The mutant struggle against one of the X-Men’s most human protagonists is a tragic tale of self hate and bigotry. It’s easily one of the most sorrowful tales of the lengths homosapiens will go to in their efforts to eradicate mutantkind. William Stryker is the leader of the anti-mutant movement and stops at nothing to punish mutants in the eyes of other humans and the media.
2. Days of Future Past
One of the more recent X-Men movies, Days of Future Past shows what would happen if the Sentinels, mutant-hunting robots, took over North America and eventually the world. It’s a good look at the effects of a singular event affecting multiple realities.
3. Onslaught
If Professor Charles Xavier were to lose himself in the cause of fighting mutant hate and believed in the goals of his nemesis Magneto, Onslaught would be the result. The merged consciousness of two of the greatest minds in mutancy does not equal a good being and what becomes the genesis of Xavier giving up the fight even temporarily.
4. Messiah Complex
A child born with the possibility to save mutants in their darkest hour makes up the Messiah Complex storyline. Although it’s centered on a child with the name Summers, it’s interesting to see what happens when Cable – a known battle-hardened warrior – becomes slightly more human when he’s tasked with protecting a child.
5. Age of Apocalypse
One of the largest stories ever to come to the X-Men fold, the Age of Apocalypse is the focal point for a lot of changes in the X-Men universe, and, Marvel at large. Apocalypse manages to take over North America and kill numerous important mutants in the process. The fallout continues to rankle some storylines today.
Special abilities: Rogue has the ability to absorb the talents, knowledge, memories, personality and abilities of a person that she comes into direct skin-to-skin contact with. The transfer of these abilities and knowledge is relative the length of time that she touches the person, though the transfer can become permanent. When she first absorbed an ability, the transfer was involuntary. As of the events of the Mutant Messiah arc, she has gained complete control over the usage of the absorption. With the absorption of Ms. Marvel’s (Carol Danvers version) powers, Rogue gained flight, near invulnerability and superhuman strength. She has since lost the Ms. Marvel powers, but retained the absorption ability.
Background: Rogue began life in Caldecott County, Miss., with her father, mother and maternal aunt. One night when she was 14 years old, she kissed a boy, Cody Robbins. At the moment that they kissed, Rogue’s latent mutant powers activated. The activation put Robbins in a permanent coma. Rogue then ran away from home and eventually ended up in the care of Mystique, who used her to further the goals of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Rogue permanently absorbed the powers of Ms. Marvel during a fight and joined her once-foes, the X-Men. Rogue later became involved with Gambit, lost her Ms. Marvel powers and fully realized the evolution and development of her powers after a trek to discover the true intent behind diaries of Destiny.
Appearances in other media: Marvel vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, X-Men (Sega Genesis), X-Men: Mojo World, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2; X-Men: Next Dimension, X2: Wolverine’s Revenge, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, X-Men Legends, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, Marvel Heroes, Deadpool, X-Men (film), X2: X-Men United (film), X-Men: The Last Stand (film), X-Men: Days of Future Past (film), X-Men: The Animated Series (television), Marvel Anime: X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men (television), X-Men: Evolution (television), Spider-Man: The Animated Series (television)
Charles Xavier: Former leader of the X-Men, founder of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Morally ambiguous leader who mind wipes foes. Yes, Xavier is capable of great things and then there’s that tendency for him to get into the dark side of his humanity and kill people.
Just where did Xavier go wrong?
First, let’s examine the good that came from Xavier’s actions. In creating the X-Men, his strikeforce for perpetuating the good of mutantkind, Xavier gave a home to and helped many a mutant with a tragic background. These people may not have had any other place to go, killed themselves or others if not for the benevolence of the professor. However, there’s two sides to every story and Xavier didn’t always practice what he preached in taking in wayward mutants.
The list of questionable actions arising from the creation of the X-Men didn’t come to light until much later, and when it did, Xavier had to pay. I mean, who does things such as: tamper with a mutant’s mind to prevent their assassination (Wolverine); let a sentient being remain enslaved while knowing they are capable of advanced thought and feelings (Danger Room); tell a mutant for years that he can help them when he really can’t (Rogue); and erase the memory of fallen comrades that he sent unprepared into the field and who subsequently died solely to cover his tracks (Vulcan, Petra, Sway)? That would be Xavier in a number of story arcs. When even Cyclops and Wolverine are disgusted with you, you have a problem.
