Good, but I'm biased.

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2000)

I loved the film, but there were few circumstances under which I wouldn't. I grew up glued to X-Men books, (not the show - don't talk to me about the show) and have awaited this cinematic moment all my life.
I think it was a really decent portrayal of what I, and many geeks like me, already loved. In that respect it made the cut. I don't think anyone expected it to be a brilliant take on an action comic, albeit an action comic with a little depth.
Most importantly, the acting was good. Seeing Halle Berry, Ray Park, and Rebecca Romijn Stamos in the cast scared my pants off, but Patrick Stewart, (a dry performance, but adequate) Ian McKellan (a charming villain, I thought) and especially Hugh Jackman (great job, but a little more grit) made up for the somewhat below par cast.
I loved that Brian Singer was able to lend a tad of his dark and realism based style to this fantasy epic. I thought he saw in the story what X-Men fans saw when reading the books: X-Men is real! I wanted as sincere a treatment of the tale, and Singer did his best to provide it.
As a true blue fan, I am also not offended by editorial changes made to the characters and their powers. Rogue went from a voluptious flying vixen to a tool in telling a good story. Cyclops and Storm became minor characters to focus the movie on its most interesting parts. I'm glad it wasn't bogged down with elements present only to satisfy those who prefer comics to movies, because it was a movie, after all.
I thought the little bit of humour near the end (Wolverine calling Cyclops a bad name) was needed and too rare, although the yellow spandex joke was a little too obvious a wink at the audience. Oh, and by the way; did everyone notice Ray Park's stick twirling salute to Darth Maul?
Overall? Go see it if you like sci-fi/fantasy/action and are not short on imagination. If you read the comic or watched the show, go see it NOW!