Surprisingly Entertaining.

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2000)

So was this movie adaptation of a comic book series going to be a success? Or just something corny and clichÃ© ridden? You know what? I held reservation on it even after I saw the trailers for it and was greeted with an awesome movie! The trailers looked good but the movie was even better.
X-men is a comic series with many characters and plots but this particular movie dealt with the rescue of Rogue (Anna Paquin). Rogue is a young girl who discovers that she's a mutant and is forced to leave home for fear of being discovered and ostracized. She ends up in northern Alberta, Canada where she inadvertently meets and saves the life of a brooding angry man by the name of Logan, otherwise known as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The two end up at an institute for the gifted run by Dr. Xavier and the story launches into the comic book world of superheroes.
`Spawn' was another comic series turned movie that left a sour taste in my mouth and left me with a bit of trepidation. What made this movie good? A good concrete storyline with special effects that enhanced the characters and ultimately the story, not a substitute for a story. Although there were plenty of special effects, the movie used it mainly for creating the personalities of the main characters. The most popular character was probably Wolverine and Hugh Jackman did not disappoint. This is the first time I've seen him in a Hollywood movie and he definitely held his own. Patrick Stewart as Xavier was the perfect casting as was Ian McKellan as Magneto. Both actors have very powerful presences on screen and made it a pleasure to watch.
The one thing that I have to say that made this movie a little harder to follow at times was the number of characters. There were so many of them that it occasionally spread itself thin in some of the character development department, especially with some of the villain characters but I'm sure that this will change as in the sequels (there were enough hints of it). Overall, a great movie!