Flick is nice, but classic comics are better

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2001)

Bryan Singer said that this movie was driven by characters rather than by action. With that in mind, I was surprised to discovered that the film was more impressive and faithful to the original comics in regard to the action scenes than it was in regard to characterization. Despite the modest budget (by blockbuster standards), X-Men manages to deliver well choreographed action scenes reminiscent of the comic book. It is often visually impressive, though the score is pretty weak.
The characterization ranges from great to poor. Ian McKellen performance is the best and truest to his character (Magneto). Berry's Storm is uninteresting. Stewart's Xavier and Paquin's Rogue are two-dimensional compared to their complex comic counterparts. Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Wolverine are at times as multi-faceted as in the comics. Ray Park is surprisingly good as Toad.
My advice: if you like the movie, buy some reprints of the X-Men comics of the 70s and 80s to see the X-Men at their best.