X-Cellent Use of Your Teleporter - One X-Cellent Scene
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Nightcrawler trying to assassinate the President at the beginning of X2: X-Men United is my favourite scene in the whole movie. And possibly the entire X-Men movie franchise. Let me tell you why.
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#x2 #nightcrawler #onexcellentscene
The fight does establish something about the character: despite being a pacifist, Nightcrawler is terrifyingly good at hurting people. Which is likely *why* he prefers to avoid fighting.
A dilemma he has often wrestled with in the comics because if he had his way he’d just be off swashbuckling in the Danger Room all day. He’s also a fearsomely good acrobat since he grew up in the circus and has worked with his odd appendages so much-he can actually support his weight with his tail! Basically he’d rather be doing art than killing.
For xavier it must be like having a knife you have to convince to stab someone dangerous
@@gateauxq4604 Pretty easy to practise a lot of scary dangerous acrobatics when you don't have the worry or fear of falling. I love that aspect. It makes sense that he would be a great acrobat, given the barrier to training is not a barrier for him.
@@gateauxq4604 all of that, and the fact he really is a a good Christian, and in one series, becomes a priest. He really doesn't want to fight anyone. He will do so, and as shown, INCREDIBLY effectively, but he would much prefer to live and let live.
@@dantreadwell7421 Yes, I really love the archetype of the ascetic who can rain hell when provoked.
Apparently Nightcrawlers “Bamf” smells like sulfur, so that just makes this scene better to me somehow.
If I remember right, he briefly passes through some kind of other world or plane whenever he teleports. The blue smoke is the atmosphere in that realm, and the 'bamf' sound is the snap of an instant change in air pressure.
Brimstone, actually.
Brimstone is literally just an old word for sulfur (or sulphur, if you prefer).
Amaritudine I thought the smoke’s colors were affected from his skin and clothes.
One guard to another "Core, jeez Bill next time tell me when you're going to let one off"
"Bill?"
I love the scene's juxtaposition of Nightcrawler's precise, fluid acrobatics, versus the sheer chaos he creates around him with his teleporting. It's also portrayed consistently with how Kurt describes his power later on - he never teleports anywhere before he's able to see it, hence why the locked, guarded doors actually present a challenge, and he can't simply jump straight to his final target.
The final subtle detail I enjoy is the way he slowly sheds his disguise during the attack, gradually losing the makeup and extra clothing that conceal his mutant features. He doesn't even make the first aggressive move, technically - a guard sees Kurt's tail and immediately draws his gun, highlighting the prejudice that drives the story's conflict.
Astute observation. For what it's worth though, if I was a guard and I saw a tail, I'd draw a weapon too lmao
Good point but I'm pretty sure if your the presidents security guard and see a trespasser that close youd shoot at em regardless of who they are
It is implied (in other media) that Kurt can indeed teleport without seeing where he's going to. one episode of Evolution has Scarlet Witch mess with his powers, making teleport to a space occupied by another object. The object is split in half. Maybe that's why he doesn't teleport where he can't see - he's afraid of what that will do to living beings. And, if he still maintains his own fighting style while being mind controlled, that could potentially mean the same rules applies to this version of the character as well.
Kinda reminds of Shirai Kuroko, from To Aru kagaku no Railgun/To Aru Majutsu no Index. She also has teleportation skills, albeit at a far shorter range than Kurt's (Evolution explains his max range is of 2 kilometres - going by the Brazilian dub here), while Kuroko is constantly shown teleporting multiple times at shorter distances to cover a wider range. One of the season 1 episodes of Railgun has her explaining that her teleportation moves the molecules of an object away to make room for whatever she's teleporting, so she can easily destroy a building by teleporting window glasses inside the supporting columns.
@@TwilightWolf032 that point has actually been brought up in the movie, he doesn't do it because he doesn't know what's on the other side and fears teleporting into something.
" he can't simply jump straight to his final target."
