X-Men 3: The Final Stand
Many things about this film impressed me, but I walked away mostly impacted by Jean Grey. Sitting comfortably in my seat of expectation, I surmised that the primary forces for good and evil would be as clearly defined as previous X-Men films. The "Last Stand" would simply be the final battle of wit and will between Xavier and Magneto. From that comfort zone, the phoenix, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), arose from the flames of predictability and hung her allegiance in the balances.
Jean Grey really becomes the ultimate villain. She is a force that we the viewers have little capacity to imagine. Rather than being the ultimate evil creature, she is an all-powerful goddess with no defined conscience. She is terrifying, angry, and limitless. Her uncontrollable passion or rage can be ignited by the slightest word or deed of her inferiors. Jean Grey is fickle and conflicted - equally capable of benevolence and evil. Instead of giving us the worst villain imaginable, X-Men 3 gives us a villain we cannot imagine.
Worse than being eternally evil, Jean is eternally unpredictable. When Xavier explains the process he once used to help Jean control her power, Jean ceases to be a known entity. Although part of her can be understood from the past (Jean), the largely unknown side of her mind (Phoenix) is capable of anything. In one scene with Wolverine, she reveals her erratic nature. Wracked by grief over her destruction of a life, she claims, "Kill me now before I kill anyone else." But as quickly as Wolverine suggests that Xavier can help her fix the problem, she screams, "I don’t want to FIX it!" Knowledgeable of the power she has to destroy, she is also jealous to keep that power.
Worse than being extremely powerful, her power is uncontrolled. When Xavier meets Jean for the first time as a child, he challenges her, "You have more power than you can imagine. The question is, will you control that power or let it control you?" Skip ahead 20 years to the classroom at the school. Xavier teaches his students about the use and misuse of their powers. He drills them on ethical behavior. Then later at the most crucial moment of his life, he challenges Jean again, "Don't let it control you." In actuality, we spend the majority of our time hoping and wishing that Jean will gain control of her power. We know that even her good energy has a destructive effect.
Worse than being resolute in her ways, she is influenced by others' intentions. Despite her profound ability to read and understand men's motives (exposing Xavier’s desire to control her for good as equal to Magneto's desire to control her for evil), she still chooses to operate under the influence of others' motives. When Magneto offers to endow her with great power, she follows her lust for destruction. Yet, when Wolverine pleads with her conscience, she responds with reason and good will.
Jean Grey is the antithesis of all we believe to be good and true about God. It's difficult to imagine an all-powerful, angry God, although Jonathan Edwards' sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," gives us a nice taste. And it's even more frightening to behold on screen. The swirling debris, black eyes, and strained blood vessels (special effects get MAJOR kudos) that came with Jean's wrath called me to a gratefulness for the God that I know. What if God was unpredictable and we could never know his character or intention for our lives? What if his power was greater than his ability to control it? Worse, what if he based his decisions for this earth on the whim of the latest influence? I shudder to think of what the world would be like if he took my advice half the time. I'm glad God has a mind of his own, and it gives me great comfort to read passages like the ones below that reveal God’s character.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." Hebrews 13:8
"For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." Psalm 33:4-5
Now, I'm not trying to tone down God's wrath and power. By all means, he promises to destroy his adversaries one day. Nevertheless, it is not his ultimate will that we die apart from him. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [to come again], as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
In this muted, toned-down world of mediocrity, X-Men 3 reminds me that God has the power to destroy, and to save. And it inspires me that he chooses to save, despite our ignorance of him (we are like the lady who locks her car door after Magneto moves the bridge). It's good to know we can rely on his unfailing love, his controlled providence, and his resolute will to prevail against all the evil this world offers up to him.
Jean Grey really becomes the ultimate villain. She is a force that we the viewers have little capacity to imagine. Rather than being the ultimate evil creature, she is an all-powerful goddess with no defined conscience. She is terrifying, angry, and limitless. Her uncontrollable passion or rage can be ignited by the slightest word or deed of her inferiors. Jean Grey is fickle and conflicted - equally capable of benevolence and evil. Instead of giving us the worst villain imaginable, X-Men 3 gives us a villain we cannot imagine.
