Just got back form watching the latest X-men movie, Days of Future Past. An excellent outing. Really appreciated the fact that Brian Singer had a vision, and he stuck to it without delivering an "avengers type" movie. The new X-men film is as different from The Avengers as Sherlock is from Breaking Bad. Be that as it may, i do have some nit picks.For one, i think the X-men franchise will always suffer because the director has never embraced the comics wholeheartedly. I'm not just talking about the lack of costumes, and yes the lack of costumes does bother me. I'm talking about the movies following a very different path than the comics. I understand, support and insist on making necessary changes in content or form when translating a story from one medium to another (in this case, from comics to movie). But i also insist on adhering to the spirit of the original content, and that's where Singer lets me down every time. Brian Singer has already said that he is not a comics fan. He set out to do the Superman Returns movie because he was a big fan of the Richard Donner Superman film from the seventies. That, while very cute, is really the worst reason for wanting to make a superman movie. You gotta be a fan of the lore, you gotta respect the material, if you want to make a superman movie. Or any comic movie.
Back when Fox made the first X-men movie, it was clear what the direction from the studio was to Singer - "Wolverine is the hit character, so make the movie centered around Wolverine". That was fine for that time. But that's not good enough for me now. Because now we live in the AIM era. That's "After Iron Man" era. With Iron Man, who was a little known character to the public in general and also a not so heavy hitter in the comic scene in terms of popularity or sales, Marvel showed the world that a movie with good story, good direction, good acting and a lot of heart can kick major ass. And after that Marvel has not looked back since. So if it can work for Iron Man, then why the fuck are Fox/Singer STILL ignoring the importance and impact of Scott Summers (Cyclops) in the X-franchise?
The story of X-men has always been the story of 4 people in general, and of those 4, Scott Summers stands out by a mile. He is the conflicted leader, the big brother, the faltering husband, and ultimately the man with the plan in the X-universe. He more than any other has guided the destiny of the band of X-mutants. And we have seen none of that in ANY OF THE X MOVIES TILL DATE.
Marvel embraces the comics, while changing and adapting where they need to. And it works every time...because they embrace the comics. They are not ashamed by anything, they don't think it will seem ridiculous, they don't think they have a better "vision" of the characters than the years and bodies of loving work that already exists.
And that, for me, is the next step for Fox and Brian Singer. I really WANT to see Logan in the wolverine costume. I really WANT to see Scott being the tremendous leader that he is. I REALLY WANT to see Brian Singer embrace the comics. It can only be good for the soul. (And the bank account)
