Though perhaps dated by today's standards over 10 years later, Bryan Singer's "X-Men" adaptation is still a strong, entertaining and complex thrill ride.

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2013)

At this point in time (November, 2013 as I write this) the Comic Book and Superhero have become the world's modern Greek Mythology. And the Comic Book Movie Adaptation is common... in fact, it seems that now we get at least three high-profile films adapted from comics every year. And they are often films of spectacle, quality and excitement for audiences, as studios have finally begun to understand how just incredible, complex and important these superheroes and stories ares.
And there are two films that are often credited with getting the gears rolling on the Comic Book Movie... 1998's "Blade" and this film- 2000's "X-Men." Both took their source materials seriously and without irony, and both were box-office hits that were also warmly received by fans and critics. They paved the way for later classics like "Spider-Man 2", "The Dark Knight" and "The Avengers."
Bryan Singer directs this stirring, thrilling and often thought- provoking action film from a screenplay by David Hayter.
Set sometime in the near future, mutations have become something of a controversy in the human population- for whatever reason, many people exhibit strange, unique and often dangerous gifts that set them apart from others. We follow two such mutants- a teenaged girl who calls herself "Rogue" (Anna Paquin) and an amnesiac loner with a rough, violent side who goes by "Wolverine" (Hugh Jackman), whom are both rescued by a team of mutants calling themselves the "X-Men." Lead by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), the team aspire to be protectors for human and mutant alike, despite the prejudices they face from the non-mutants. They also fight against the "Brotherhood"- a dark group of mutants lead by the nefarious "Magneto" (Ian McKellen), whom sees war with the non-mutants as their only option left.
This film is very much a large, ensemble film. And this is one of the great successes, as the cast is uniformly magnificent. Jackman, who has sort of become the lead in the entire series, having been given the spotlight in almost every entry, is fantastic as Wolverine. He brings a toughness to the role, but also a curiosity as he is unsure of his past, and even touches of sadness and self-hatred, as well as a touch of humor. Patrick Stewart is phenomenal as Xavier, bringing about both touches of a loving, fatherly figure as well as a fearless leader. McKellen is both frightening and tragic as Magneto, our villain who has become lost due to hatred. And other performances by the likes of Paquin, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Bruce Davison and many others are all just a joy to watch. I just unfortunately don't have the space here to properly address everyone.
The production is fantastic. Singer's direction is top-notch, and he is able to balance not only a bit of an origin story for the series, but also the action, pathos, symbolism and themes such as oppression and prejudice. This is definitely helped by a wonderfully crafted script by David "Solid Snake" Hayter, which blends together many themes and story lines wonderfully without them stepping over each other or losing focus. Those very themes are a large part of what makes "X-Men" work so well- while many superhero and comic-book films have issues for their characters to overcome or be defined by, "X-Men" makes the issue larger on a societal level, and the mutant heroes often come across as sort of metaphors for oppressed groups like African Americans, Women, Homosexuals, etc. And it does a lot to aid the film's realism, impact and provocative storyline.
The set and costume design is also a lot of fun. And the musical score by Michael Kamen, while not particularly memorable, is still a wonderfully crafted piece of music that adds mood and atmosphere to the images.
Really, this is just a darned-good film, with a few problems here and there. For starters, although Singer's direction is almost perfect, some of his action-sequences do feel a bit flat. He didn't seem to have too much experience with action prior to this film, so it can be forgiven. My other issues is that the film is perhaps a bit too stylized and therefore in retrospect, a bit too dated for it to be taken quite as seriously as it should be. While it is a well-made film, some of it just oozes "late 90's, early 2000's" style and it does sort of hurt the film in retrospect.
But those complaints aside, this is still a good film, and is definitely well-worth seeing and investing some thought into. And the fact that this series is still on-going, with the seventh entry coming next year, it should definitely be a priority film to see if you already haven't.
I give "X-Men" a very good 8 out of 10.