When Hollywood decides "Hey, let's make a movie based on a comic book," everyone
And X-Men isn't any different.
This franchise is a much bigger, much more dangerous gamble than, say,
(this problem is called "over-saturation", something the past two Batman flicks
How do you handle such a large cast of characters? Simple: You focus the story
In case you didn't know, here's the detail you need:
Magneto and Xavier are old-school chums, both mutants. Xavier can read people's
Therefore, old friends are set against eachother.
The rest of the movie is pretty elementary. Logan is fighting for money in the cold
The cast carries this movie, though. It's headed by two fabulous actors. Patrick Stewart
But, in case you were wondering, Halle Berry plays the weather-controlling, less-lines-
Thankfully, the two heads of the opposing sides more than do justice to the roles. And
These are but small nitpickings, though. And while they may have gotten one or two
Go and see X-Men. It's a decent flick. And if you go in expecting a decent movie,
And who'd've thunk that they'd be able to make Logan's haircut seem physically feasible?
involved knows it's a gamble. They know the script may or may not be decent.
They know that the actors chosen may or may not fit the parts. They know the
costumes may or may not look completely idiotic. They know the fans may or may
not rejected. All in all, as I said before, it's a gamble.
Batman, and for a number of reasons. Batman has, all in all, four or five main
characters (Batman, Bruce Wayne [yes, they count as one each], Alfred, Jim Gordon),
plus one (two if you're feeling lucky) if you count the villain. In something
using the X-Men license, you've got many more than just this small amount. You
have Professor Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, with
the excessive plausibility of others being added (difference: these are all main
characters, while Jim Gordon and Alfred could be considered supporting players).
Add in the villains (Magneto, Toad, Mystique, Sabertooth), and you've got one
hell of a cast laid out for just one movie, and the first one at that.
fell victim to, though excessive cheesiness was another factor in their shitty
execution, but that's just me)
on one, maybe two, making all the others background. This story focuses around
Wolverine (aka: Logan) and Rogue, with a background relationship between Magneto
and Professor X. This works wonders. Wolverine is, by far, the most popular
X-Man, but the movie wouldn't be X-Men without at least a brief examination of
the relationship, the bitter-friendship, between Magneto and Xavier.
minds and even control them, whilst Magneto can control any and all metals (hence
his funky name). In the near-future, mutants are persecuted and feared by most
normal people. Xavier believes in working with humankind and solving problems through
peace and deliberation. Magneto, on the otherhand, believes that if they do not
fight back, they will be exterminated. He fears a Nazi-type regime will be handed
down to mutant-kind, therefore he intends to fight and strike before he gets bitten.
of Alberta when we meet him, and Rogue has just recently run away from home having
just recently discovered her powers. They meet, they connect, they're attacked, blah-
blah-blah. Stuff happens, the plot thickens, Magneto threatens mankind... you know,
the usual super-hero stuff. Not bad, but could be better. Nothing new there.
is the mentor Professor Xavier, while Sir Ian Mcklellan is the villainous Magneto.
Aussie actor Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine, and some others fill in the other roles, most
of them done quite well but more or less forgettable.
than-Darth-Maul Storm. Famke Janssen, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos, Anna Paquin, Bruce Davison,
and James Marsden round out the cast (so sorry i can't remember who played who; but that
really doesn't matter, trust me, most have about as many lines as Storm, except for
the gal who plays Rogue; if you can remember who played who, please e-mail me).
Jackman kicks ass as the animalistic Wolverine. I'm sorry, but if they had chosen
someone else for that role, this movie would not have worked. Logan is essentially the
main character in this movie, and his enlistment into the X-Men is what this movie
follows (though there is no training, thankfully). All the other characters, save for
Rogue and Magneto, seem relatively two-dimensional (though Stewart's Xavier rises above
this for the sole reason of the skill of the actor behind the character). And if there's
any complaint I could give, it's that Wolverine's aversion to Cyclops isn't really
given too well (they both like Jean; not enough for such an aversion to eachother; a
bit more character interaction would have done that relationship wonders), and Logan's
rivalry with Sabertooth is barely played up.
details wrong, they have time to do better, because there will definitely be sequels
to this movie. Overall, it was a surprise to see a super-hero movie of such actual
quality, especially after what Joel Schumacher did to the Batman franchise (the man
still needs to be shot for that crime). Most of the fight sequences are actually
impressive (Mystique can kick major ass in this movie, and Ray Park [aka: Darth Maul]
brings a certain kick-assness to Toad, who could have been a real shit character,
had the writers not been careful), and the story, while elementary, is still quite
good, and if not good it's better than some of the other super-hero schlock that's
out there.
then you'll enjoy it. I went in expecting pure shit, and I thought it was an actual
good piece of work.