He can, technically speaking. His power doesnt prevent him from porting where he cannot see. His fear/concern of porting into a solid object is what stops him. Its a conscious decision, not a power limitation. This is shown later in the movie when Storm convinces him to teleport him and her into the makeshift 'cerebreo' room in the Dam, even tho he cannot see into the chamber to see his 'landing spot'.
Its even shown earlier than that when he ports out of the damaged X-plane to get Rogue. He cant see her, but he knows hes just porting into open air so he wasnt that worried about it.
One thing I really like, is even when he teleports closer to the gun...he's using his powers cleverly. He runs low, VERY low to the ground. Animalistic.
And then when the guy gets a bead and starts to fire, he teleports HIGH up, right in front of him, breaking his concentration, and the guy's down before he can fire properly.
i very much agree with this
Whoever that person was in Days Of Future Past with portals, her scenes were also great. They actually utilized them in interesting ways that made visual sense to the audience.
It's just a shame she played such a small part in the movie. As the Honest Trailers voice guy put it, "in a world full of other cool X-Men, meet Wolverine.... FOR THE SEVENTH FUCKING TIME".
@@enzoenc They should've done more with Blink, Warpath, Bishop, and Sunspot. Though if you want to talk criminally underutilized X-Men movie characters, I'd suggest Jubilee.
She was great on The Gifted. It was pretty much the Xmen we wanted but not the one we got.
@@seanheath4492 Jubilee is eh (unless you dial her power up beyond anything they had the balls to put in the comics). Armor, though. We need an Armor movie.
@@dylandarnell3657 I was specifically talking about underutilized movie characters. While I would love to see a good take on Armor (and/or Pixie), she hasn't been on-screen yet. Jubilee has. :P
It's a shame that the people who would likely be most overpowered - teleporters and speedsters, looking at you, Quicksilver in Days of Future Past - are so often underused simply for the fact that the writers cannot handle how overpowered they are, and that they would usually solve the plot by themselves if they did use their powers.
To be fair, magneto is a level 5. He could, in theory, pull ALL the metal in all the earth (as they showed him pull the droplets of iron thats in the bloodstream in order to get out of his cell. Also, the fact they nerfed the shit out of apocalypse (who can grow to the size of PLANETS) really bothered me a lot.
@@kalstonii i also heard that guy which can adapt to anything is also super op but they kill him off in first real fight in a least imaginative way possible. Eating friends plasma
UncleSam TheJew killing off darwin was the stupidest thing ever they should’ve never mentioned him in the movie
@@SherrifOfNottingham and also superman, I just don't like him in the movies unlike in comics and animated series.
@@unclesamthejew8740 The funny thing is they don't need to do that. They just need to make him fight some low level mooks.
Oh my lord, another Nightcrawler fan! I have to admit, he was the highlight of X2 for the limited amount of time he was on screen.
real shame Alan Cumming's version wasn't in any others
Not nearly enough fans of him! Best X-Man, and poorly utilized.
@@mikemorgan6685 Apparently he was treated very badly on set so he probably wouldn't have wanted to... :(
"What are you talking about everybody loves the fuzzy dude"
@@LyraLyraPantsOnFyra X-Men Evolution was grrr-eat!
This is X-2's version of the time in a bottle scene. An action scene so good, that it makes the other fights in the movie seem lacking in comparison.
I adore that scene!! 🥰🥰
Just have that opening scene last 90 minutes and I can die a happy man XD
This is my personal favorite scene in all the x-men films, a shame that Alan Cumming was never interested in returning as he did such an amazing job with what they gave him.
he was interested.
Halle Berry demanded more Storm scenes, which cut his scenes so much it wasn't worth the hours in the make up chair
@@cthulhupthagn5771 never heard that only story I ever heard was he said the makeup was too extensive for him to do again.
I wish they made a stand alone film of Alan Cumming Nightcrawler
you can't just drop all of these on me at the same time, i have a life!
