X-Men 3 vs. Da Vinci...

One of the benefits of taking this week off has been my opportunity to catch up on some movies that I've wanted to see that I just haven't had time for otherwise. There's nothing like a vacation to justify taking some time out to just sit and watch a movie on TV or head to the local theater. It's so nice.

I've already blogged about my thoughts regarding the Da Vinci Code. Well, yesterday, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, premiered and we were able to make it to a matinee in order to not go bankrupt. While I've read a few negative reviews citing that the film, under director Brett Ratner's control became more special effects than story, I really enjoyed this movie, as well as the series as a whole. It's interesting to me really, that, for my money, a film based upon a comic book series, once viewed as the lowest of the low in terms of "literature", if it would have even been allowed in that genre, asks more compelling questions than Da Vinci. The X-Men deal with the questions of difference and how we address those differences. There are questions of the need for redemptive violence over pacifistic resistance. There are even political questions offered up regarding the use and/or overuse of power within those positions. This film series asks questions which are both timeless and contemporary. That's not to say that Da Vinci doesn't but the questions posed by the "X" series are far more plausible than Dan Brown's imaginative fiction. Plus, they are questions that involve us all. We are all faced with these issues every day and must decide how we will react. And, not that it hurts the films at all, the special effects are really great!