THE SECOND BEST FILM EVER AND BETTER THAN "X2"!!!

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2003)

5/9/2003

PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM!!!

Still with me? Good.

I decided to review this film now, because, even though it's been three years since it was released, it seemed appropriate with the recent release of its current sequel now in theaters, "X2".
"X2" was big on effects, but its predecessor, the 2000 film "X-Men", is better because it was big on character development and an easier-to-follow plot. People will say "X2" is better: don't believe them. There's no forced humor, there's a better representation of its cast (not as cluttered as it was in "X2") and the music, done by Michael Kamen in this film, is better than the music John Ottman did for "X2".
Kamen's music in particular is under-appreciated. It has action and heroic tones, but also softer and emotional ones as well (just hear "Logan and Rogue", a.k.a. the song heard when Wolverine revives Rogue on the torch of the Statue of Liberty - it's arguably one of the best samples of musical score I have ever heard).
Anyway, the plot is simple enough. The team of X-Men (consisting of Patrick Stewart as the telepathic wheelchair-bound founder Professor Xavier; the under-used James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, the team's visor-clad field leader who fires heatless energy beams from his eyes; Famke Janssen as Cyclops' fiancee, the telepathic and telekinetic Dr. Jean Grey; and the under-used Halle Berry as the weather-controlling Ororo Munroe/Storm) come to the aid of two fellow mutants.
The two mutants the X-Men meet, mind you, are a 17-year-old runaway named Marie/Rogue (the under-used, but lovely and talented Anna Paquin), who drains the memories and powers of others by skin-to-skin contact, and the fast-healing but gruff Canadian named Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, who pulls off the lead role perfectly). The X-Men encounter the duo after a mutant named Victor Creed/Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) attacks them in Canada, so they bring Rogue and Logan to their mansion-sized school to keep them safe.
You see, Sabretooth works for the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Xavier's former friend and current enemy Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen, who is one of the best performers in this film). The blue-skinned, shape-shifting Raven Darkholme/Mystique (the VERY under-used Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, complete with only one line of dialogue in the whole film) and the green-skinned, slimy, long-tongued Toad (Ray Park, bouncing around with evil glee) round out the Brotherhood roster.
You see, Magneto has a machine he uses to mutate humans into mutants. To test it out, he mutates the mutant-hating Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), the man who wants to administrate the Mutant Registration Act that would identify mutants' names and powers to the public. But the machine also drains the powers and life-force from its occupant (re: Magneto), so the Brotherhood abduct Rogue and plan to use her to power the machine from the torch of the Statue of Liberty, thus mutating every human in New York into mutants. But when the X-Men learn the machine kills humans several hours after it mutates them (Kelly dies by dissolving into a watery glob), the X-Men must save Rogue and stop the Brotherhood.
Got all that? Good. Now comes the praise.
Stewart, Paquin, McKellen, Janssen, Marsden and especially Jackman are the reasons for watching this film for their performances alone, aside from their cool moments demonstrating their mutant powers. The film also incorporates the famed rivalry of Cyclops and Wolverine over Jean Grey's affections from the comics perfectly, and the on-screen time between McKellen and Stewart is just wonderful. But the bond between Jackman's Wolverine and Paquin's Rogue is arguably the best part of the film, which is handled VERY nicely (something "X2", sadly, neglects to do). Their on-screen time makes the film work better, showing a perfect relationship between two very different individuals.
And keep your eyes out for a special cameo (no, not "X-Men" co-creator Stan Lee as a hot dog vendor, but good guess): look at the Statue of Liberty's head to see a certain blurred, but visible web-spinner swinging away while Wolverine is seen being blown up by Storm's hurricane to the Liberty Torch (I guess 20th Century Fox, not Columbia Pictures, actually had the first live-action, silver-screen appearance of Spider-Man in a movie). If you slow-motion it, you'll see it better.
But there are cons to "X-Men":
Some characters - like Storm, Cyclops and even Xavier - are underused. They don't even have back-stories (the only ones with any real back-stories are Rogue, a young Magneto at a Nazi concentration camp in the 1940s, and Logan getting the metal alloy called adamantium surgically bonded to his skeleton and the nine-inch-long claws that emerge from the knuckles of his hands).
The film never explains how Magneto knew of Rogue or of her powers, or even how he knew she and Logan were even in Canada. Then again, it doesn't explain how Sabretooth knew of Logan, either.
The film also isn't suitable for kids, because of the violence, language and sensuality. Just because the kids can see the cartoon series or comics, it doesn't mean the film version (or "X2") is appropriate for kids to see (it IS rated PG-13, after all).
And at 1 hour, 35 minutes (not including the nearly 10-minutes worth of end credits), the film is too short for such a cool action movie.
Regardless, "X-Men" is still the second best film I've ever seen, comic book based or otherwise (2002's "Spider-Man" is the current best film I've EVER seen -- EVER!!!).
Now go on and see this film. You'll be glad you did.

Excelsior!