I’ll be the first to admit that I love the early character of Xavier. He was modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a personal hero, so there’s much to love about him. However, his problems with lying and secret-keeping are an immediate dealbreaker in terms of character likability. The more recent story arcs seem to be rehabilitating Xavier into a broken-but-honest man. Let’s hope they continue down that path.
Lyndsey Mosley is editor in chief of Gaming Insurrection. She ponders the humanity of the X-Men at gicomics@gaminginsurrection.com
Chances are, if you’re comic book fanatics like we are at Gaming Insurrection, you’ve seen one of the movies on this list. If you soak up overacting, tired drama and nonsensical plots with hamfisted writing, you’ve seen everything on this list and probably have them memorized. These are five of the worst comic book movies ever made. This list is also not definitive because there are more where these came from.
Vincent Perez and Mia Kirschner star in The Crow: City of Angels.
The Crow: City of Angels (1996)
You know how the first Crow movie was awesome because Brandon Lee was in it and seemed to embody Eric? Unfortunately, someone thought making a second movie and continuing the franchise after the death of the star was a good idea. It wasn’t. Not only did the filmmakers manage to besmirch the memory of Lee with a terrible, unattached story, but they also made a mockery of the original screenplay and concept, which came from the pain of a tragic event in author James O’Barr’s life. And don’t get us started on the ridiculous acting from Vincent Perez, who has managed to ruin another favorite series of ours, too: Queen of the Damned.
Alicia Silverstone, George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell star in Batman & Robin.
Batman & Robin (1997)
The fourth Batman movie is among the list of the worst movies overall ever made. Nothing makes sense about the movie. Between Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzenegger overacting and George Clooney underacting, nothing works. Even though we’re fans of Alicia Silverstone, an “it girl” of the day, she really didn’t do much for the film, either. Most tellingly, Clooney is NOT Batman. He’s not Batman material, and he never will be. As a matter of fact, we’d venture to say that this is the reason for the Batman reboot with Christian Bale. Clooney, an OK actor otherwise, will forever be known as the man who ran Batman into the ground.
Jennifer Garner stars in Elektra.
Elektra (2005)
If you can watch a trailer and nothing in those 30 seconds makes you want to watch a movie, you know it’s doomed to fail before it even gets started. That’s the case with Elektra. Jennifer Garner can’t act. That’s a fact, plain and simple, and she looks nothing like the Marvel character whatsoever. So, Elektra was a waste. And you know Hollywood knows it because there hasn’t been a sequel. At least she and her husband, Ben Affleck, have something in common: Both starred in bad comic movies.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 was released in 1992.
TMNT 3 (1992)
We’ve covered extensively why this movie was a failure on all fronts, but it bears repeating: The movie sucks. It has nothing to do with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in any way, shape or form. Lyndsey really did sit through the movie in theaters in 1992 when it was released and at no point in the first 20 minutes did she think she was in the correct movie. While we’re delighted with the return of Casey Jones in the film — after he was strangely missing in the second movie — there should have been something better for him to return to.
Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellan star in X-Men: The Last Stand.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Gaming Insurrection as a whole doesn’t get mad at movies often, but X3 managed that feat about half the way through. Nonsensical plot points, altered established canon, blink-and-you-missed-it character cameos and a disjointed focus make for one of the worst comic book films ever. We’re not asking for much, but DO NOT change character backstory for the sake of a lead actor. That is a cardinal rule for movies based on established properties, and the X-Men have a well-discussed history that should not be changed in a penultimate film. We love Hugh Jackman, but no. Double no for making a relationship that never happened in the comics a prominent focus of your film. And triple no for screwing over Professor X. Director Brett Ratner should be left atop an ant mound covered in sugar for the travesty that is X3.
Name: Unrevealed; uses the name Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
Affiliations: Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Charles Xavier, the X-Men, the New Mutants
Special abilities: Ability to manipulate magnetism and all forms of electromagnetic energy
Background: Little is known about the origins of the master of magnetism. What is known is as a boy, he was imprisoned in the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, Poland. Sickness and malnourishment prevented his mutant powers from emerging at that time. Though his family perished there, Magneto managed to survive. After World War II, Magneto wed Magda, and they had a daughter named Anya. When Anya was trapped in a burning building, a crowd prevented Magneto from rescuing her. Enraged, Magneto attacked the crowd with his powers. Afraid of her husband’s display of force and super abilities, Magda fled from him without telling him that she was pregnant. Magda gave birth to twins, Wanda and Pietro, and she was presumed dead. Feeling mistreated his entire life, Magneto subscribes to the theory that mutants can only be free if they enslave the rest of the human race.
