The movie lacks complexities needed to make story interesting

Rating: Null/10 (18 July 2000)

This is what I think. If you walked into that theater, not knowing anything about the X-men or good story telling, and only cared about seeing the action displayed when two super-powered beings butt heads, than I'm guessing you probably would have been impressed with this movie. I, on the other hand, was looking for a bit more. Watching the movie, I realized that each of the characters fell into only 1 of 2 categories. That was either good, or either bad. Watching a movie, I like to look for the complexities of characters, that can make them, either ESSENTIALLY good, or either ESSENTIALLY bad. This meaning, that the character's decision to be either good or bad, was not one made very light heartedly. Take for instance, Magneto. In the comic book, he isn't simply a super-powered villain who displays his superiority out of pure hatred towards mankind, like portrayed in the movie. He was more so like a very well educated man who knew the stakes, and simply did what he needed to do to survive. Another example, would be Wolverine. Now why wasn't Wolverine a complex character in the movie? One factor, which is understandable, is the fact that they wanted to leave his past shrouded in mystery. I can live with that. But what I can't understand is why they left out the other half of his personality. Before Wolverine had ever joined the X-men, he had gone through a lot of pretty horrible things. He was a veteran of "war" like situations and had many years of life experience to his name. Unlike, in the movie, Wolverine was NOT just a loose cannon. He had much more to offer than just a wise cracking, smart mouthed, hard balled character. I can go on about pretty much every one of the characters. Another thing I feel missing from the movie, was the personal conflicts between all the characters. Sure, I know. Cyclops and Wolverine went at it with some witty remarks. But thats not what I'm talking about. Anyways, in the movie, the reasons as to why they went at it was left vague. In the comics, it is easily recognizable. It was the fact that Cyclops was a "By the numbers" kind of guy, while Wolverine on the other hand, did what he felt was needed to get the job done, regardless of anything. Another tension builder between the two consisted with each other's relationships with Xavier. Both of them were somewhat considered to be sons to Xavier. Cyclops being the good child, and Wolverine being the problem child. Of course, the problem child receives more attention in an attempt to figure out the problem, leaving the OBEDIENT good child, becoming jealous of their relationship and building an undertone of hatred and animosity towards the problem child. This is where a lot of the conflict between Wolverine and Cyclops evolved from. Again, I can go on and on. But to make a long story short, I am merely trying to say this. The movie did not fail in its translation of a comic story to a movie story, as MOST of you probably think I'm getting at. I believe where it REALLY failed, was in its translation of the comic characters to the movie characters. Having the characters as CLEAR CUT as they were in the movie, makes it really hard to feel any form of remorse for Magneto, who if you don't remember has been through a lot of horrible events, which partially forms his attitude, decisions, and train of thought. Magneto is not simply another villain out to conquer mankind, but more so a "a part of a PERSECUTED race of beings just trying to live another day". In the movie, it is hard to feel that any of the characters have any real thoughts about what is happening and what has already happened, and thus it becomes hard to feel triumphant for the victors, and remorseful for the defeated. In truth, all the characters are just trying to accomplish one goal, survive. NO ONE is completely good, and NO ONE is completely evil. I don't want characters that come off as cliche and easily categorized. I want characters that people can't easily agree on and be able to get something from and question with themselves and others, their beliefs.
At last, in reply to myself, I fear a movie like this will never be made. And this is for one very evident reason. The X-Men I long for existed only in it's earlier generations where characters such as Magneto and Xavier were modeled after such political activists as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., and was written for a target audience of older men and older women. While the X-Men of today, not to say that it lacks the same intellectual stories as the previous X-Men, it is written for a new target audience of males ages 10-22. So hence, the movie, in order to appeal to the entire audience, felt they must sacrifice intelligence and complexity, to appeal to the younger fan base. But this is also incorrect. Given the right writers, and proper direction.... Even my X-Men movie could be made, and appeal to X-Men fans of any age, and even those, who have never heard of them before.