The Film That Got Me In The X-Men Mood

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2013)

I have to admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of X-Men growing up in the late 90s early 2000s. I fell more into the crowd of Spider-Man, Power Rangers and Harry Potter fanatics. But then I saw Bryan Singer's X-Men, the live action adaptation of the comic book of the same name. Immediately, I was hooked and since then, I have become a hardcore X-Men buff, watching all the cartoon series (with the exception of Wolverine and the X-Men) and even breezing through some of the comics.
X-Men takes place in a time of mutant discrimination and protesting. On the good side, there is Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men who believes that mutants and humans can live together in harmony. On the bad side, there is Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants who believes a war is coming between mankind and mutant kind. Charles and Magneto are very similar to real life civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen do a magnificent job portraying their respective characters. In my opinion, it's one of Stewart's best roles since Jean-Luc Picard and Ebenezer Scrooge.
In the heat of all this tension and travesty, Xavier's X-Men get themselves into quite a few confrontations with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Of course there are several members on both teams so everyone can have their favorite heroes and baddies. There's the optic blasting Cyclops, the weather witch Storm, the telepathic Jean Grey, the power absorbing Rogue, and of course, the adamantium claw clashing bub, Wolverine. On the enemy side, there is the hairy beast Sabretooth, the long tongued Toad, and the blue, shapeshifting Mystique. All these characters are just as classic in the movie as they are in the comics, although I believe that some of the characters should have had a little bit more character development and a tad more dimension. Some of the acting is wooden, yes, but that's not enough for me to totally despise the movie. It has a lot of things to love, and every time I watch, I find something I have never seen before in previous viewings.
I like to think of this movie as an end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s movie, setting the stage for more superhero flicks to follow. X-Men does indeed have some dated elements (like some of the special effects), but when you get right down to it, it's just a fun, entertaining, action packed, high flying thrill ride that has you captivated all the way to the end credits. This is the film that got me into the X-Men mood, and I was pumped up for more, and although the X-Men franchise has had it's share of scrutinized elements, it still has things I go absolutely wild over. Sure X2 and X-Men: First Class came along to take the place of my favorite X-flick, but I always look back at this film and say "X-Men, what an experience this movie is". And this would only be the beginning of a new age of superhero silver screen successes.
WE ARE THE FUTURE, CHARLES.