X-Men - The Last Stand

Chris Claremont gives this story what the movie could not: depth, details, and a true love for the characters. Small wonder, given that he created and developed many of them to begin with. The novel allows for a view of the insides of many of these characters' heads, most notably that of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix. The exploration of her psyche throughout the conflict is fascinating. Rogue and Warren are also greatly improved in the book: Rogue regains her spunky, sassy self, and loses the pathetic weakness she's taken on in the movies, while Warren is made more active, more useful, and given more than three lines. I adored all the little things Claremont included here -- just a few words that he would toss off, referring to a single incident from comics that were published years ago. The inside jokes made it feel more like my beloved fandom again, not a Hollywood travesty. For all of that, though, the book loses none of the action or tension that were the strong points of the movie. If anything, it clips along at a better pace, in the spirit of a good adventure read. I recommend this book especially to those fans who were disappointed by the movie's handling of their favourite characters, and to long-time X-Men fans who will appreciate all the small referneces.

...now that I've seen the movie no less than five times, (six, if you'd include a brief walk-in at the end of a showing), I must say that even though there are more than a few differences when speaking of the comparison between the novel adaptation and the film, in the end, this book turned out to be quite an enjoyable read. Sure, character histories and motivations were tweaked, and in some cases, changed completely. Yes, some scenes and sequences were altered in the book. There were characters in the book that never touched the big screen...but there was a deeper sense of connection in the book. Because of the format, there was ample room for character development and history, and deeper, more meaningful interaction. The motivations of specific characters were far more fleshed out and understandable in the novel. The movie (maybe because I saw it first...and I won't lie, actual moving and talking characters that did their magics with a damned beautiful soundtrack playing as a backdrop on a big screen didn't hurt, either) will always be the more emotional of the two to me, although this is not normally the case when it comes to movies and books. Books usually win out, almost bar none. So there were, in my humble opinion, a few hits and misses, but in the final mill-over of things, the book had me locked within the depths of its pages the entire time I read it. Despite certain alterations, at its core, the story is pretty much the same as it is in the film. All the same heart, all the same vibes, all the same excitement, all the same dangers...a read that in the end proved to be well worth the time and money spent. Try it out after you've seen the motion picture. You won't regret doing so. Hawksmoor...From The Bleed.

Chris Claremont is renowned throughout the comic book world. An expert at the X-men storyline (having written 17 years of Uncanny X-Men in comics), he brings his field of expertise and imagination to words. Chris helmed the second book as well, X2, back in 2003. He writes in a distinctive fashion that sets him apart from other authors - literature writers and movie-adaptation writers alike. Chris writes movie-adaptations with his own style... he knows this is his book and he makes it so. The book follows the movie (as it must) but very loosely. A lot of extra stuff that wasn't in the movie is added to the book to thicken its pages and add flavor. It works, adding a lot of depth and color to each individual character. Chris writes with a lot of detail. He puts in a substantial amount of detail... so much that the reader, while reading it, can feel the exact scene of the event, unfolding within his brain, even if he has not watched the movie. Every detail in Jean Grey's house, for example, is described such that the reader knows exactly where everything is and what is happening. Unlike some movie-adaptations, Chris is not a slave to the movie. He has taken a near-2-hour film and turned it into a book so marvelous and creative it shames all other movie-adaptations. Chris's X-Men expertise, knowledge, and imagination comes to life here, bringing each character out from the pages, making each character move as it would if it were real, touching the readers' hearts and plucking at strings of emotion... of fear, anger, joy, sadness and other emotions that humanize the book. Chris is truly an expert of the genre, and that is definitely to his credit. This book is amazing, the movie popular, and Chris is just the perfect persion to translate the acting to words.

The Last Stand novelization far exceeds the movie. Claremont has added so much more depth and characterization, something that only he would be able to bring to the X-Men. Claremont is able to work wonders with the material he's given, adding extra scenes and dialogue, and making it a much more complete story. My advice is: skip the movie, read the novelization.

Being a total X-Men/Phoenix Saga fan -- and completely addicted to this entire franchise -- I (of course) wasted no time racing-out to get this book and then blasted through it in a single day. And you know what? I think they may actually have pulled it off! X3 should DEFINITELY exceed both X1 and X2 and will give the fans, both new and old, pretty much everything they've been looking for while solidly capping-off this 1st trilogy and while also still laying the groundwork for more down the road but in a totally non-anvilicous way. It also maintains that trademark self-referential/mocking and pithy derisive humor that made the first two movies so hysterically funny and on target. I wasn't entirely happy with certain aspects of the ending but I can agree that they were entirely necessary and it gives a satisfactory emotional pay-off. The film is (partly) a nifty re-working of the Dark Phoenix Saga and it also resolves the Scott/Jean/Logan triangle in a highly-effective and very believable way. Having Chris Claremont be the novelizer was a stroke of genius because he's able to add in all sorts of thoughts and back-story to the characters they a) they won't possibly have time to feature all of in the film and b) are a good reminder of all that's happened in the X-Men Universe. I'm sort-of holding my breath until I see the movie, however, because the X-Men franchise has a nasty little habit of adding/changing/removing scenes from the released movies that appeared in the novelizations. These changes frequently differ quite markedly from what took place in the novelization and usually affect the on-screen series of events and the final outcome. If you don't believe me, read the first two novelizations and then watch the first two movies to see the difference. And there are rumored to be some huge surprises in the movie that they've gone to great pains to keep secret. So, we'll see. However, knowing what I can expect -- and that it is going to be good -- has given me great peace of mind.