himself. Which, still great.

I think the Angel guy had a great body, for the small and wiry, but he didn't have the beauty I'd gotten from the comic book version.

Disclaimer: ever since I learned that he auditioned for the role, I've been a bit particular.

Oh, he would've been beautiful! Huge improvement.

Well, I always think she's criminally beautiful anyway, but I thought the tired air gave her beauty a depth that fit the role. There was something weary behind the eyes. And I preferred her with the longer hair. I always found the flippy -do from the first two movies a bit distracting. And I want to look like that in a black cami and boy shorts.

Hugh looked like crap. Which is still better than 90% of mortal men, but bad for him.

Hugh did look great from the neck down. Those pecs were rocking. And in the scene where Phoenix was trying to flay him, I couldn't help but think "What about the pants? Will no one think of the pants?" His face, though, was a casualty of getting that ripped, I think. Too low a body fat percentage.

Halle looked Halle-esque. If you like her, then she looked fine. Stewart and McKellen looked creepy at the start where they were digitally de-aged. But Stewart was lickable throughout. Jamie Madrox! Played by Eric Dane! He was the yummy surprise of the movie (sort of how Colossus was in X2). And think of the possibilities!

The "kid" playing Iceman looked way too old himself. Much more like his actual 26 years. Rogue looked significantly more womanly than she had. But not as aged as Shawn.

I thought the guy who played Angel was quite pretty, myself. Wish we'd seen more of him. I did appreciate that both he and Wolverine had shirtless scenes, even if Wolverine's was while being basically skinned alive. Agree that Hugh Jackman's face looked haggard. I thought Famke Janssen looked fabulous (and I WANT her hair).

Okay, in the very last shot, did Magneto make the chess piece move with his mind? My friend and I had differing takes on that scene. I thought it showed him finally having to come to terms with the loss of his power, and having to move the piece physically with his hand. My friend thought his hand was hovering above the piece and that scene was meant to indicate that he was regaining a tiny bit of his power because the piece moved without him actually touching it. Thoughts?

I thought it was touching, Kate, but the people I've spoken to since then thought it wasn't.