X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

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Ult_Sm86
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

So I've been debating whether or not to start this thread for a while, but here it is-- I think there's a lot of problems with the continuity of this series and I'm prepared to nitpick it in hopes that Marvel will read these threads and better learn from their mistakes.

But before I nitpick, here's somethings I picked up that would explain a lot of the problems.
Writers for the first film are Tom DeSanto and Brian Singer. Naturally as the director Singer probably did a lot of hypothetical what-if proposing to DeSanto as DeSanto did the grunt work of actually writing.
Screenplay was done by David Hayter (The voice of Solid Snake and Logan in XMTAS).

Now DeSanto also wrote the two Transformers Films (Go Figure) and Hayter wrote, among many other cool action films, Watchmen.

Skip to X-2.

This time Hayter is a writer & Screenplay writer, but for such a big project Fox rationalized that they must need a lot of writers. More fingers in the pie though aaaand...
well here's the line up.
DeSanto is gone and instead you got Zak Penn (who would remain a writer for X-3) and of course Singer again, doing his little "this is how I want it! This is my visualization" bit. What a director *should* be doing, if he's writing.

For Screenplay you got Michael Doughtery and Dan Harris (who would do Superman Returns for Singer a few years later. Go figs?)

Now here's where a lot of fans problems with the X-films happen, and this is a really big explanation as to why X-3 Sucks.
DeSanto? Gone.
David Hayter? Gone.
Brian Singer. ... Gone.

It's just Zak Penn and some dude named Simon Kinberg. Oh, and director? Brett Ranter. The asshat who does the Rush Hour movies.

How do you make a third movie without the same writing/directing crew?

And to make it all even worse here's Kinberg's Other projects (be prepared)

-XXX: State of the Union (Not the Vin Diesel one, the crap one)
-Mr. & Mrs. Smith
-Jumper
-he apparently wrote the soon to be released Sherlock Holmes (which depresses me but hopefully it's good. But my concern is Holmes is not an action hero)
-he's writing "The Hardy Men" which is an action/adventure film of the Hardy Boys grown up (yeah... I know, no need to say it.)
and get this
-Jumper 2. Another one.

And he's rumored to be the head writer for X-Men First Class.
Explain that one to me.

I'm very saddened to see a lot of this and I hope the reason they're doing 1st class is to restart the X-men Film Series, give it a new boost but with that guy writing it? I'm very concerned.

So those are some of the problems... let's see what you guys have to say.
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Freak »

X-Men: First Class the comic? That's a good one :shifty
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Amatheya »

I think the Fox X-Men movies started out ok but kinda lost the plot around X-2 (which I still liked) and went very squiffy around X-3. Your point about the wrighting could very well account for that.

I'm hoping that as the Wolverine movie was fab (biased, didn't really pay much attention after the naked Wolvie scene :love) Marvel will carry that over into first class and as you say, start from scratch. That idea certainly worked well with the Batman Movies. And who knows, in time maybe we'll even get a cool Nightcrawler complete with fur :D We can live in hope!
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Slarti »

I think you've got a lot of free time on your hands, Bman. ;)

To quote one of my favorites "Then repeat to yourself 'this is just a show, I should really just relax.'"

All movies, and all movie series, are going to have 'problems' with continuity, logic, or other elements because there are thousands of people -- often with different agendas -- involved. While nitpicking this series, and particularly the first one, you might keep in mind that the commercial success of X-Men in 2000 is what spurred most of the big-budget comic movies you're enjoying today.

[Edited on 6-5-2009 by Slarti]
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Elfdame »

Slarti wrote:(1)I think you've got a lot of free time on your hands, Bman. ;)

(2) To quote one of my favorites "Then repeat to yourself 'this is just a show, I should really just relax.'"

(3) All movies, and all movie series, are going to have 'problems' with continuity, logic, or other elements because there are thousands of people -- often with different agendas -- involved.
(1) Agreed. But better he carp about the movies than rob convenience stores. Unless he does both -- and I DON'T wanna know about it.

(2) Well said, Slarti. Although it's hard to relax with all the adamantium claw-slinging, but I do get the drift.

(3) Again, quite true. However, I must say I enjoyed all three Spider-man films. Wasn't looking for a helluva lotta continuity etc, except for Stan The Man to cameo. And I really wished that since they kept showing Connors that I'd get to see some green scales too. I'm sure True Believers and Cinema Afficianados could show lots of problems (such as Gwen Stacy showing up in #3 when PP is already enamored of MJ, totally non-canonical), but for me -- they worked.
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by wingyding »

I'm prepared to nitpick it in hopes that Marvel will read these threads and better learn from their mistakes.


You let me know when that gets anywhere, will you? I want to see the flying pigs that will accompany it.
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

LoL ElfDame I think you and I are going to have a long, LONG, talk in chat sometime about Spider-Man 3

however, that film is neither here nor there.

It's strange, I expected that to be one of the reactions I would get. "You spend too much time".

We're nerds! LoL It's what we do :cracked, if not us, then who?

