Falls short of X-Ellent.

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2001)

The movie here is very refined, there is less action than I hoped and less complications, it's just like a feature length translation of a cartoon episode but in the compilation only.
Hugh Jackman in the lead role is a standout but more credit should be given to the two veterans Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. After the dodgey turn of the Obi Wan role in spawn and the rather lacking performance of Kris Kristopherson in Blade it is great to see two such respectable actors as McKellan and Stewart commiting so much quality and belivability to something this trivial.
The story is extremely concise but all round the performances make this more a character based work. It was great to see Park staying present in his off the wall job as toad (did you notice the pole move he did at the top of the elevator shaft, an evident reference to his previous and most famous film role as Darth Maul, he has 3 hits to his name now, though his casting as the headless horsemen can almost be taken as an insult. He does not get half the credit he deserves for his talent of mixing action and character.
I wanted more Wolverine action, easily the best character of the series, I suppose the lack of fight scenes in general though made this more a kids experience and gave more light to the characters. I look forward to sequel, I suspect they did with this what was done with the Toy Story pair, have just enough of a good thing in the original to make the sequel twice as entertaining, I suspect they will toss in all the action scenes and enjoy greater success with Part II. The latest craze seems to be beating originals, M:I 2, Toy Story 2, Star Wars I, Hannibal and The Mummy Returns has already topped it's originals domestic tally and is showing strength overseas.
X-Men deserves a 7.5/10