Post by Nalkarj on Mar 4, 2019 16:55:49 GMT
I saw about half of X-Men (2000) on TV last night. It’s OK—better than X2, to say the least. I put on something else about halfway through, but not because it was bad, just because the person I was with wanted to see something else.
Oddly enough (WeirdRaptor would love this), it made me appreciate the MCU a bit more. Jackman did a decent job, and Stewart and McKellen were as good as always. Most of the cast had nothing to do, the focus being on Wolverine and the girl. The problem is the complete lack of naturalism, a criterion I’m more and more convinced is the sine qua non of good superhero movies.
It’s not realism, a different kettle of fish and one I don’t think usually works for these movies. It’s closer to “suspension of disbelief,” but the burden is not on the audience: it’s on the creator. Absurd or ridiculous plots and situations are fine, but you have to convince your audience that it’s happening, that these are real, believable people in this situation. It’s mostly character-based: if you believe in the characters, you can believe in the story. But it cuts both ways: the more ridiculous the situation, the more convincing you have to make the people.
Naturalism is an element at which, as mentioned, the best superhero movies succeed: it’s the common element shared by Superman, Superman II, Batman, Batman Returns, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, the Nolan Batman trilogy, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, and several other MCU entries. One of the most notable examples is, intriguingly, one I don’t like very much (because I don’t think the comedy works): the shawarma scene from The Avengers. Real people eat, and real people go to restaurants; in this movie, so do these larger-than-life superhero characters. That’s the point.
X-Men tries for that (especially when Jackman laughs at their silly superhero names) but doesn’t succeed. It plays everything too over-the-top and dramatic, and no one except Jackman talks like a real person. It’s hard to care about these people because we can’t connect with them—something that’s definitely necessary for the X-Men.
One of the best things about the MCU is, contra Formersamhmd, its lack of “wondrousness.” The creators believe in their characters and make them seem like real people. Though it’s primarily comedic and Nolan’s trilogy primarily serious, the two are linked by their naturalism. The X-Men series might well have had that (everyone says Logan is both naturalistic and realistic); it’s just that the two I’ve seen do not.
Oddly enough (WeirdRaptor would love this), it made me appreciate the MCU a bit more. Jackman did a decent job, and Stewart and McKellen were as good as always. Most of the cast had nothing to do, the focus being on Wolverine and the girl. The problem is the complete lack of naturalism, a criterion I’m more and more convinced is the sine qua non of good superhero movies.
It’s not realism, a different kettle of fish and one I don’t think usually works for these movies. It’s closer to “suspension of disbelief,” but the burden is not on the audience: it’s on the creator. Absurd or ridiculous plots and situations are fine, but you have to convince your audience that it’s happening, that these are real, believable people in this situation. It’s mostly character-based: if you believe in the characters, you can believe in the story. But it cuts both ways: the more ridiculous the situation, the more convincing you have to make the people.
Naturalism is an element at which, as mentioned, the best superhero movies succeed: it’s the common element shared by Superman, Superman II, Batman, Batman Returns, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, the Nolan Batman trilogy, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, and several other MCU entries. One of the most notable examples is, intriguingly, one I don’t like very much (because I don’t think the comedy works): the shawarma scene from The Avengers. Real people eat, and real people go to restaurants; in this movie, so do these larger-than-life superhero characters. That’s the point.
X-Men tries for that (especially when Jackman laughs at their silly superhero names) but doesn’t succeed. It plays everything too over-the-top and dramatic, and no one except Jackman talks like a real person. It’s hard to care about these people because we can’t connect with them—something that’s definitely necessary for the X-Men.
One of the best things about the MCU is, contra Formersamhmd, its lack of “wondrousness.” The creators believe in their characters and make them seem like real people. Though it’s primarily comedic and Nolan’s trilogy primarily serious, the two are linked by their naturalism. The X-Men series might well have had that (everyone says Logan is both naturalistic and realistic); it’s just that the two I’ve seen do not.
