failed to capture the heart of a X-Men Story

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2000)

X-Men almost did it. It started out perfectly, but then it failed to reach what it needed to reach for fans and non-fans. Most likely because it was thinking more about making sequels then making the best first X-Men movie that could be made.
I've been a fan of the comic book for awhile and I know of the potential great X-Men story telling that, if done right, can even be considered for oscars and golden globes. The potential was not reached in X-Men the movie. What did not work especially was Magneto's plan to turn the world leaders into mutants. It was uncharacteristic for the type of character who whole heartedly hates humans (why would you invest your powers in people you hate?). From a X-Men fan's point of view it's just something Magneto wouldn't do... from a non-fan view point, it's just stupid. And the fact the the philosophies of both Xavier and Magneto wasn't heavily explored upon cause a lack of great dialogue. As great as it was to hear Wolverine call Cyclops a "D*ck," I would much more rather hear a vocal debate on the two view points, then leading to physical confrontations with emotional content. The fighting in X-Men was there for little reason but to have an action sequence. More human interactions would help exploring the different issues X-Men the movie should've addressed. Instead the movie focuses mostly on joining the team, introducing characters and powers. Although that's all good, it doesn't pay off in the end because of Magneto's stupid plan, and lack of purpose.
The X-Men, more than it is about really cool characters, is about prejudice and finding out what is right and wrong by stepping in other people's shoes. In the human shoes, we can easily relate because we don't understand mutants and are afraid that these mutants will be like Magneto and want us dead. As Magneto, we understand his anger because humans hate mutants, they want mutants dead so why not kill them first. In Xavier's shoes however, there's the hope that we can all live in peace. That yes, they might want us dead, but we shouldn't have to kill them first in order to stop them from wanting to kill us, we should invest our time in trying to get them to understand. And that's why the X-Men are the heroes. However, X-Men the movie is too much just about cool characters, when it needed to be more about great story telling.
Now that the characters are introduced, let's hope the sequel will reach the potential a X-Men story can become.
****** out of 10.