X-Men Review
by ram DOT samudrala AT stanford DOT eduJuly 20th, 2000
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http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/xmen.html
Marvel comics, especially Stan Lee-influenced creations, have been marked by a balance between snappy banter and seriousness (the best rationale for this is given in the /Spiderman/ comic books). The /X-Men/ movie achieves this balance, and that's what makes it one of the best live-action film adaptations of a comic book.
The script is short and to the point, set on the foundation of a conflict between Homo sapiens and Homo superior (people with genetic mutations that enhance their survival ability). The first part introduces us to the X Men and how they all band together. The second involves overthrowing a plan by a renegade mutant, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Ian McKellen), who plans to transform all the world's elite into mutants so they all will share a common bond and, consequently, a common fate.
In almost any comic book adaptation, the most important quality is the appropriateness of casting. Surprising, everyone cast in the film is excellent for the part they have been chosen. Among the heroes, these include Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Francis Xavier aka Professor X, Hugh Jackman as Logan aka Wolverine, Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe aka Storm, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, James Marsden as Scott Summers aka Cyclops, and Anna Paquin (playing a strikingly different role from the one she had in /Hurlyburly/) as Marie aka Rogue. Among the villains, we have the aforementioned Ian McKellen as the archvillain Magneto, Tyler Mane as Victor Creed aka Sabretooth, Ray Park, casting off his Darth Maul costume and acquiring a long tongue, as Mortimer Toynbee aka Toad, and the beautiful Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Raven Darkholme aka Mystique. All the female actors are really hot (and the boys aren't too bad either).
Like I said, a nice balance between humour and a solid story has been achieved here by director Bryan Singer. The movie contains some of the best one-liners (like "keep your eye open", said to Cyclops) seen on screen this summer but also has a plot that's tight and focused. The acting doesn't matter much, but Stewart and McKellen deliver excellent performances which adds a more sophisticated touch to a film that already looks cool, thanks to extremely intelligent special effects (a path forming as the X-Men walk; Wolverine's adamantum claws appearing and disappearing; Magneto's mutant power that will point guns back at the people trying to fire upon him). Perhaps reduced budgets lend to greater creativity!
The parallels between Professor X and Martin Luther King Jr., and Magneto and Malcolm X, have long been made. Likewise with the connection between racism and the discrimination the mutants have to endure. At its most abstract, the X-Men stories are an observation about human xenophobia, with some neat sci-fi ideas thrown in.
Unlike most other comic books, I've never been into X Men as team very much. (The Universe became too large for me; something the film neatly avoids.) I preferred one-off stories featuring characters like Wolverine and Cable. The cartoons appealed to me more, but I was apprehensive going into the film. My fears were unfounded: /X-Men/ is a must-see for any fan of the summer blockbuster; it's mixture of style and substance will satisfy both fan and non-fan of the comic book.
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