😁
Hahaha excacly
I've been watching at work 🤫
Thank you for saying it. We all been thinking it lol
And have to sub to all the good ones that i was not already subed to.
An X-cellent choice of scene. And not only do the visuals, choreography, slow-mo and writting make it epic, but the choice of score (Which is over the top operatic/theatrical unlike most action scenes of the kind) makes an epic scene even more epic!
The music is the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath, i.e. Judgement Day) from Mozart's Requiem e.g. th-cam.com/video/1Tb9HmlPuVI/w-d-xo.html, which is a favourite for ready-made dramatic choral music, as is O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana e.g. th-cam.com/video/GXFSK0ogeg4/w-d-xo.html
Evolution is the show that made me fall in love with Nightcrawler too.
Evolution fckd me up for a decade. It was the first time I saw anything xmen related, and yeah I loved it, but it confused me on the real canon of all the characters lol They took alot of liberties with that show
@Lar Rackell my favorite version of X-Men, full stop. The movies got me into it, but Evo made me stay. 21 years a fan and counting!!😁😁 Sad that people hate on it and compare it to the 90s show. It is it's own thing.
@@miniwolfsbane2407 the same thing happened with the Batman people compared it to Batman the animated series. Plus X-Men 90s tas has a ton of flaws that can easily be ripped apart.
Same!! We used to watch it as kids and I completely fell in love with this blue boy, and xmen in general. No matter how much mess they made with the movies later on, I was always a little biased into liking it... cos the show was just great.
Me too
If anyone hasn’t seen Wolverine and the X-men, I think that’s my favorite Nightcrawler in media. He may not be as comical, though he has his moments. Where the character shines is his interactions with other mutants. He’s the savior, the one who protects those who cant pass for human. Basically hes what they tried to make jennifer lawrence Mystique into but way better. And he fights with swordssss
>They seek him here, they seek him there.
I see you are a woman of culture as well.
I mean, I'm not. Person of culture. We're all persons of culture.
(For the class: It's a Scarlet Pimpernel reference. The books are in public domain on Gutenberg, so you can read them right now.)
❤️❤️❤️ it was also the way she said it...I repeated it twice, before pimpernel popped into my head!! I love it when ppl throw such tidbits in 🤗🤗🤗. Wasn't expecting anyone to comment on it either 😂
They seek him here, they seek him there … and what's that annoying garlic smell?
Love the Scarlet Pimpernel. Props to Baroness Orczy and also Richard E Grant.
Thank you! I was trying to place that! I should go reread that book.
I got that reference.
You're absolutely right about Nightcrawler.
But *all* of the mutants' powers are under-used.
We never really see the full extent of Magneto's power in these movies until he lifts the Golden Gate Bridge in X3. It the only time we see him struggle, other than in the first film where he's been weakened after giving his powers to Rogue.
Fun Fact: David Hayter the voice of Solid Snake in Metal Gear wrote this scene
@Alphyy
Now I can’t stop thinking about what if Snake was one of the guys trying to stop Nightcrawler. 🤣
Snake: “Otacon, there’s a strange man whos just disappeared before I could hit him!”
Otacon: “That’s Nightcrawler, Snake. He has the power of teleportation.”
Snake: “Teleportation?!”
@@XescoPicas omfg I just heard that exactly in their voice 😂
@@XescoPicas "His powers are a bit like Psycho Mantis. Try using the soliton radar to anticipate his new position, or get into a corner so he can't get in behind you."
Nightcrawler is one of my all time favorites in everything he's in. I always get a dnd fantasy vibe off of him due to the being an elf, in the words of wolverine, and use of cutlasses in combat often. Always a treat to see, but unfortunately too powerful to be around too often
I know! I was just reminded that he is basically, literally, a Tiefling...now, a Tiefling Swashbuckler/Cleric or Paladin should be doable, just not sure if they can get access to Blink...
