Well, it’s no X-Men: Apocalypse or Deadpool or Gambit, but this’ll have to do until next year when the X-Men movie universe will give us all three of those films. In the same vein as previous Wes Anderson parody videos, like Andersonian versions of Point Break, The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars: Episode 7, comes a new take on X-Men. What if the director of the Oscar-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel helmed one of these superhero films? It would look pretty much like this.
Patrick Willems filmed and edited a video that sees the Uncanny X-Men through a Wes Anderson filter, and the result is as whimsical as it might sound. The fact that Willems kinda looks like Anderson also doesn’t hurt his efforts.
Telling the tale of Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, receiving his letter of acceptance into the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngster, the video sees him arriving at the doorstep of the illustrious brownstone to hone his mutant abilities and meet some eccentric characters. You might’ve noticed this on first glance, but this is actually the house from Anderson’s The Royal Tenanbaums. As Willems said in the adjoining making-of video, this is the only Wes Anderson parody (that he knows of) to actually include a shot of the house.
Willems’ video follows the crop of characters from the earlier X-Men line-up: Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Storm, Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto. And their costumes are very reminiscent of that, giving nods to the ‘80s X-Factor get-ups and Grant Morrison’s New X-Men comic book run. Though he doesn’t have the big budget worthy of Days of Future Past, he does have an appreciation for the finesses that made this one of the greatest Wes Anderson parodies on the web.
There are plenty of other nods to Anderson’s films and directing style. There’s his favorite font (Font Futura), his unique brand of slapstick, a brilliant use of color (especially pink), a lighthearted and bright instrumental music selection, and at least one slow motion shot. Since The Grand Budapest Hotel is so fresh in our minds, after it took home four Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, that scuffle between Cyclops and Magneto is very reminiscent of that comedic styling. Check out the behind-the-scenes video to learn more about how Willems and his team put everything together.
As superhero movies are getting more "serious" by the day (we're looking at you Man of Steel), this Anderson/X-Men parody serves as a nice reminder for these filmmakers to embrace some of the comedy. That's partly why so many fell in love with comic books growing...though, we do still wanna see mutantkind battling chaotic forces to save the world.
