For a summer blockbuster, X-men is a nice little movie

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2000)

If I could describe 'X-men' in one word I would call it 'surprising'. Having gotten used to the overblown and bloated 'Batman' films, I was expecting another bombastic, pointless, neon filled, superhero movie replete with dumb illogical villains and heroes who are seemingly an afterthought in the plot.

Well what do you know?
For an expected 'summer blockbuster', X-men is a nice little movie. Fans of the X-men comic are treated to a remarkably faithful adaptation of the characters they know and love. The casual movie goer is treated to a summer movie that has an easy to understand and not needlessly convoluted plot, good but not over the top action, and no mindless smirking quipster villains to groan at.
The villain, Magneto, is very essential to the plot, but is not made the core of the film as the Joker was (successfully) in the original Batman movie and the likes of Catwoman, Riddler, and Mr. Freeze were in the subsequent (not so successful) sequels. Even better, the supporting villains are just that; supporting. It is obvious that Magneto is the main man and he does not compete for screen time with his henchmen. It is also an extra bonus, that Magneto is played as an intelligent villain with purpose and not just some loony guy in a colorful suit. The film is filled with special effects, but does not depend on them to carry the proceedings. The special effects are necessary to the plot and are never overused (they may even be underused, but read on).
The only complaint would be that the story really centers on two main characters (Wolverine and Rogue) and to a great degree the other characters (though perfectly cast) are defined but not truly developed. Also at an extremely manageable hour and a half running time, you leave the theater thinking the film could have benefited from another 10 to 15 minutes to come to a satisfactory conclusion (the ultimate final battle is a bit anti-climatic.) Somehow Xmen seems to conclude with a whimper and not a bang.
Still I'd rather leave a film being pleased but wanting more than feeling like I just threw my money down the drain. I hope all the stars are signed to a multiple movie deal, because I look forward to a sequel.

Kudos to Fox for putting a superhero movie together that does not play for laughs or cornball antics but instead attempts to find a way to take the essence of their subject (which makes them successful in their own genre) and communicate it on the big screen for the mainstream audience. I can only hope that this message resonates with the non-comic book based audience and X-men brings the super hero genre back from it's current doldrums. Who knows? If X-men is a hit, we just might get a Batman film with a decent plot that is ABOUT Batman someday soon.