X-Men III

[asterroc]

I don't often notice loopholes and inconsistencies, or critique things a plot didn't do (because I'm not often attentive enough to notice or remember them), but I'm afraid I've got some beef here.

Spoilers!

The obvious inconsistency was after Magneto moved the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz - first off, why didn't they just all sit on a car and fly it over? I'm guessing for the shock effect on the troops, but oh well. At issue though, is that It was daylight, or at least afternoon, while he was moving the bridge, and then suddenly it was night when the bridge hit. No explanation, no mutant's powers that we knew of that could do that.

Then, plot stuff, the ending/climax of the movie. jethereal says that Wolverine was the only one that could go to Jean because of being able to get to her emotionally, while I say it's because he's the only one who could resist her disintegration power. Whoever wrote that section of the Wikipedia article agrees with me, but I give Jeth some credit since Jean/Phoenix doesn't levitate him - Wolverine is strong enough to push back against her telekinetically pushing him away, but if she levitated him he wouldn't have the ground friction to help him push back.

And then, I don't think that it really did have to be him. The kid cure Jimmy/Leech probably couldn't've gotten to her alone - Jean's powers work at a further distance than Jimmy's. What they needed instead was a way to either protect him (Wolverine's body as a shield), or distract her (Wolverine certainly was keeping her occupied, Jimmy could've snuck around behind her), or else amplify his power (some personal version of the amplifying machine used on Rogue in X1, though considering that it would've taken time to invent/build maybe it wasn't a good choice, or else they could've worked it into the list of anti-mutant weapons). Once Jimmy's power reached Jean, she would be neutralized, and he could remain close to her and neutralizing her until she learned to control her power. I guess she didn't really want that, she wanted to die, but that's a different issue.

Plus, the movie didn't explain her massive powers well. When Charles and Magneto first went to her, Jean did have nearly full control over her powers, lifting the cars in the street consciously, only dropping them at the end when she was startled or something. I think Charles' confining her powers prevented her from continuing to grow with them. And she certainly wasn't the Phoenix force of the comics - I didn't read them, just about them. :-P

And last issue, I'm sad that Rogue took the "cure." It would've been so much better if she'd ditched the shallow Iceman and instead started dating Leech. He'd've been the one person who could touch the fully powered Rogue w/o consequence. Her power requires contact, and his is area-of-effect, so he would've depowered her before she ever touched him.

Yay, geekery!

Comments

[sammka.livejournal.com]

Also, there were needles full of the cure lying all over the place... exactly why Wolverine couldn't have just brought one over to her and jammed it into her is unclear, but like you said, I guess she wanted to die.

My friends and I talked about her dating Leech too, but... Leech looked like he was 11 years old in the movie. And also, I think she really did want to be able to touch people - I don't think Iceman really wanted her to lose her powers, and she knew it. I actually think that Rogue's taking the cure is very understandable.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Hm, I got the impression from how Wolverine and Storm stared at the needles still in the holster that once the needles had been shot and hit the ground they didn't work anymore. But yeah, that's a good point, that giving her the Cure might've been a good solution too.

Yeah, I guess Rogue's taking the Cure is understandable, I just don't like it. She / her power doesn't fit in in a world without either mutants fighting humans or mutants fighting each other. Leech was the same height as Kitty Pride/Shadowcat, so I was presuming they were the same age - how old was she?

I also found it interesting that there was a whole class/category of mutant powers that acted upon other mutant powers - Rogue, Leech, and Callisto. Rogue "borrowed" powers, Leech nullified them, and Callisto sensed how strong they were and where they were located (though she also had super speed). Next they need someone whose power is to strengthen others' powers, or to swap powers.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

Rogue's power also weakens/kills normal humans on contact, so she really can't touch anyone. In the second movie she learns about her powers when she kisses her boyfriend. So it makes sense that it really just bothers her and messes with her life.

I think Kitty is younger than Rogue as well. And Kitty being the same height as Leech may just be the result of sexual dimorphism... I dunno, Leech's face looked really young. It might be just because he was supposedly sheltered and innocent.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

Just checked... Cameron Bright, the actor who played Leech, is currently 13 years old. I guess he was 12 or so in production. He looked younger but that might be because of his weird shaven head.

Anna Paquin, who plays Rogue, is actually my age (23). Rogue is obviously younger in the movie, but it makes sense that I should remember how they looked and automatically think she was too old for him.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Regarding sexual dimorphism, if Kitty and Leech seemed the same height, since girls usually mature sooner, that would imply she's younger than him. I think I was assuming Kitty and Leech were something like 11-13, Rogue was around 16, and Wolverine was in his thirties.

Right now I'm watching eXistenZ with T$. Man, it's really bizarre...

[sammka.livejournal.com]

11-13 is a big difference from 16, either way. The actress who plays Kitty is apparently around 21. Also, girls mature sooner, but by 12 or 13 a lot of boys have started on their growth spurt, so they could be taller than an older girl... but whatever. In any case, to me, Leech looked younger than everyone, and it turned out he was played by someone younger than everyone else.

Wolverine is actually supposed to be way older than he looks due to his super healing powers.