Great movie, amazing casting

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2001)

Putting the world's favorite comic heros into a live action movie is a challenge indeed. X-Men is a favorite because of the difficult social themes of adolescence, tolerance, difference, achievement, bigotry. Top notch science fiction forms the background of the though-provoking comic series. X-Men the film succeeds in placing interesting characters in stunning settings while facing disturbing social problems. It also succeeds as a highly imaginative action flick.
This film includes a very strong performance by Hollywood newcomer Hugh Jackman, well supported by superstars like Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, and fellow rising star Anna Paquin who is perhaps best known for her childhood debut in Oscar-winner The Piano. X-Men's visual effects are stunning as expected. But the one thing that really surprises me is the near-prefect casting. Famke Janssen is beyond perfectly cast as Jean, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen seem born for the roles of Professor Xavier and Magneto, and the naturally radiant Halle Berry is wonderful as Storm. The scenes shared by Jean, Jackman as Wolverine, and James Marsden as Cyclops are very human, and the script and direction manage to inject a lot of clever and light-hearted humor into a relatively dark plot.