An X-cellent Transition From Comic Books To Silver Screen

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2014)

A promising start of the X-Men universe on the silver screen, X-Men is a fascinating work of science-fiction & a terrific addition to the superhero genre film. This is the first time I've watched this film & now I'm wondering what the hell actually stopped me from checking this out in the first place. The only other X-Men film I've seen is X-Men: First Class & if it wasn't for its upcoming sequel which brings back the cast from the original trilogy, I wouldn't have bothered to give this one a chance & would've again missed what actually is a pretty good film.
Set in a not so distant future in which few people around the world are mutants; possessing superhuman powers that has also resulted in them being outcasted by the society, it tells the story of two mutants named Wolverine & Rogue who find themselves in between the ongoing battle between two mutant groups; X-Men is led by Professor Charles Xavier; who believes that mutants & humans can co-exist, while the Brotherhood of Mutants is led by Magneto; who believes that humans will never accept the mutants & will always fear them.
The direction by Bryan Singer provides this franchise the kickstart it needed & Singer makes sure that the story is easily absorbed by even those who were never aware of Marvel's X-Men comic books. The writing also is nicely carried out with fine introduction of its mutant characters & is detailed with enough information for the first chapter. The film features a strong cast in Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry etc but it's Jackman who impresses the most as Wolverine, followed by composed performances from Wilson & McKellen.
The story is nothing great as per se but it does provide the start it needed, the action sequences are nicely carried out although there are few VFX moments that look dated & unintentionally funny now, most of the characters present in the film are intriguing, especially Mystique about whom I would love to find out more. The music however is a let down & the overall production design manages to work just fine. On an overall scale, getting more rights than wrongs, X-Men is an admirable, satisfying & amazingly balanced work that'll manage to grip its audience from start to finish.