Off to a Good Start

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2001)

There are three rules for movies that are adapted from comics: First, the movie must spend time covering the back story of its characters for newcomers such as I, before it launches into its first adventure. But, secondly, the movie must do this quickly enough that it doesn't turn off long-time fans of the comic, who are likely to be the movie's greatest critics. Thirdly, the movie must serve as a flagship for sequels. That means it has to leave us wanting to know and see more about the characters.
X-Men succeeds all three accounts. Although there are more characters than in most super hero movies, writer-director Bryan Singer and writing partner Tom DeSanto introduce good guys Professor X, Dr. Jean Grey, Cylops, Storm, Rogue and especially Wolverine efficiently and satisfyingly. They do a similarly good job helping us get to know the chief villain Magneto, but less so with the other bad guys. We'd like to know more about Sabretooth, Toad-and particularly Mystique-but, alas, there's not enough time to do so. Finally, the film left me wanting to see to see a sequel-particularly to find out more about Wolverine.
The acting for the most part is good. Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Ian McKellen (Magneto) are both strong presences. Famke Janssen and James Marden are fine as Jean Grey and Cyclops, respectively, but Halle Berry's looks horrible as Storm, and her acting matches her looks. Anna Paquin is nice as Rogue, but we sense we'll see a lot more of her in the future. The breakout star of the movie, however, is Hugh Jackman, as the feral Wolverine.
X-Men, like most comic strips, strives for something deeper than just super heroes doing their thing. The theme of the movie is intolerance. That's evident from the first scene, set in a Nazi concentration camp, to scenes of Sen. Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison) trying to pass laws requiring mutants to be registered. The movie's point is that, like other humans, there are good and bad mutants.
All in all, not a bad start for what is likely to be a long-living franchise.