Leaves room for a sequel

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2000)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
X-Men is ultimately the kind of movie pretty much designed for a follow up.If the inspiration at the end for one doesn't work,the amount of people filling the cinema on the opening weekend should ,of course,fuel the profits to make a sequel.Judging by how cramped a certain cinema reportedly was during one screening,profits must have been rolling in by the dozen.But,sadly in a way,X-Men ultimately emerges as the kind of film of which the advanced publicity must have made a lot of this cash,and,most of the reviews must have pretty much got washed under the carpet.
The film itself is certainly quite good.There's a lovely opening score at the beginning ,which manages to last throughout,and endears the film throughout,adding a delightfully campy '70's style tone to it.But it's slow to really build up to the main action.All the good guys and bad guys,including their leaders,are all quite interesting,but they are never really explored to their full potential.The superb Patrick Stewart is also rather terribly wasted as the head good guy.The ending,with all the flashy,vibrant ,FX showdowns ,is worth the wait,but the lack of investment into the characters does'nt make the outcomes awfully careworthy.However,Brian Singer's terminally dark direction does'nt go unnoticed,and adds a unique clarity to the picture.It's also a relatively short film,which is fast moving ,and will therefore stand more chance of appealing to the pre-teen age group it is targeted at.The ending holds a strange magnetism to it as well,and the compact cube prison thing is well made,as are the attachment's that go to it.
The film also has it's well timed humorous interludes,including Wolverine's bizarre initial dislikement of Cyclops,as well as it's rendering interludes,such as Rogue's destroyed life before becoming part of the X 'MEN' team.On the subject of this,the film dos'nt really do well for itself in having attractive babes like Famke Janssen and Halle Berry in roles,obviously designed to evoke the testosterone of men,not least because it puts the actual title of the film at odds with itself.
It's doubtful you'll be sorry for paying to see X-Men if your already into this kind of thing,but it may not quite unravel the way you'd been expecting it to.***