@@aaronsirkman8375 Tiefling Hexblade?
@@falinost You know, that's a thought, but I don't know if the weapon would be so central to his character concept; mechanically, probably the best idea, of course, because Hexblade is kind of the best Warlock, practically speaking. I think he should be multiclassed as a Paladin, which would work great with Swashbuckler or Hexblade, although technically, he should maybe be a Cleric.
Oooooh, right, Hexblade gets Blink...hmm.
I know its not the most loved class, but I think shadow monk would be perfect. Just flavor the short sword as a cutlas. Maybe take some levels swashbuckler for the amazing lv 3 ability
i fully appreciate the x-men evolution love going on here
Loved this! I always thought it was so impactful how the physics of his teleportation make sense to us; he carries his momentum from one BAMF to another in a way that aligns with our real world.
the way they used his momentum on different angles and heights to exercise more force than it could be possible with his small body frame was... wow... top notch
This was the OG Quicksilver scene. Both equally beautiful! Great analysis!!
Still one of my all time favorite scenes in a comic book movie ever. I'm heavily biased though since Kurt is my favorite comic character. Great breakdown.
Yup, this was good and Kurt Wagner is my favorite mutant.
Another great detail that shows an aspect of his character comes from the shot through the key hole. It shows how Kurt is able to teleport into the Oval Office since he can’t teleport to a place that he can’t see. It reveals that he has a way of seeing into the Oval Office just enough to allow him to teleport inside.
I searched the "X-cellent scene" vids for this exact scene, and really enjoyed your take! Excelsior!
"I know who Nightcrawler is and he's one of my favourite characters..." You have excellent taste. +followed
I see you are a person of culture too 😊
This might seem weird, but I am betting that if there is a fight scene involving Nightcrawler that also somehow integrates his faith either in action or dialogue, it would be of interest to you. I'm certainly hard-pressed to think of one though.
To be fair, if the scene you're implying is the scene I'm thinking about, it's not really a fight scene.
I mean, as someone with an interest in music and the way music can communicate character (and a huge comic book nerd), the use of Dies Irae does that, kind of. It's a selection from Mozart's "Requiem", and the Dies Irae, in particular, is about the Day of Judgement. Though Dies Irae is mostly used as "epic choral music" today, it is a piece with very Catholic roots. Not exactly a direct or obvious reference to Kurt's faith, and I have no idea if it was intentional or not, but it's something that I think about in regards to this scene.
It was intentional; lovely to read your comments on music🙏🏾Thank you
I actually really liked the straight line teleport. There was just something aesthetically and viscerally pleasing about the continued momentum...like he was this wrecking ball that could not be stopped.
*checks notifications* How the heck did this happen? How did all these worlds collide?!
Mwahahaha etc 😁
"The *three* dimensions in which he can move"
😏
The way you stare into the viewers soul as you dissect this scene was strangely charming. You got yourself a subscriber!
Now, to comment on the subject of the video: I absolutely love teleporters too! but I think they did a disservice to him in how long it takes between disappearing and reappearing. It feels like he has to walk that distance anyway, just in a different dimension, or that he is teleporting somewhere else for a while then comming back (or he teleports in 4 dimensions, and goes a bit forward in time, but that just seems overpowered, so let's ignore this option). Having the disappearing and appearing effect happening simultaneously would have made it even freakier for us and for the agents, but I guess this must've been a "people can't actually teleport" type of problem...
Finally, one thing that I only understood when you basically spelled out: the plan of teleporting all over the place was absolutely genious, because then he could control where the president would be! I never thought it was a plan, I just thought it was meant to be a set piece where they go "look at this amazing dude!" and he just teleports because. That was some great planning on his part. and thanks for enlightening me
Another thing I love, that I think gives us a sense of how fast Kurt is, is during the slow motion sequence, when he BAMFs in and essentially punches a Secret Service agent at full speed, during the slow motion, before BAMFing away.