If we're not out there to care about the story and to see some kind of feasible continuity and story, then who whose opinion would be heard for the Marvel people to harp on. Yeah they're making cash, but they're making cash on characters that were made famous by people who loved them. These people being us.


Though I am sooooooo glad you bring up Wolverine Origins 'cuz that was my next point to harp on.

Now could any of the writers from X-men 1-3 who contributed in the making or screenplay writing, or storyboarding, of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, please raise your hand...


None of you?
Not a single one?
:smirk

Gee, I wonder what the problem there was.
OH, that's right.
You got tactful, thoughtful, drama writer David Benoiff (noted for his screenplay in Kite Runner and Troy) with Skip Woods the goomba who wrote and co-produced Swordfish and then wrote Hitman in 2007. Y'know the game turned movie that made crap for cash and did horrible in the box office? That poor man's action thriller? Basically it was Skip's "XXX" movie. Everyone action writer gets one.

So they get two guys who have had no experience with the X-Men Franchise whatsoever, I'm assuming Skip got brought in 'cuz of his prior experience with Halle and Hugh in Swordfish, and they get told to write a pre-quel to a trilogy of films none of them had anything to do with other than probably enjoying them in the theaters.

Then you got the director, Gaven Hood.
This guy's actually pretty talented. He directed the film Rendition which didn't do so great in the box office, but I personally enjoyed greatly. According to IMDB he was Anubis in Stargate SG-!. To play an egyptian god you gotta have some kind of cool factor about you. So the guy isn't a mook, he's not lacking in talent.

But he isn't an action writer. And he certainly isn't a comic guy based on his resumé alone.
So my question to Marvel is simply put like so, "Why in Sam Hell did you do three X-Men movies with a constant mish-mash of different writers for each one, then insist on doing a prequel about only one of the characters, with a completely new writing group and director, all of whom never had anything to do with X-men Franchise, or even Comic Hero Films up until that point?"

I personally feel these poorly thought out decisions are the reason the result for the mish mash of Weapon X characters in Wolverine felt like such a cluster-fuck of odd choices to ban together. I mean, okay Deadpool makes sense, even Agent Zero made sense. But Blob, really? You don't want to save him for the Magneto story? Or how about Wraith? Did someone get their Multiverses crossed? General Wraith from Ultimate is not Wraith the guy who goes invisible.

And I feel a lot of it was just producers saying "We need these actors in the movie, 'cuz they're big and sparkly and shiny, and they get a lot of attention (For instance the sucker from Lost being in the movie WTF?) so here's what you do. Take these 7-10 actors and give them characters. We don't care who, just make it fit."
That's how the entire movie felt to me. The writers were going through their classic comics going "Shit! Get Marvel on the phone we don't know who to cast Dominic as!" and then Marvel coughs and goes "uh...." They hand the phone to Quesada who's snorting and covering the phone 'cuz to them this film is one big joke and he tells them to cast him as Beak. Then they all hang up and giggle and laugh together.
Thankfully someone spoke up and prevented that, but in all honesty, that's how I see it happening. No one really seemed to have any firm grasp on character origins.

Remy? Sure he worked. On the surface. He was from New Orleans, congrats. Hard to screw that one up.

I'm not complaining just to complain, I really do feel let down because X-3 and Origins, even 1 & 2 (though both of those weren't half as bad) they all could have been so much better, they all had so much more potential.

Here's hoping that Nightcrawler film we keep wishing for gets made... correctly. :cracked
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Crocodile Hunter »

Ult_Sm86 wrote: Hitman in 2007. Y'know the game turned movie that made crap for cash and did horrible in the box office?
Horrible in the box office?

The movie grossed $99,965,792.
Now the budget was something like $20,000,000
Which means that it almost grossed five times its budget.

Now, I wonder what is your idea of "movie doing good in box office"?

Sure, it was bad. But better then most game movies.
Ult_Sm86 wrote: (For instance the sucker from Lost being in the movie WTF?)
Too bad for you if you actually haven't seen Lord Of The Rings where Monaghan played a major role.

I was more interested of Bolt then I was of, let's say mmm... Most of the other characters, too bad he had it at the moment I wanted to see more of the character, but I guess he was there so that he could be killed.






[Edited on 6/5/2009 by Crocodile Hunter]
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by LIV4TheObsession »

This is sort of off topic, but did anyone see Stan Lee's cameo in the Wolverine movie? (I must have missed it...)

And I think Brian Singer should get back on at least ONE of the new X-Men films! It would really help if they hired SOMEONE who (I dunno) acctually knows what they're doing for a change! :bite
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

Croc, I knew he was in LOTR, but I honestly was pretty sure the Lost reference would be more appropriate at the time. Also, you proved my point.

Bolt was cool. He also gets wiped off the face of the planet pretty damn quickly, doesn't really do much, and go figure, he just happens to be more interesting than, as you say and as I agree with, most of the other characters. That says something if the core characters who your story is actually about are less interesting than minor characters. All the more proof that they just got big names to fill in the seats. And it appears it worked.
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X-Men Film Series: Continuity Issues

Post by The Drastic Spastic »

Oh god, not the "they built this business ON OUR BACKS" thing again.
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