good, but not great

Rating: 6/10 (18 August 2000)

After all the reviews and the hype I was expecting something fantastic from this movie. Unfortunately it seems to be let down in several major respects. I will confess now to knowing next to nothing about the X-men, so a lot of the things I would have liked purists will probably hate.
My biggest complaint is the way that the whole film seems to play like an introduction. All the time we are expecting something climatic to happen, and it never does. The film doesn't so much leave potential for a sequel, it leaves the plot completely unresolved. Also, the subtext is a little too sub for my liking.
When we do finally get to a fight scene it looks so completely unnatural that it just doesn't carry the drama that it should, The action seems so broken that it is almost feels like frames in a comic book. I would have said this was really clever, and a good thing (it is a comic adaptation, after all) if it weren't for the fact the it is so pronounced you are expecting 60's Batman style "POW"s to appear when someone throws a punch.
My other gripe is about the characters. Superheroes should radiate cool (see Burton's Batman, The Crow or The Matrix) but these just don't seem to. Possibly Wolverine was a bad choice for a lead, he seems that he should be a much darker character than he appears, and he talks to much. Rogue was a big wet, but hopefully this will change in the sequel when she has got over the shock of being a mutant. The only character who seems to have this innate coolness is Storm (probably something to do with those white eyes), but she is let down by Halle Berry's poor delivery of every line she speaks.
Overall, it's fun for ninety minutes, with good effects, good sets and at least a vague idea of saying something worthwhile. It's just not what I had hoped.