Number 5 is great at showing off how amazing the teleporter powers are. The diner scene is amazing af
I love that Kurt's tail is strong enough to grab and throw someone. I don't know why I just love that detail
The highs, the lows, the straight lines, the spacial awareness, the communication, lack of communication, hold the shot, go slo-mo, Requiem needle drop!
The White House Attack was art. Pure art.
X2's opening is one of the best action/fight scenes in this entire genre
Also, shout out to Stage Combat! Woop woop. This channel intrigues me....
I love the fact that he never attacks from precisely the same angle twice. Even kicking one of them straight up with a backflip
I'm a year late getting into this playlist, but this is my favorite scene of any of the X-Men movies and I'm glad you chose it. You did an amazing job at analyzing it.
I love this scene.
Though I also liked the fast editing in 'Jumper'. It just felt fresh to me at the time.
I haven't watched that movie in many years, since I was a child, but I always remembered the visuals of that scene, how striking and awesome they were, and how cool Nightcrawler's abilities were in it!
I agree. Probably one of the best use of a characters actual powers in film. Whoever set it up did a masterful job and likely (much like myself) loves the character
I was so blown away by that scene when I saw it in cinemas and I love your analysis of it!
You've got a new subscriber ❤
It would be interesting to see a Nightcrawler vs Quicksilver scene.... I love how they used the slow, serene music to highlight the speed that Quicksilver enters the mansion to save everyone (also the scene helping Magneto escape is well done too). I'm not sure how they would shoot a slo-mo, a medium-mo and a freeze-frame scene along with the Bamf... but it would be epic!
I distinctly recall seeing X2 in the theater. After the opening scene unspooled, I felt like my theater seat needed a seatbelt. It leaves you with a sense of, "If this is where we're STARTING, holy shit." A perfect opening, especially for a sequel to a movie that spent so much time just establishing who everyone was. X2's opening establishes, in grand style, that it's going to be a bigger, bolder film. At least until The Dark Knight's bank robbery, this was the gold standard for opening scenes in superhero films. And it still holds up.
one of the things that, in my humble opinion, makes that scene so visually great is how he's dressed. the contrast between the light colored clothes and the dark skin makes it easier to see the acrobatic movements no matter if the background is light colored (walls) or dark colored (the smoke)
People tend to under appreciate the X-Men films for their fight scenes, but damn do the people behind them know how to choreograph and design an action scene involving a character with hyper-mobility. Nightcrawler and Quicksilver both don’t really get much screen time in their films and yet people often remember their action scenes best. Let teleporters be cool, Hollywood. :(
"Teleporters are cool" yes, yes the are. Teleports and summoners are some of my favorite and I don't feel those abilities are often used to their fullest... but then so often any supernatural ability isnt used to its fullest in stories which makes me sad. Seeing a video appreciating this great fight and use of this power was great. Plus Nightcrawler love. Just fantastic all around.
Nightcrawler has been my favorite since I was a young boy 40+ years ago. This scene I have watch dozens of times because I own the DVD, but the movie I have watched 3 times. I think it was so well done.
Scenes like this one stand up better in memories than a bunch of superhero flicks these last years offered. They can be cool on the moment, but end up forgettable afterwards.
This is probably one of the best opening action scenes in a comic book movie or even action movie in general. Dare I say one of the best opening scenes in any movie.
I remeber seeing this in theater with a friend (it was my secibnd time seeing it). Afte this scene, I leaned over to my friend and said "This is why Nightcrawler is feared as a fighter." Such a good job showing what Kurt can do.
This scene is so awesome, pure showcase of nightcrawlers badassness. It even covers the "downside" of his teleportation ability. He has trouble teleporting where he can't see, so in the narrow hallway with his target backed up to a door shooting at him he can't teleport behind or to the side of the guy, so his solution is a calculated risk of directly in front of but slightly above the line of fire to connect his kick.
That scene is a key part of why Nightcrawler has been one of my top 5 Xmen since this movie came out.