Relationships: Magda (wife), Scarlet Witch (Wanda, daughter), Quicksilver (Pietro, son), Vision (son-in-law), Rogue (Anna Marie, wife in alternate reality), Charles (son in alternate reality)
First versus game appearance: X-Men: Children of the Atom
Appearance in other media: Marvel’s X-Men (NES), X-Men (arcade), X-Men (Sega Genesis), X-Men: Children of the Atom (arcade), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (Sega Genesis), Marvel Super Heroes (arcade), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (arcade), Marvel vs. Capcom (arcade), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (arcade), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (multiplatform), X-Men Legends (multiplatform), Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (multiplatform), X-Men: The Official Game (Nintendo DS), Marvel Ultimate Alliance (multiplatform), Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (multiplatform), Marvel Super Hero Squad (multiplatform), Marvel Super Hero Squad: Infinity Gauntlet (multiplatform), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (multiplatform), Spider-Man (TV series), Fantastic Four (TV series), Spider-Man (TV series), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (TV series), Pryde of the X-Men (TV), X-Men (TV series), X-Men: Evolution (TV series), Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series), The Super Hero Squad Show (TV series), X-Men (film), X2: X-Men United (film), X-Men: The Last Stand (film).
X-Men the Animated Series Vol. 1 | Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2009
X-Men origins told correctly
If there ever was a quintessential property in the 1990s of comic book origin, it’s X-Men the Animated Series. The Fox staple in the early part of the decade was a great excuse to get up on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons. It also was a great learning tool for those who didn’t know much about the X-Men and wanted an introductory course to the famous mutants.
What we love about the series is the fact that it takes itself seriously. It told stories just as the comic book version told them 10 years before, and it’s pretty close to the origin stories with only minor changes. Our only gripe with some of the episodes in the first volume is the brevity of the story arcs. Sagas such as Days of Future Past and The Cure are told in one or two episodes, something that isn’t normally be done in the comics. However, some are revisited in later seasons of the show, so that can be forgiven.
The production values of the Animated Series, for its time, were top-notch. The writing was superb, and the coloring and drawing were extraordinary for a cartoon production. Few series, with the exception of fellow Fox production Spider-Man, could match what the Animated Series brought to the table in terms of visuals and storytelling. The first volume sets the pace with Night of the Sentinels, and it’s obvious that care is taken with characters and their backgrounds. Most characters are true to their history and those who have been re-established for the Animated Series are well done and not out of place (i.e. Morph).
The voice acting is another standout established within the first volume. The characters all sound like they should, and it is this first set of episodes that established the standard for future X-Men voice acting projects for the next 17 years. The best example: All X-Men characters used in Capcom’s versus series through Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were voiced by their Animated Series actors.
The first volume of the Animated Series hit DVD in 2009, a welcome addition to any X-Men fan’s collection. The first 16 episodes encompass the two-disc set and were only $20 at the time of purchase. That’s a bargain for well-crafted X-Men stories in a series known for its technical prowess that seemed to take forever to come to DVD.
How we grade
We score the properties in three categories: Casting (or voice acting in cases of animated), plot and similarities to its source material. Each category receives points out of the maximum of 10 per category and 30 overall. The percentage is the final score.
In the first quarter 2011 of Gaming Insurrection’s The Strip, we took a look at all three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Read on to see how we feel about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.
Before we start, a little bit of explaining:
How we grade We score the properties in three categories: Casting (or voice acting in case of animated), plot and similarities to its source material. Each category receives points out of the maximum of 10 per category and 30 overall. The percentage is the final score.
The Turtles make an interesting discovery in their lair in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles./Photo courtesy of TMNT.com
TMNT movie origins great way to start franchise
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
New Line Cinema, 1990
Pulling from the comics to tell its origin story, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles does the franchise proud in its first stab at the movie business. With a few changes to some key elements, the movie Turtles still manage to convey the never-say-die attitude of the teen amphibians. Crucial fights and subtle humor are thrown in with great character development.
The casting is superb mostly. Judith Hoag was excellent as the plucky April O’Neil, and her pairing with Elias Koteas’ Casey Jones was enjoyable and believable. Shredder was menacing and imposing as well as his bodyguard, Tatsu (a movie only addition). The costuming looked great and so did the Turtles. Jim Henson’s Creature Factory pulled out the stops to make the suits for the Turtles, and it shows. Our only quibble with the characterization was the inclusion and creation of April’s boss and his son. They weren’t wholly necessary to the story, and while they set up interesting subplots for the core group, they didn’t really add to the movie. In fact, it seems they dragged it down in parts.
