X-Citing Movie That Changed Cinema Forever

Rating: 7/10 (3 December 2008)

Thanks to the trend started by Marvel Comics' first movie, the comic book-movie genre has become the dominant force in the cinema. Marvel has planned four more movies leading to "The Avengers," "Spider-Man 4" has been announced and a new Daredevil movie is rumored to be in the works. Christopher Nolan rocked the summer with "The Dark Knight." All of these movies are possible because of the legitimacy "X-Men" brought to the genre.
Patrick Stewart's opening statement explains that new mutations are causing the evolutionary process to take a giant leap. Members of the new species, derisively called "mutants," possess supernatural powers that cause some "regular" humans to hate them. Congress, led by Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), is considering a law that would require every mutant to register with the government as do sex offenders.
A mutant named Magneto (Ian McKellen) survived Hitler's holocaust and worries that the Mutant Registration Act will begin a new one. Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) believes in taking every step needed to avoid violent conflict. Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Barry) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who is also a physician, stand with Xavier. Magneto's followers are Sabertooth (Tyler Mane); who seems to hate Wolverine; Mystique (the lovely Rebecca Romijn) and Toad (Ray Park, who also played Darth Maul). Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and runaway teenager Rogue (Anna Paquin) are the newcomers to Xavier's School for the Gifted.
Whereas movies such as "Spider-Man" and "Daredevil" contain two or fewer characters with supernatural powers, it can be easy for a script to grow excessive with the legion of characters in the "X-Men" universe. Writer David Hayter, best known as the voice of Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid video games, demonstrates good self-discipline. He and director Brian Singer limit the mutant count to ten. Although each possesses a unique look, "X-Men" does not differentiate the characters on that trait alone. Only two wield similar powers, and the script includes a conversation distinguishing the two. The introduction of these powers provides much of the entertainment early. I watched the television show as a child yet was not familiar with some characters' capabilities.
Some of the personalities are poorly realized, but Hayter and Singer compensate with small details such as Toad's quirky attitude and Mystique's sultry body language. Some have complained that Cyclops is boring. Judging by what I hear from the comic book enthusiasts, Marsden's character is translated on target. Cyclops' "Mr. Morality" personality is much like Superman's. Unlike in the two sequels which totally cheated him, Cyclops plays a pivotal role in the story. Magneto is the most effectively developed character. His horrific childhood motivates him. He does not desire power or wish to exterminate all of humanity. He takes drastic action only when he cannot see better options.
With the future of comic book movies in serious trouble after "Batman and Robin," 20th Century Fox allotted the production team only 75 million dollars. Some of the visual effects look shoddy and occasionally the timing is wrong such as during the incident where Wolverine is hurled backwards. That said, the fights utilize the mutants' abilities inventively and the choreography is above average. The only problem is the use of the hang-time error. The hang-time error occurs when a character flies threw the air, but does not fall closer to the ground. Thankfully, it appears only twice. The two outstanding scenes are Magneto's answer to a police siege and the Wolverine fights during the climax. The X-Men display good teamwork in their missions, especially at the end. Sadly, neither of the sequels comes close to matching it.
Acting-wise, Halle Barry drew disapproval from the X-Men nation. She is not great, but not bad either. Apparently I am not familiar enough with the drawn character to know what causes the uproar. McKellen, Stewart, Jackman and Paquin perform the best. Paquin has the most demanding role. Most people seemingly do not realize how tough it is to show the depth of emotion she does in the climax without being corny. Wolverine is an angry and independent person. At times it looks like Jackman is readying himself to bite somebody. Stewart inhabits Professor X as well as he does Captain Picard and no other actor has the combination of appearance and acting specialty to better Ian McKellen's Magneto.
Movies based on comic books had a bad name when "X-Men" was released in 2000. Batman and Superman were the two franchises to come before it. Both eventually jumped the shark and into unfunny wackiness. "X-Men" had to convince the public that comic book inspired films can still take their subject matter seriously. It did, and I assign the most credit to David Hayter. Although the series eventually jumped the shark itself, "X-Men" stabilized the comic book movie with its skillful construction and sober but not somber atmosphere.