Brilliant use of the Scarlet Pimpernel reference; one of my all-time favorite stories!
proper use of teleportation in fights is so rare but it's such a treat when done well. It's part of why that one episode of Mob Psycho (season 2, episode 11 I believe) has one of my favorite fight scenes of all time. Not only do we get a lot of teleporting goodness, but we also get a couple cuts where the teleporter is static in the frame while jumping, so we just see the rest of the world shift around him. That's something that's not done nearly enough, even in animation where it's not an absolute nightmare to put together.
use of x-men evolution theme music in an analysis = instant undying respect
I love how you changed the background music at 5:30 to Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Remix) from the Matrix Soundtrack as you talked about it's bullet time effect! I immediately felt pulled back into the movie and it's world and couldn't pinpoint it outright. Subtle, but effective, that's great editing!
One of Kurt's favorite tricks in the comics is to teleport and attack several people so quickly that he strikes the third person before the first hits the ground. I'm pretty sure the entire White House attack, but the slow-motion Oval Office scene in particular, is an homage to that.
Oh, and I totally agree that this was an absolutely brilliant showcase of Kurt's powers. That "multiple subjects" line made me laugh and cheer in the theater when I first watched the film, because it was such a natural assumption, and beautifully demonstrated how the Secret Service had no idea what they were up against. Bryan Singer really understood how to showcase the X-Men and their powers (for three of the movies he directed, at least).
I was always a fan of Nightcrawler and people could never understand why until they saw this. It took this scene to show exactly why teleportation in a fight is terrifying, especially combined with his acrobatics abilities.
I allways thought that was the best XMen scene ever! Appreciate the Video👍
This was, and still is by far the coolest scene in all the X-Men movies. I remember seeing this in theaters and being absolutely wowed by everything in this scene. I kept thinking that if the first scenes are THIS good, what's the rest of the movie going to be like, but was a bit disappointed that they didn't utilize Nightcrawler's awesome abilities to that extent again. He definitely stole the show.
Nightcrawler was always my favorite X-universe character, and I've watched this one opening scene from X2 more times than I feel is safe to admit. The whole movie was enjoyable, I thought, but I would've liked a lot more Kurt. Still, his saving Rogue was also an awesome scene, I thought. Kurt's a little more levity in the never versions of the movies, but still underused as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for going through this cool scene for us. Subscribed.
This is one of the best fight scenes ever created, and it's from 2003. I love when you can see how much thought is put in to a scene, makes it a work of art.
Lovely analysis.
I do have a response to your comment about teleporting toward someone who is firing a gun at you. In a real fight, there are things we need to keep in mind not just about guns in general, but also about the kinds of guns he's up against.
1: Guns have a finite number of bullets
2: Aiming a handgun is extremely difficult, even when you're trained.
For Nightcrawler to change position so frequently, even when directly in the path of gunfire, you're changing the point of aim constantly. If you get a chance, go to a pistol range and try to hit four different points on a target in rapid succession.
When Nightcrawler gets to the oval office, the biggest obstacles to him becoming perforated is the presence of other security personnel. Friendly fire isn't.
It did give incredible character development. It tells us everything about Stryker, how much he hates mutants, who he cares about (nobody), and the lengths he will go to end mutants.
If I was a TH-camr making videos for this One X-cellent Scene series, this is the scene I would have picked. It's just a gorgeous action/spectacle scene!
I’m happy to hear Jill is also a fan of “X-Men: Evolution”, that version of Nightcrawler resonated with me as a youngin
Great video.
On a similar note, I think the use of teleporting in Umbrella Academy is a lot of fun.
Nightcrawler has always been my favorite. A master swordsman and acrobat that tends to be the crucible of morality, in the comics. This scene, once you're aware of context, does it right.
Thank you for the easter egg in the captions. Nice touch.
