Cheesy Blockbusters

Hollywood wanker, thy name is Ratner.

THR: LOSING "SUPERMAN" MUST HAVE BEEN
A REAL BLOW.

Ratner: I got upset that Bryan Singer's got
"X-Men," Sam Raimi's got "Spider-Man" and
they hired Chris Nolan to do "Batman." It was
like, "What am I going to do? I'm not going to
have any franchise." The "Superman" script by
J.J. Abrams was brilliant but too expensive to
make. Warners didn't want to make it with an
unknown actor. Bryan managed to figure out
how to do a lower-budget version of that.
When Bryan left "X-Men," I wanted it so bad. I
realized it was the end of a trilogy; it's not
"Star Trek 8." It's truly like "The Lord of the
Rings." I was going to be part of history. "X-
Men" is special, it has scope, it's the biggest
action movie ever, it's thought-provoking. The
movie deals with friendship and when you give
up on somebody you love.

THR: HOW MUCH DID YOU CONTRIBUTE TO
THE SCRIPT?

Ratner: I wasn't trying to reinvent the series.
I didn't change the story at all. The cure
concept was brilliant. Storywise, my focus was
on the emotionality and the psychological
journey of the characters, who the audience
and myself have to love.

Waaaah! I’m not going to have a franchise!! And by the
way, that brilliant Abrams script was pure shit (according
to actually literate people who don’t use words like
emotionality.) Read all about that fiasco, here.

THR: YOU INHERITED SOME CAST BUT ADDED
SOME NEW MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN.

Ratner: When you work with Shakespearean
actors, you get good performances. Working
with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in one
scene, the walls were vibrating from their
voices. I was new. If I was going to leave a
mark, I was responsible for these new
characters who weren't in the other "X-Men,"
like Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde and Ben Foster
as Angel. Kelsey Grammer isn't going to be
known as Frasier anymore, he'll be known as
Beast. He has such power, he needed that deep
Shakespearean voice to cut through a thick
costume.

It’s nice to know that “Shakespearean” essentially means
speaking with a very loud voice. It’s a shame Sam Kinison is
no longer alive. He would have been the perfect Falstaff in
Ratner’s production of Henry IV.

THR: WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOU?

Ratner: ... I start "Rush Hour 3" on August 23.