Most of the longtime fans of the X-Men comics were so excited to hear there was going to be an X-Men film that they wetted their pants, then turned and wetted the pants those nearby. These “drive-by wettings” as they officials started calling them, were indeed considered assault and numerous self proclaimed geeks, nerds and dorks actually served some jail time and long hours of community service. The film has earned well over $250 million worldwide while having a budget of only about $60-$70 million. This, of course, prompted executives at Twentieth Century Fox which released the film, to also begin wetting their pants and the pants of others. Of course, there will be sequels–many sequels.
The story itself centers around, not surprisingly, the X-Men, a group of do-gooder mutants out to stop injustice and preserve mutant kind. Most of the activities of the X-Men centers around the group’s founder Charles Xavier who is a powerful telepath. He has formed a school, named the Xavier Institute, no ego there, for wayward mutant teens that need to learn to control their powers. Interestingly none of this youngsters have any drug problems, no teen pregnancies or alcoholics, just the ability to shoot lightning and the such. Who has time to try “X” if you are already in the X-Men. You would think there would be at least one guy saying, “dude I am so screwed up on X right now and I am in the X-Men, that is so screwed up, watch what I do to this beer bottle,” Doesn’t happen, go figure.
Charles Xavier, played with his usual flare by Patrick Stewart, believes that the mutants can live in peace with mere mortals, however, his long time friend and likely former boyfriend Magneto, who yes has magnetic power over metal and so forth, believes this is highly unlikely and is not too found of non-mutants. Now, we can sort of give old Magneto, played brilliantly by Ian McKellen, a pass on this one due to some rather unpleasant events centering on a Nazi concentration camp. Add to this mix a federal government highly concerned about keeping the general public safe from mutants and you have the making of a ultra bizarre love (well I guess hate) triangle.
Director Bryan Singer does a marvelous job with the film. X-Men has a great look, captivating visual effects and action sequences, strong lead performances by Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Jack Hughman as Wolverine and decent amount of overall character development, all of which combine elegantly to make X-Men a winner. X-Men is a lot of fun, especially if you just sit back and say, “hey this is a superhero flick, I know that guy Wolverine has metal blades that pop out of his forearms, but it’s a superhero flick.” That said there is a problem, the message is a good one–a great one, don’t be a racist jerk, but its so heavy handed at times that it becomes laughable. I will not ruin it, but lets just say keep your eye out for the Statue of Liberty. Yes, I am serious. Aren’t you sick of how often the Statue of Liberty is used as a prop in films? The French have to be so pissed that they don’t get a piece of that action. Truthfully, all studio executives should be leary of any, ANY writer that comes at them with a Statue of Liberty scene. But, ignore its flaws and you can find many. Ignore its logic errors, and just have a good time.
Story B
Acting B+
Visuals A-
Originality/Innovation B
Enjoyability Grade A-
Overall Grade A-
