Comic strip superhero caper which manages to be very enjoyable and highly imaginative.

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2003)

X-Men is a very entertaining adaptation of the comic book/ cartoon series with appeal for X-Men fans and non-fans alike. The film isn't as bright or exuberant as I thought it would be but it does keep you thoroughly entertained for it's 95 minute running time.
The cast works well together for the most part. Patrick Stewart is the most obvious pic for Professor Xavier and does a good job bringing some class to the film. Sir Ian McKellen is brilliant as the X-Men's archenemy Magneto. Newcomer Hugh Jackman closely resembles the hero of the bunch, Wolverine, and manages to be a `superhero' without wearing yellow spandex.

Strangely, I imagined someone older like Meryl Streep or Jessica Lange in the role of Storm, as she did look middle-aged in the comic. Thankfully, Halle Berry is a very welcome addition, taking on the role of the character. Anna Paquin is the teenage heroine Rogue. She doesn't look like much of a heroine and is more suited to the melodrama genre but she does well in her role. I'm not going into any more detail on the rest of the X-Men, but they were all pretty good in their contributions.
The film tries a bit too hard to avoid camp. While it was very enjoyable, it could have been a bit better if it was more colourful. Much of the film was taking up with introducing the characters, so the end battle scene was only a taste of what will come in the sequel, X-2, which is due out later this year. `X-Men' aims for a lower note of popularity than Spider-Man and Superman did, but it's still every bit as enjoyable. At an hour and a half the film is a bit short, but what the film is good at well overshadows its minor faults.
Overall, X-Men is a great and distractive little movie. Definitely the best blockbuster of Summer 2001. Very enjoyable, highly entertaining, effortlessly re-watchable, what else can I say. 7.4/10.