An adult approach...

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2014)

Bryan Singer's straightforward, adult approach to X-MEN is to be commended: like Tim Burton's treatment of BATMAN, Singer's approach to the subject of super heroes is as dramatic as it is super-heroic- the perfect blend. (Both BATMAN and X-MEN have humorous moments, but the humor is not out of context- and it's certainly not the kind of goofiness that we find in, say, the BATMAN TV series of the 1960s and all too many of the subsequent attempts to bring superheroes to The Big Screen.) Both Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen lend the proceedings a gravitas lesser lights could NOT have. In fact, the cast from top to bottom is solid. The black leather look that has been de rigeur since Burton's BATMAN is on display here, as well- and it works, in this world of mutants with extraordinary powers (like many of the characters on THE X-FILES, the characters in X-MEN are all treated realistically- despite some truly Comic Bookish SUPER super powers). The cgi are beautifully integrated, as well. (Note: the cgi actually looked better on The Big Screen than they do on television...) In an age when Genocide has become the Norm (the death toll in Gaza has today passed 1100), it's genuinely sad to see Magneto staring up at the Statue of Liberty and musing, "America was going to be the land of tolerance..."