Worse than being eternally evil, Jean is eternally unpredictable. When Xavier explains the process he once used to help Jean control her power, Jean ceases to be a known entity. Although part of her can be understood from the past (Jean), the largely unknown side of her mind (Phoenix) is capable of anything. In one scene with Wolverine, she reveals her erratic nature. Wracked by grief over her destruction of a life, she claims, "Kill me now before I kill anyone else." But as quickly as Wolverine suggests that Xavier can help her fix the problem, she screams, "I don’t want to FIX it!" Knowledgeable of the power she has to destroy, she is also jealous to keep that power.
Worse than being extremely powerful, her power is uncontrolled. When Xavier meets Jean for the first time as a child, he challenges her, "You have more power than you can imagine. The question is, will you control that power or let it control you?" Skip ahead 20 years to the classroom at the school. Xavier teaches his students about the use and misuse of their powers. He drills them on ethical behavior. Then later at the most crucial moment of his life, he challenges Jean again, "Don't let it control you." In actuality, we spend the majority of our time hoping and wishing that Jean will gain control of her power. We know that even her good energy has a destructive effect.
Worse than being resolute in her ways, she is influenced by others' intentions. Despite her profound ability to read and understand men's motives (exposing Xavier’s desire to control her for good as equal to Magneto's desire to control her for evil), she still chooses to operate under the influence of others' motives. When Magneto offers to endow her with great power, she follows her lust for destruction. Yet, when Wolverine pleads with her conscience, she responds with reason and good will.
Jean Grey is the antithesis of all we believe to be good and true about God. It's difficult to imagine an all-powerful, angry God, although Jonathan Edwards' sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," gives us a nice taste. And it's even more frightening to behold on screen. The swirling debris, black eyes, and strained blood vessels (special effects get MAJOR kudos) that came with Jean's wrath called me to a gratefulness for the God that I know. What if God was unpredictable and we could never know his character or intention for our lives? What if his power was greater than his ability to control it? Worse, what if he based his decisions for this earth on the whim of the latest influence? I shudder to think of what the world would be like if he took my advice half the time. I'm glad God has a mind of his own, and it gives me great comfort to read passages like the ones below that reveal God’s character.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." Hebrews 13:8
"For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." Psalm 33:4-5
Now, I'm not trying to tone down God's wrath and power. By all means, he promises to destroy his adversaries one day. Nevertheless, it is not his ultimate will that we die apart from him. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [to come again], as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
In this muted, toned-down world of mediocrity, X-Men 3 reminds me that God has the power to destroy, and to save. And it inspires me that he chooses to save, despite our ignorance of him (we are like the lady who locks her car door after Magneto moves the bridge). It's good to know we can rely on his unfailing love, his controlled providence, and his resolute will to prevail against all the evil this world offers up to him.
7 Comments:
Excellent connection between Jean's uncontrolled wrath and the restraint of our God--very insightful, thanks
GOD!..let us keep God away from this.
Let God rest in peace from this fictional piece of mutated concepts from scientific technology and infinite power defined by religion in the name of God.
I would like a cleaner review on XMen without God, Fear and Paranoia in it.
Well Melinda that was a Good try!
We are better without preaching or implicating religion with movies.
You know we are all free until we know how we handle our vagueries. It is just like you described it your review with the analogy of Jean Grey.
Be comforted that Jean Grey is no analogy to "God as defined/preached by religion".
Love U Baby----Neo Anonymous
Hmm, so people aren't allowed to draw analogies anymore? Please take it easy.
BTW, I loved the music in this movie, and I too left the theatre thinking "Wow...Phoenix...woah...."
I thought "There's a good reason God doesn't give us that kind of power now while there's still sin in the world. I imagine that in Heaven, having been fully sanctified, we would have that kind of power, the kind of power to make the ocean dance and leap in praise to God (like Phoenix did at the end, except with good motives and reason)."
More like you're completely full of shit. Evolution is the entire plot of the movie, not "god". You're trying to find a connection between a movie and a faith; which doesn't exist.
