An Honest Review

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2016)

I remember Wizard Magazine and a couple of other comic book publications speculating on who would be case for which roles when the film was greenlit...
Danzig was recommended for Wolverine and instead they cast Hugh Jackman a man who, in 2000 no one ever heard of. Time proved that to be a near perfect choice. I mean 17 years on and he's still loyal to the role.
Danzig likely would have been flighty, but at the time a comic book movie franchise was unheard of. James Bond got a movie franchise. Slashers got a franchise. Everything else, at the most you could expect one, maybe two sequels.
But then the X-Men sort of started it all didn't it? Sure Blade came out in '98, but no one ever thought of Blade as a franchise film. The X-Men was really innovative in that way, here they are still making the movies.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar I remember was suggested for Cyclopes and instead we got James Marsden and again that was a good choice, Marsden looks like a prig and that is exactly what Cyclopes should be...a jerk with a false sense or moral superiority.
Again it was a great casting call. You disliked him from the start and he is the boss that knows how to get the job down and no one really likes...save Jean Grey who again was an awesome choice of casting.
Halle Berry as Storm...hmmm, that one I question. But the recommendations I remember reading cast an SI Swimsuit model and that I would question even more.
It's not that I don't think Berry can act, but Storm is a kick-butt goddess and, well, in 2000 you didn't have the feeling that Berry was tough enough. As a result, you only got that one shining moment of the character Storm was supposed to be and that moment she delivered a line that was clearly Joss's contribution.
Singer did do a great job. He has carved a name for himself in X-History...but serious fan boys still wonder what could have been if they kept Joss on, or even if they only kept his script.
Wolverine gets all the attention, but the X-Women are arguably the most powerful women on any super hero team. Joss Whedon knows how to write strong women, he knows how to make them work. He knows how to make them the tough hombres they are in the comic.
It's evident by that one Storm line that could only have been his.
And there alone is the singular fault of the movie. The women aren't as powerful, aren't as tough as they are in the comic books. The series was reliant on the men in it more than the women. It was a disappointment, but it worked.
Ian McKellen was cast as Magneto...great choice. The Comic reviews were recommending Clint Eastwood and, well he's a far better director than he ever was an actor McKellen can act and he did a stellar job.
So can Stewart and even now, bald head aside, it's hard to imagine anyone else as Professor X.
There were so many good choices, so many turns it made that could have gone wrong that the few mistakes they made seem overshadowed by the great decisions of all involved.
There is a reason why X-Men really introduced us to the cinematic age of comic books.