New to the channel, if you (or anyone else reading this) haven't checked it out, I'd highly recommend looking up a fight scene from an anime called Mob Psycho 100 where Shimazaki takes on the former members of Claw. It's such a good teleporter fight! Just the way they use the camera and perspectives is so clever, every single time the guy's out of frame he's flicking somewhere else seemlessly. And as the fight goes on, things subtly shift to his point of view where he'll grab someone and the camera will follow him as he flicks between places to get objects to use against everyone else. It's such a cool sequence.
This X-2 opening scene was one of greatest intros to a superpowered character ever done in cinema! It's staging and filmography are as you describe but also gives an adrenaline shot to the viewer of how bad-ass this character can be! SO well done!
Kurt’s been my fave since the 80s and his 4-issue series is a weird gem
We can finally agree on a fight scene! Well done!! And yes, it's one of my favs as well!
I don't have a background with the comics, but I was instantly drawn in to this scene in the movie. After that, I really only wanted a movie about nightcrawler doing nightcrawler stuff! Being an Alan Cummings fan, I was even more intrigued. I've always wanted to be able to teleport since I was a wee child watching Star Trek.
I had high hopes for Jumper (as I feel Hayden Christensen got a bad rap after Star Wars) being a whole movie about teleportation, but alas....
Excellent Review as always!
I like the smoke. It makes your eyes track that, letting you know where he just appeared or disappeared.
I loved the Scarlet Pimpernel reference!
"They seek him here... they seek him there..." 😊
Wonderful assessment of one of my ALL-TIME favorite movie scenes featuring my ALL-TIME favorite fictional character...😁
KUDOS!
What's really impressive is that in all the random, chaotic gunfire and rapidly moving target the Secret Service never hit each other with bullets.
Throwing a Scarlet Pimpernel reference into a Nightcrawler video? I can only take so many favorite things at once!
Fabulous use of the greenscreen. I was completely convinced.
Fantastic breakdown! I too look forward to the return of stage combat. Also, nice Scarlet Pimpernel reference.
Great video Jill. More please.
What I only realised fairly recently is the best action scenes that need to move you and the story along use the character's direction on screen to show progression. Generally movement from left to right or background to foreground is used to show the protagonist's progression and the two opposite directions are used to show lost ground or the advancement of the antagonist.
Action scenes that use any old direction for the character's progression feel more disjointed and are harder to follow. I don't know if we have been educated over the years by good film makers to expect this, or it's something psychological that is hard wired into our brains, but giving the protagonist and antagonist a definite direction, helps us follow the action. A sudden reversal for a single shot or set piece can be jarring, but this too can be used to tell the story of the action. So too can shots that track around the action.
If you find yourself getting lost in an action scene, apart from shaky-cam and fast close edits, look to see if the film makers have used direction and movement to help you keep track of what's happening, the hero and the goal. Chances are the direction everyone moves is as incoherant and irrational as the choppy editing.
While I love all of the other X-Cellent videos, this one is an absolute stand-out! You breaking down all the choreography of this scene has been a blast to sit through and is definitely a breath of fresh air in the X-Cellent Scene playlist!
i like how that they made the point to slow it down, to show you that when he teleports.. it is not an instant travel to the new location. there is a time gap, albeit very small, between him blinking out and blinking back in. those who do not know.. he actually crosses into a pocket reality very briefly before he reemerges.