The TRUE reason that we do not have 'powers' is due to the blindness of persons to put all their belief into a "god" and other faith... evolution is proven, "god" is not.
You guys crack me up. I realize you have some pretty hostile feelings about this review, but did you even read the review before you commented on it?
My commentary is about what a fabulous villain Jean Grey is. The plot of the movie isn't even mentioned in the review! OF COURSE the film is about evolution - any intelligent human being should be able to figure that out. It's the very basic theme of the film.
And as for the review trying to be a link between film and faith, you're absolutely right. I'm not sure how you or Neo found this review (perhaps by accident), but this blog is through the review site at www.hollywoodjesus.com. Reviewing films from a spiritual perspective is what we do. I apologize if you were caught unaware when you came across this review - most people find our reviews from the main page.
Magneto, you said, "You're trying to find a connection between a movie and a faith; which doesn't exist." But the mere fact that a movie makes me contemplate my faith, proves that a connection does exist - regardless of the filmmakers' intentions. You could even accuse me of making the connection myself. I don't have a problem with that assesment. I don't ever suggest or pretend that the filmmakers of 99% of mainstream movie have any intention of making spiritual connections in their films. Most are simply following a good story.
To be sure, the filmmakers of X-Men 3 did not set out to create a film that honored God, had Christian symbolism, or even that had anything to do with religion. That is beside the point. The point is that we at HJ review films from a spiritual perspective, as another person might review it from a technical perspective, and another from a marketability perspective, and the religious right might review it from a moral perspective. Who cares!? That's the fun of writing and reading - seeing things through different perspectives.
As for the proof of evolution vs. the proof God, well, I won't choose to debate that here. There have been better debates by people more educated than you and me, who have devoted their whole lives to the issues on both sides. Were I to begin a debate, it would be serverly inferior to others more easily found on the web. Suffice it to say that I disagree with you and that is my right - as it is your right to disagree with me.
Again, I apologize if you guys were caught off guard by the nature of this review. But, now you know HJ exists and you can be aware for any other searches that accidentally turn up on your engines.
So in your one line you stated, "There have been better debates by people more educated than you and me, who have devoted their whole lives to the issues on both sides." Were you stating that my intelligence is inferior to theirs or to yours? There is no proof of my intelligence; hence you cannot make this claim.
I was simply stating my opinion, and you're entitled to your own, of course.
Nice review though, even from my atheistic standpoint; I enjoy reading. Nice work.
No, you're absolutely right, Magneto. I have no idea how well you've studied up on the issue. You could be one of the experts I was referencing! Sorry about that. Seriously.
It's just that most folks who throw out strong opinions on "hot" topics tend to be less interested in a statement of their beliefs than in an opportunity to start a fight. It's kinda like listening to rednecks talk politics on AM radio...not that there aren't a few educated rednecks out there, just that most of them want to get all hot and bothered about something they heard on the news the previous night. (Disclaimer: I'm from Texas - so I can speak knowledgeably about local AM radio!)
Anyway, as a general rule, I decline to discuss certain issues - mainly homosexuality, evolution, abortion, and politics - and leave the debating to those who've dedicated their lives to the issues. Hence, the "experts" I referenced. Plus I'm fairly lazy when it comes those issues - I find debating them to be a big waste of time, usually. Who ever really changes their mind about something that big as a result of more information or a better spin? Maybe a few, but most are only interested in fighting for the sake of fighting. And it seems that life has enough fights each day without adding new ones. I guess if someone was truly interested in what I believed and why, I'd talk. But most aren't - and that's just the reality of life.
Alas, I digress...thanks for the switch from "you're completely full of shit" to "nice review, even from my athiestic standpoint." That makes my day. I appreciate open-minded folks, Christian, athiest and those from all religions. I like it when people feel free to disagree without disgracing the opposition. I love reading several writers with whom I completely disagree. My disagreement doesn't mean they're not great writers or that they didn't present their cases in a way that challenged me to think differently.
Thanks for taking the time to read my comments and reply. I hope you'll visit us again - on purpose!
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