We particularly enjoyed the fact that by the time the first movie was released, the cartoon was in full swing, thus making the movie possible. While the movie works to distance itself from the cartoon quite a bit, it still retains elements from it to draw in the younger crowd. Subtle nods to the franchise’s two origins (comics and cartoon) are featured throughout, helping the movie firmly ground itself as a sci-fi kung-fu flick. This is a must-own for the children of the ’80s crowd who remembers the days when Turtles fought with honor.
Like the comics: 7/10
Casting: 9.5/10
Plot: 9/10
Overall rating: 8.5
New character Keno joins the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in their quest to take on Shredder again in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze./Photo courtesy of TMNT.com
One liners’ add hilarity to Turtles’ movie sequel
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze”
New Line Cinema, 1991
What’s not to like about the sequel to one of the most successful independent movies of all time? Not much. Everything that made the first film a year earlier successful is back, though with a few changes. First, there’s no Casey Jones. And the actress playing April was changed. And there’s the addition of Ernie Reyes Jr. as the Turtles’ friend Keno and villains Tokka and Razhar. But other than that, the Turtles are still the Turtles.
There’s more action and more one-liners. And the return of Shredder makes it a little bit more believable that he’s a major villain for the Turtles than the comics would have you believe. It’s not very plausible that Shredder would be a one-note villain who only appears in a movie to try to kill the heroes, so it’s obvious that his role was increased here, tying in the various games AND cartoon.
Character development was handled in the first movie and not too much is dwelled on here. We wish more was written about Keno and why he was so proficient in martial arts and insistent upon helping the Turtles. His lack of explanation sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise excellent tale for the Turtles. Also, is it too much to ask that Vanilla Ice should have been toned down? True, he doesn’t show up until the end, but really, Ninja Rap? It was odd and disconcerting as a child seeing him and that hasn’t changed in the 20 years since movie’s release. He does absolutely nothing for the film, and his cameo is beyond stupid. But, at least the Turtles got to dance.
Overall, watch the sequel if not for a laugh at the now-ancient fashions of the day, but for the ramped up humor that comes from creating a sequel for a TMNT movie.
Like the comics?: 5/10
Casting: 8/10
Plot: 7/10
Overall rating: 6.5
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles try to return home to their time in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III./Photo courtesy of TMNT.com
Boldly go where no Turtle should really ever go
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III”
New Line Cinema, 1992
A hackneyed plot and poor special effects make the third TMNT film the worst in the bunch. There isn’t much that could save the franchise from going downhill with the third movie. The plot of the Turtles time traveling literally doesn’t make much sense, and the first time that Lyndsey saw it in the theaters, she claims to have spent 20 minutes trying to make sure she was in the right movie.
The acting is garbage, the story is utter nonsense and has nothing to do with the TMNT universe, and there’s no mention of previous villains or characters that made an impact on the Turtles’ adventures. The bright spot in it all is the casting and return of Elias Koteas as Casey Jones. He, despite some ham-fisted acting, is a beacon of hope in a movie that is far from shimmering.
There is nothing here that really resembles the TMNT universe save the abandoned train system home that the Turtles found in Secret of the Ooze and Jones. We had trouble understanding the point of adding the scepter and why even some of the strange plots from the cartoon universe weren’t expanded on, such as the Utroms or Rocksteady and Bebop. If the movie can introduce samurai that we’ve never heard of, the least the writers could do is include mutants that we have heard of. This is one sewer tale that should have stayed underground.
Oroku Saki. Villain. Genius. Comedic mastermind? The 1987 animated version of the Shredder was crucial to the mood, tone and popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Whether it was James Avery’s classic quick delivery or the timing of a well-placed oral jab to those Turtle boys, Shredder always seemed one step ahead in his plans and his verbal jousts. Here are five of the best one-liners from “guy who never has to look for a can opener.”
“Tonight I dine on turtle soup.” – The penultimate quote has made its way into the 1987 animated show, the comic and the games.
“Sayonara you shell-backed simpletons.” – This insult, thrown out to the Turtles as Shredder was getting away for the millionth time, made Lyndsey pause a VHS and ask her mom: 1. What is a simpleton? 2. What does sayonara mean? and 3. Why is Shredder so awesome? Educational and inspiring.
“I borrowed your Alien Express card. I never leave the Technodrome without it.” – Referring to co-conspirator Krang’s ability to pay for technology, Shredder evoked modern advertisement to explain how he gets away with borrowing stuff and never paying for it during the seven seasons he wreaked havoc on New York City.
