X-Men (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (2000)

X-Men, the first REAL attempt at bringing a Marvel Comic to life on the silver screen, succeeds on several levels. First, it is well written, leaving just enough cheese and in-jokes for fans of the comics--but it doesn't ignore the newbie, either. Each important plot point is explained, and we are saved from watching the "origin" of every character.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellan as Magneto really steal the show. They've embodied their characters, and work well together. The message of discrimination is never played heavy-handed, but it comes across. All in all, a solid performance.

Michael Kamen's music is wonderful and fitting. Just the right amount of adrenaline and somberness. (I recommend you by the CD as well as the DVD!)

In short, X-Men is a rewarding superhero flick. People with children however, should be warned that there is an amount of violence, but it is not gory. All in all, and excellent movie.

Comic books are notoriously difficult to translate to feature-film format. Goodness knows, there have been missteps in the past. But director Brian Singer does about as good a job as can be reasonably expected. First off, we need to thank the makers of Mission Impossible 2 for running over-schedule, thus tying up actor Dougray Scott and consequently allowing actor Hugh Jackman to play Wolverine. Jackman is the standout in this movie. His wonderfully understated performance as the "reluctant hero" is arguably the centerpiece of this film.

What distinguishes this film from other lesser film adaptions is an intelligent script, or at least intelligent for the genre. Character development isn't sacrificed to make room for more standard mindless special effects and action setpieces, like in some movies ("Batman and Robin", anyone?).

The in-jokes are funny, and the characters' history and motivations are treated with a fan's level of respect.

If the filmmakers can retain those elements of character-driven story and a respect for the source material in future installments, then they may have a successful movie franchise on their hands

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The special effects are good, as is the underlying concept, the mutation that makes them superheroes also makes them outcasts. But the storyline is somewhat simple. What really holds this film together are four great performances.

Hugh Jackman is perfect as the powerful Wolverine, the loner who only joins the X-men so as to save his beloved Rogue. Oscar winner Anna Paquin is beautiful and heartbreaking as the tragic Rogue, denied the ability to ever touch anyone without killing them. Paquin and Jackman's scenes together are truly touching. And Patrick Stewart's verbal duels with Ian McKellen are masterful. This is actually a very intelligent film. Not great art, but definitely great fun.

The home release also includes deleted scenes that everyone agrees should never have been deleted in the first place. The scenes flesh out the characters and add much needed background info. You'll also want to see Hugh Jackman's screen test with Anna Paquin. Supposedly, his chemistry with Paquin is what convinced director Bryan Singer to cast him in the movie.

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First, I must say that it's kind of funny how many "reviews of the DVD" there are before it even came out. Still, like everyone else, I want to have my say about the movie, even before seeing the DVD.

I'm not a fan of the comics, in the sense of knowing them well and buying them. I might have bought a couple, and watched a few episodes of the animated series. What I saw I liked, but it was some time ago, and when I came to see this movie, I was missing a lot of stuff, even basic stuff, like what Rogue's power is. But I knew enough to know who most of the characters were.

The movie, IMO, was meant mainly as an exposition to next ones. It looked like this, although this feeling wasn't as strong as I got when I saw Spawn. There was still enough of a story and conclusion here.

I liked it that it's not a special effect movie. Yes, there are great special effects, but they are so well integrated, that they just look natural. The only time I felt an effect was a little forced was when Jean Gray shows her telekinesis power when she's working on wolverine. But generally the effects were so well done, that they did their job of fleshing an impossible world without drawing attention to themselves, and there was enough story to keep you engaged and not thinking of them (unlike, for example, Star Wars Episode 1).

What I really liked about this movie is that it's deep and interesting enough. It goes way beyond just action, or even character interaction (which is also done pretty well). The initial scene, with Magneto's parents being taken to be cremated by the Nazis was pretty strong, IMO (a friend I saw the movie with thought it was a bit too much to put a reference to the holocaust in a blockbuster movie, but I disagree). It puts in an interesting light the attempts to have mutations "licensed", and allows some understanding of Magneto.

The idea of the character of Rogue is great. A girl who can't touch anyone that's true agony. And then there's Wolverine with his lost memories. This really has the making of a great story, which is why, as the title says, it makes me interested in reading more about these characters.

The film also does well in capturing the sexy spirit of many current comics. Famke Janssen and Halle Berry are certainly very attractive women, as is Rebecca Romjin-Stamos. I guess that the men are not bad looking, either, but I'm not the best judge of that. I did feel that both Magneto and Storm were a little, well, smaller than I imagined them from my previous encounters with the X-Men series. But that wasn't a real problem for me.

That about sums it up. The main reason I don't give this movie 5 stars is because it was an introductory movie. If the second movie manages to keep to the standards set by this one, then it should be great.

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As most of the world knows by now, X-Men is the live-action version of the of the Marvel comic strip, directed by Bryan Singer (of the Usual Suspects fame). Set in the not too distant future the X-Men are humans who thanks to genetic mutation have inherited special powers. On the surface, having special powers sounds great (you might think) but in X-Men the mutant race is an oppressed and persecuted minority, due to the bigotry, ignorance and fear of much of the non-mutant population. Furthermore an ambitious and influential Senator (Bruce Davison) wants to introduce a registration policy for mutants in an attempt to further restrict their civil rights. In response to this the mutant community is split into two camps led by Professor X, aka Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto, aka Erik Mangus Lensherr (Sir Ian McKellen). Magneto believes in the supremacy of the mutant population, which he is willing to use force to prove, whilst Professor X merely wants, equality, integration and peace. With fundamentally opposing views the two camps are set on a collision course with the future of the human race at stake.

X-Men is an entertaining action movie and it has some great fight scenes but it is pitched at its intended mass audience and carefully falls short explicit violence making it pretty much suitable for all but young children. However, although the X Men movie comes from a comic book background and is definitely aimed at a mass audience it also has a message and is a lot more highbrow than most super hero adaptations. X-Men for example opens with a scene in a Nazi concentration camp with a young Magneto witnessing his mother being shepherded off to the gas chamber and from this it is pretty clear that Director Bryan Singer is deliberately making a point and drawing a comparison. It is also worth noting that at the time of the X Men's creation, back in 1963, among the major political figures in pre civil rights America were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and it is easy to draw comparisons with Professor X and Magneto. Comparisons can also be drawn between X-Men character Senator Robert Kelly and a certain Senator McCarthy. What is more, X-Men is particularly pertinent at a time when there is so much tabloid speculation and scare mongering with regard to genetic engineering.

With X-Men, Director Bryan Singer, a self-confessed fan, has stayed remarkably loyal to the comic books and has served up a commercial but extremely enjoyable film with impressive special effects, which has inevitably spawned a sequel and (in all likelihood) a franchise, which makes me for one very happy. Full of great characters and great performances from the likes of Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine), Anna Pacquin (as Rogue) and Famke Janssen (as Dr Jean Grey) and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (as Mystique). However, it is the excellent pairing of the Royal Shakespeare company's McKellen and Stewart opposite each other that really adds gravitas to the proceedings and my only real dissapointments were seeing the excellent and beautiful Halle Berry (as Storm) being under-used and the relatively short running length of 97 minutes.

X-Men 2 hits our screens later this year and I for one am really looking forward to it! Four stars ****

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