I felt the same way, but Alan and director Bryan Singer won me over. the real problem with teleporters is not the chaos they can cause in a fight scene, it is the fact that teleporters are a one person army. and X2's opening proves it. teleporters, storywise, are an easy button. so are speedsters (see Evan Peter's Quicksilver for example) when you can cross distances in little to no time, it gives you more time to take more actions. teleporters can, depending on their limitations, enter locked rooms and nullify barrier security. They can escape danger, set up enemies to attack themselves, attack multiple targets across a room, and keep an opponent disoriented by attacking from different angles. Now add being able to teleport others and you can drop people from a great height, trap them in a confined space, emergency rescue, and transportation for the team (if you got the range) X2 Nightcrawler has the physical limitations of having to be able to see where he is teleporting and it tires him to teleport other people with him. so teleporters can, with very little imagination, can do almost everything storywise that the other characters do in half the time. this creates problems for writers who need to focus on an entire team of heroes and not just one person. the solution, it seems, is to relegate teleporters (and speedsters) to one of two functions: search/rescue and transportation. rarely are they used in the actual fight because they would dominate the spotlight. Comic Nightcrawler has the same problem. But because most writers are also fans, they can't help themselves but let their teleporter cut loose and show how cool they can be every once in a while. That just frustrates us more, because now your nerfing of that character's power is evident to everyone. in cinema, there is an added element of cost. the special effects cost of X2's opening probably broke the bank. Same with the "Time in a Bottle" scene from Days of Future Past. having more scenes like that would make the movie very expensive. I've thought a lot about this.
I love this!!! Another Nightcrawler fan!! Kurt has always been my favorite. Thank you for this video. It's so nice to see Kurt get some love. For myself, I always called this one X2: Wolverine United.
THANK YOU! That scene is just like the music choice they picked for it: classic, beautiful and bombastic
I can't tell you how many times I've re-watched that scene, God, I love it!!
That show was in my childhood and then I watched it again and still enjoyed it so no I will not blame it.
FINALLY I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO DO THIS SCENE!!!
YAY! I'm so happy you did this scene. I love it so much and was worried it might not be covered. Thank you!
I didn't even know who the character was before this movie, but he became one of my favorites because of it. I felt that they did a good job establishing his nature and background, enough that he is, in my opinion, the most relatable character in the entire lineup of the films. Followed by Mystique, of course.
I’m so happy you got to be a part of this. :D
I 'm not a comic reader, and knew nothing about Nightcrawler going in. But he ended up being my favorite X-Man after seeing X2. I was pumped to see him shine in the third film, only to learn that Cumming would not return. I remain heartbroken over the biggest tragedy to befall the X-Men movies; Not Enough Nightcrawler!!!!
Only saw this as a result of cinema wins collaborating.... Impressive, subbed!
Collaboration with OSP? Awesome :)
YAAAS my girl getting some recognition!!!!
Well this was a brilliant dissection of one of my favorite scenes in film since I was 10. Way to go, that's a sub right there. Really hope the MCU uses mutants sooner than later, and brings us another great Nightcrawler!
Thank you for helping me understand why the fight scenes in the Jumper movie just never had the impact I felt they should, especially after simple and accessible way fighting as a Jumper was described in the original author's books.
For anybody wondering, the author is Steven Gould. He has written 4 Jumper books, plus a short story, plus a prequel the movie version's 'universe' which has very little to do with his other books. (He wrote it because he loved the character Griffin, who he didn't have in any of his books until the movie was made.)
All of Gould's writing is, IMO, excellent (Seriously. Read his entire bibliography. It's worth the time to do so.) but the movie was just decent and I think maybe this was a big part of why. There was so much potential, but I realize now that I had to fill in a lot of detail based on how my brain was wired by playing Portal and reading the Gould books, and for most people that just wasn't there in the movie because... Well... They didn't put it in the movie.
Anyway, that's my short rant, except to say this to content makers: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make more movies, shows, and books with teleportation, and while you're at it throw in some nice thinking-with-portals concepts as well. Non-linear-movement is a niche that needs more content. (And Star Trek's transporter tech isn't enough either.)
Happy 10 year TH-camversary! This video was how I discovered you on the Tubes!
Why did I just now discover this gem of a channel? Thank you for your work, subscribe
Thanks for talking about this, Night-crawler is my favorite hero this is one of my favorite fight scenes. Also though Night-crawler was an assassin for Weapon X in his earlier appearances so I thought that was awesome and totally wanted to see him kill the president so we had kinda opposite take on that part