Another Look at X-Men: The Last Stand

A few weeks ago, I watched X-Men: The Last Stand for the second time. I saw it in the theaters, liked it a lot and got the DVD but never watched it. I know this one didn't get the best reviews but I think it stands up with the first two. Most people's complaints about this one stem from too many fight scenes and less emotion throughout the movie.

The main reason I love it is because of all of the mutants! We spent the first film getting introduced to the core characters, then the second brought us more new ones. That opening sequence with Nightcrawler was amazing and made the fanboy in me quite happy. Plus, we got Lady Deathstrike, Shadowcat and Colossus.

And what does the third one bring us? Even more mutants! Beast, Madrox, Juggernaut, Callisto, Arclight, Kid Omega (Quill), Psylocke, Angel, Leech, Spike, Moira MacTaggert and Phat! To me, that's the best thrill of comic book movies - seeing these characters come to life. So I'm a dork and I just want to see more, more and more. I think that's why I got so psyched about the Wolverine trailer, which shows us glimpses of Deadpool, Gambit and Blob.

Getting back to TLS, I also like the death factor. Cyclops is always annoying and I think the actor wanted to go work with Bryan Singer on that crappy Superman movie, so good riddance. Phoenix's death was expected and Professor X's was still shocking. Even at the end, when they're killing mutants left and right, you're like, who's going to survive this thing anyway? It truly does feel like a last stand. I know it's not a popular opinion but I love this part of the X-Men franchise.

By the way, as I was reading up on the X-Men film franchise on Wikipedia, I came across this quote on the X2 page: "Shaquille O'Neal wanted a role in the film but was ignored by the filmmakers." Excelsior!

Thunderbolts #128: You've Gotta Be Freakin' Kidding Me.

So I accidently bought another copy of Thunderbolts #127 last Wednesday because my local shop was sold out. No problem, I thought, I'll just swing by my overpriced backup store and was shocked to see that they were also sold out. Then I hopped online and checked out eBay. Copies are going for $10. So I did some research and I did not know that the new issue featured Obama for most of the story. Thanks, Marvel. So now I have to decide to overspend and get the issue, or wait a couple of years and pick it up for 4 or 5 dollars. Right now, I'm thinking of picking up the reprint (which you know is coming) and then pick up a 1st print in a year or so.

I think the main thing is all of the problems that Marvel has caused with these Obama tie-ins. They are all short-runs and they're driving people crazy. I know there were a lot of people that wanted the Obama variant of that issue of Spider-Man from a couple of weeks ago and it caused a lot of problems for most of the retailers. I don't buy Spider-Man, but I probably would have bought the Obama issue, but you can't find it. It shouldn't have been a variant, it should have been the regular cover. I know Marvel is in the business of selling books, but I think they're really taking advantage of the situation by hyping these issues up so much.

Mainly, I'm pissed that I'm going to miss an issue of a series that I really love reading, but at the same time, I'm pissed at Marvel for pulling a cheap move, and I'm pissed at people for trying to sell issues at three times the cover price.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings.

More Deadpool news! Marvel announced a five-part Deadpool limited series starting in April called Suicide Kings. It's got a different creative team, but Mike Benson is currently writing Moon Knight, and he's been doing a great job, so I am pretty excited about this. Who knew that in 2009, Marvel would be able to support TWO Deadpool books? I know I didn't see it coming.

Watchmen Watch: 1/16/09.

Apparently, Warner Brothers and Fox have finally settled their dispute and the movie will be released on 03.06.09, which is a pretty cool launch date. They've ramped up their marketing lately, and their commercials are finally running with a date. I think this news had a lot to do with that. I can't wait, it looks like it's very faithful to the book, I just wonder if they're going to change it slightly to set it in present times or if they're going to keep it in the '80s. I guess we'll see in about a month and a half.

Preview: Deadpool #7.

This was posted a couple of days ago on Marvel's site, but there's a preview of Deadpool #7. I read issue #6 last week and it just keeps getting better and better. I really like how this next issue's cover is a take-off on the classic cover to Uncanny X-Men #141, which is one of my all-time favorite comics. My advice is; if you're not picking this one up every month, go to the doctor to find out what's wrong with you, because it is excellent. Anyways, here are the preview pages:

Top Fights of 2008.

Neat article over on Marvel's site about the Best Fights of 2008. I thought some of those X-Force/X-Men fights should have been higher, but the New Avengers vs. The Hood and company was pretty darn good. I know Secret Invasion was the big cross-over for Marvel last year, and there were a ton of big group fights, but I think it's kind of lame and lazy to put it at number one.

Take 10: Top Teams of 2008.

There's a new article over on Marvel's site called Take 10: Top Teams of 2008. Personally, I would have bumped X-Force and Guardians of the Galaxy up higher and X-Factor down lower or off the list entirely. And what's going on with The Twelve? I can't seem to find any release dates for further issues, I guess it's getting bumped back a few months, which is strange, because it's a 12-issue limited series.