action sci-fi, with a twist of human interest

Rating: 8/10 (25 September 2004)

As an X-men-enthusiast from Holland, I find that people underestimate the message that something so clearly unrealistic can convey. Sure, the science of it all is nonsense, nothing about it is real. Except for the characters. A good writer can take an unrealistic story and turn it in to a reflection on the human condition, like Orwell and Huxley. X-men is essentially about racism, bitterness, the corrupting influence of power, and the fact that altruism isn't easy. People will not hesitate to judge you before they know you, despite your personal efforts. The first thing that I liked about the movie was that it succeeded in shedding the comic-book image. The characters were neither pretentious nor over-the-top, they gained a dimension. Ian Mckellen's role as the bitter, machiavellian mutant, is a brilliant creation. If you were oppressed, wouldn't you try to prevent it from happening again? Even if that means oppressing or killing someone else? I've never been in his shoes, but his "by any means necessary"-attitude is not helping mutantkind. Let alone the world. He is a man who believes in what he's doing, because he thinks that if he doesn't, the world will never be a safe place for mutants. He's not a villain out to conquer the world, he thinks he's saving his race. I like to think this is a subtle reference to the understandable, but utterly counterproductive feud between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. Perhaps a call to end all wars based on historical retaliation? Hugh Jackman is great as the lone man without a past, Wolverine (his snappy one-liners come across, even with the bad hair day!). I also liked the fact that Anna Paquin's Rogue is not the token Southern Belle with the Superman-act like in the comic, but a shy girl, as one would expect. Being handicapped myself, it's nice to see a guy in a wheelchair run the show. After seeing Kevin Spacey in the Usual Suspects, Bryan Singer is my hero, the patron-director of all those, who are physically impaired! Jean-Luc... eh, Patrick Stewart IS the Big Wise Guy. It's always interesting to see how the bad guys outsmart the greatest psychic in the world, too. Like all characters, "Wheels" is just a human being, in spite of his awe-inspiring feats of mind- control. Now for the embarrassing part. Storm is supposed to be a leader, a bad-ass chick who knife-fights, and rips out hearts if she has to. Sorry Halle, but the one-liners do NOT work for you. That is the only thing I wished they hadn't changed. The rest of the adaptation really added depth to the universe of X-men. All of the other Marvel-movies are eclipsed by this milestone in Superhero-cinema. And the sequel was even better!