What´s so good about this film?

Rating: 6/10 (31 March 2001)

First I must say that I have never read an "X-Men" comic, so my critics refer only on the film...
At the beginning, the entrance sequence in the concentration camp, I though I was in "Schindler´s List", but not in a Sci-fi movie and I waited in vain for an explanation for that phenomenon. And there are some more problems that ran through the whole film: "X-Men" is no typical popcorn movie, because the suspense is too low, there is too less action and there were better special F/X in other films. It is also no final speech for more tolerance towards minorities, because this aspect stays surface, and although there is always the talk about war between humans and mutations the plot stays empty. And finally, this film takes itself much to serious: there are no jokes, no gags, no sense for dark humor as we have seen it in "Blade", for example. And then the so-called GREAT cast... Well, the actors do a solid job, but great..? Patrick Steward performing the leader of the bunch is nothing else but playing Captain Picard in a wheelchair. Ian McKellen is a great actor, that´s right. But if you wanna see great performances watch his other films! I don´t know why Halle Berry stays in the background with her role and otherwise why Wolverine´s part is so important, although Hugh Jackman is a much better actor then Russell Crowe! From the rest of the cast - Famke Jansen, James Mardsen, Anna Paquin... - you get the usual quality you would expect, but none of them has deserved an Oscar for their roles!
Now, there are also some good points about "X-Men": it´s very difficult to make good comic adaptations without compromising yourself to much and being ridiculous. Director Bryan Singer has definitely made one of the better comic adaptations, although this film is still too overrated in my opinion. (6/10)