“Creatins” “Blasted turtles” “Fools” “Wretched reptiles” “Idiot(s)” – Shredder’s favorite words to describe his help, his nemesis and his help. In that order. Watch a video of his quotes on YouTube and these will show up quite often.
“Blast that grotesque ganglion!” – A nice way to refer to Krang. Shredder was capable of big words that required viewers to think. It’s nice to have an intelligent super villain who could make you laugh while hatching world domination plans.
I don’t throw the title “child of the ’80s” around often. The definition is someone, like myself, that was born between the years 1975 to 1986 that remembers the pop culture of the era because they lived through it. Myself? I am a quintessential child of that time. I remember WWF, Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids, Rainbow Brite, Jem and the Smurfs well. I got up on Saturday mornings to watch most of those shows and when I got home from school it was TMNT, Ducktales, Darkwing Duck and the USA Cartoon Express all the way. So, why are we rehashing all of these titles? Simple: They had some of the best intro themes of all time.
Don’t get me wrong, the ’90s had some great stuff, too. X-Men the Animated Series, Fox’s Spider-man, Doug, Goof Troop. All are great shows with excellent introductions. So what is it about this these two periods of animated television? Was it because I was young and in-tune to music through chorus at school? Possibly. But more likely it’s the fact that this was the golden age of animation, a time when good cartoons were routinely introduced with flair, savvy and a well-sung introduction that told you everything you needed to know about the show.
That’s the crux of why this was such a good time for animated television. Take, for example, Transformers. Everything you ever needed to know about the Autobots and Decepticons, their battles and their affiliations were told in 30 seconds through singing. Same thing with Ducktales, Powerpuff Girls and TMNT. Sometimes you didn’t even need singing to tell the story. X-Men’s instrumental intro famously showed the principal cast and the fight of mutant kind.
As a child of the ’80s it was hard not getting up to see many of these shows every morning while getting ready for school. Now, it’s hard as an adult not to tear up when I hear the instantly recognizable themes of my childhood past. Thanks to YouTube, I’ve found I’m not the only one wishing for the return of the golden age of cartoons. The ’80s and ’90s were the gold standard for hooking an audience into a show that may or may not have shapeshifting robots, teenage mutant ninja turtles or racecars, lasers, airplanes to spin in Duckburg. I look forward to the day when I have a child old enough to understand and appreciate the era that mom learned about good animated television.
Lyndsey Mosley is editor of Gaming Insurrection and a proud self-proclaimed child of the ’80s. You can contact her via email at gicomics@gaminginsurrection.com
With that one sentence from season three of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 animated series, I was hooked on the legendary Oroku Saki. Everyone who was anyone in the late ’80s and early ’90s knows him as Shredder. I knew him as genius. Well, that is until he employed Rocksteady, Bebop, Baxter Stockman, the Punk Frogs, etc. on a regular basis. The list goes on and on of his failed attempts at finding competent criminal help in New York City, and as a TMNT diehard, I was inclined to bask in his lack of success in taking down my four favorite dudes with attitudes. Shredder is a prime indicative of what we at GI have come to term as “stupid-smart” villain syndrome.
Despite his genius IQ, as it was brilliantly displayed by Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor and voice actor James Avery, Shredder was just the latest in the long list of villains who could cunningly devise plans and then ruin them with some of the stupidest behavior known to man. Some of the luminaries on this bumbling list? Gargamel from the Smurfs, Cobra Commander from GI Joe, Starscream and Megatron from Transformers, Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, Wily E. Coyote from Looney Tunes, Flintheart Glomgold from Ducktales and Skeletor from He-Man. For these super villains it’s not enough to have their greatest adversaries in their sights. They have to find a way to mess themselves up generally because of greed.
Take for example, Starscream and Cobra Commander. Both assumed command of their respective groups (Decepticons and COBRA) after finding a way to usurp power from the original leader. Both eventually lost power when the original leader returned and highlighted their treachery and betrayal. Also, the troops under their command said it was better to be unemployed than work for them. If that’s not utter incompetence, I don’t know what is.
The villains of the ’80s have a lot in common: Smart, well read, articulate geniuses who could do anything they wanted, limited only by their hired help. It’s this lack of attention to detail that presents a challenge when selecting the greatest villain of this age.
Lyndsey Mosley is editor of Gaming Insurrection. Contact her by email at gicomics@gaminginsurrection.com
