Holy cow this is a tough room!
When pictures from the original XMen movie leaked, I too was very skeptical about how the movie would turn out. I thought, "Great. They're blatantly copying the Matrix and Blade." I also hated "The Usual Suspects" (I know I'm probably the only one) so I wasn't very optimistic. The only thing that looked good was the shot of Logan in his civilian clothes with his claws out in the snow. I thought that looked pretty damn good.
But when I finally saw the movie, I was completely fine with the choice of clothes. It didn't matter since they got the characters so right. Even though they did some finagling with characters, I was happy that they got their essences right, and their group dynamics. Sure, there were some problems, but like I said, because the characters were well written I was more than willing to overlook those faults. I thought X-2 improved on everything from the first, especially making the action sequences better (which I thought the first one was lacking).
I also thought First Class was great, but mainly because of Charles's and Erik's characters and relationship with each other. I felt the worst part was the team that they assembled and I particularly hated the scene when all the kids are hanging out showing off their powers. But I'm willing to overlook that as well because of how great Charles and Erik were. And remember how ridiculous those original teaser posters were for the movie? Terrible. But the movie turned out great.
My point is that we can't know how the actual movie will be, how the story will unfold and how we will feel towards the characters. I truly believe that is the most important part of any movie, especially a comic book movie. It doesn't matter how cool the character designs are if we don't care for the characters themselves.
For example I didn't like Captain America: First Avenger. The story (even though I know his origin) just left me cold in the way Johnston directed it. I can't explain it. I see the scene where it's building a certain character and I'm supposed care. But I just don't feel a thing. Of course you can also criticize Johnston's inappropriate decision to make it all futuristic and sic-fy-y, but I can't deny that the characters "looked" cool. But ultimately the cool character designs did not make me enjoy the movie any better.
So yeah, we can all pick apart the look and design of all these characters, but I'm willing to wait and see how the movie will turn out before I start handing out such harsh criticism.
Also, someone mentioned that they thought it was a waste of money to construct a life-size sentinel instead of rendering it through CGI. I will always always always prefer practical effects over CGI. CGI has come a long way and it can look 100% flawless and convincing. But there is still something about the physical object in a scene and how it reacts (lighting, physics, etc) with its surroundings and how the actors react to the object that can never be beat.
I'll be honest, I'm not really a fan of XM 1-2. But for me, it wasn't so much the costumes or the story, but the casting.
I remember when Star Trek:TNG first hit and everyone was saying that Patrick Stewart would make a great Prof. X (or Mr. Freeze), and all I thought was, "Why? Because he's bald? Anybody with a razor can be bald.", but the more I thought of it, it did seem like a good idea (he certainly dodged a bullet with Mr. Freeze), but when I finally saw it, to me it just played like Picard in a wheelchair. I didn't see the character at all. It just felt like it was stunt casting to appease the fanboys, and that's not always a good thing. Stan Lee always said, "Never give the fans what they think they want". I think here he was right.
Ian McKellan wasn't right for Magneto. Don't get me wrong, he's a good actor, just not Magneto. I remember Rutger Hauer being in talks for the part. He probably would have been awesome. He was good in Batman Begins as the corporate ****, but really anyone could have played that role.
Halle Berry as Storm I don't think worked either. I mean, she's hot and all, and she won an Oscar, but I always thought Angela Basset would have killed in that part (too bad she was wasted in Green Lantern, she wasn't lucky enough to dodge that bullet).
Famke Janssen looked too old for Jean Grey, or James Marsden seemed too young. Either way it didn't work. She seemed more like his Mom, or at the very least, a couger.
Anna Paquin (at the time) for Rogue was just the opposite; she was too young. It's funny, now that she's the right age, they're not going to use her.
All of the rest seemed too young too. When I first saw it, it was like watching a photo shoot for Tiger Beat magazine.
I saved Wolverine for last because I know he has a fan base, so I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but (IMO)he's never been right for Logan. Too tall, too good looking and too nice. If you really think about it, he only looks like Wolverine because of the wig and the mutton chops.
Not to mention, no one has ever played Logan but him, so who is there to compare to? Put the hair and mc's on another actor's face and he'll look like Wolverine too.
He had that great line in First Class, but I'd like to see something different. He cant play him forever, and as an actor, why would he want to?
That's my take on it anyway, and only in comics can you change the past. Your mileage may vary.
I liked First Class too. Not everything about it, mind you, but I felt it was a good beginning. I certainly don't think it needed Bryan Singer to come in and save it by any stretch.
Also, I'm the poster who thought they should CGI the Sents. I also prefer practical effects, but if you're making something that should be 5 stories tall, you really don't have too much of a choice. I mean, the life size Sent they built will probably look cool for a few scenes in the back ground, I just don't think it was nessessary expense. CGI for the long shots, life size head and shoulders for the close-ups. That's pretty much how Jurassic Park was done and that still looks good (although they did make the T-rex life size, the Sents are much bigger).
I guess it is what it is at this point, we'll know soon enough if it works like the film makers hope.
