Rating: Summary: Jackman steals the show in this excellent adaptation Review: I should start by saying that I am not a reader or collector of the comic, but that may change after seeing this film for the first time. I was vaguely familiar with some of the characters, but knew nothing of their origins in the comics. And so, this review is not skewed by certain expectations a fan of the comic would have.Based on the trailers, I was sure I wasn't going to enjoy this film. Even after all of the excellent reviews, I wasn't interested enough to pay to see it in the theaters. I just rented it tonight for the first time and was quite impressed with most of the performances. Patrick Stewart was made to play the role of Xavier, a mutant with the abilities to control others minds who has opened up a secret school for young mutants. He commands, or better yet leads his students with compassion. His heart is obviously in the right place and he's willing to do anything to keep himself and his fellow mutants safe from persecution by us ordinary people that fear them. Patrick's performance was flawless. Hugh Jackman truly did steal the show as Wolverine. He's a deeply complex individual, a man's man you might say. He comes across as a bigger and scarier Gary Sinise. Like Sinise, Jackman is able to take an imperfect character and make you sympathize with him. Ian Mckellen turns in a solid performance as Xavier's former ally and fellow mutant "Magneto". Mckellen is very subtle in his approach, and thus comes across as being very real in this "unreal" role. His character could and probably should have been developed a bit more, but given the time restrictions and the overall story I can forgive that a bit. Paquin was excellent in her portrayal of Rogue. Her innocence shines simply through her eyes. Jansen was also excellent in her portrayal of "Jean Grey". The special effects generally added to the quality of the film. Some of the fight sequences weren't extremely fluid and Parks was most definitely underused in his role as "toad". The story was quite solid and moved at a good pace. The dialogue was much better than I was used to with most comic book adaptations. I was also glad to see that they chose to stray from the comics in terms of wardrobe. The extras on this DVD were pretty slim, but I'm always happy to see extra footage. A behind the scenes movie and a audio commentary track would have been a nice addition. If you've read this far, thank you very much.
Rating: Summary: Fan of Comic, Fan of Movie Review: As I have not yet purchased the DVD, I speak strictly from the fact that I have seen the movie in the theatre. I took a friend with me who knows most everything about x-men and the characters extensively, as we sat and watched the movie, he called out one by one each person before their name was announced. The portrayal of who each person is supposed to be is awesome and crystal clear. The story line fits almost perfectly to the story line of the X-men, and keeps you watching the entire time. I also took my girlfriend who had no clue who the "X-Men" were. As we drove home, she mentioned how much she enjoyed the movie and would tell everyone they should see it. This movie is for both people who know who the X-Men are and want to see an awesome portrayal of the once only cartoon characters, and for the people who they watch it with and have no clue what they are getting into. I give this movie 12/10 The DVD, if not a present for Christmas, will be bought definately by me!! -GigaB-
Rating: Summary: Great movie Review: This is the kind of movie you can see more than one time. The movie has great actor and great special effect. I can't wait for see the second part. If you want to see a really good movie this is perfect one.
Rating: Summary: Easily the dumbest movie of 2000! Review: My kids dragged me to this travesty. The funny thing is, I used to like X-Men comics when I was a kid myself and halfway expected a good yarn. And I do enjoy sci fi movies like the Matrix, Terminator, 12 Monkeys, etc. But oh, my! What a mistake going to this turkey! There is absolutely no story to this at all, the characters are ridiculous, the acting (what acting?) is preposterous. This was the closest thing to sheer torture since they dragged me to the Pokemon movie. But don't take my word for it: even my kids had to admit it was terrible.
Rating: Summary: Good, not great Review: I seen this movie at the theater and it was a pretty decent movie I must say. The movie's plot is generally about mutants and how they are persecuted and how they need to be excepted in modern society. I see this movie's plot reflective of many groups in America today which made me appeal to this movie. The actors were pretty convincing and they were well developed which was real refreshing to me. It had some humorus moments and the special effects were quite good. The problems I had with this movie was that the movies problem with Magneto wasn't introduced untill near the end of the movie. It didn't have time to build up to an exciting climax as a movie that would concentrate on it's plot from the beginning. Get my point? And even then that problem didn't make you feel enough for it to really get your adrenaline rushing. In conclusion, any X men fan would love this movie while non X men fans will think it's merely good. Got something to say about something I typed? E-mail me at: omicron_30@yahoo.com
Rating: Summary: Loses its momentum during the last half Review: When watching a movie like this, I am compelled to look at it as a movie on its own and by comparison to other 'superhero' movies. It has some very good scenes, decent acting and nice special effects. I liked Wolverine best of all and Patrick Stewart is, as always, excellent. The first part sets up what should be a very powerful and exciting finale, but it never comes. The Statue of Liberty scene proved to be the summation of this film, which is unfortunate. It doesnt deliver the goods. In a movie like Superman, the first one, the finale involved one great action scene after another, which tremendous visuals that mostly stand up to this day. The last 40 minutes of that movie are pure non-stop, which is what X-Men needed. We had all these off the wall mutants and we were headed for a showdown, but all we got was a boring fight. And yes, the fighting in this movie was not that great. Watch Batman and see how a good hand to hand fighting is done. Actually, I give this movie 3 and a half stars. For sure, its a wildly overrated movie. A good rental, though.
Rating: Summary: X-Menalized Review: Children are being born with a special X-factor in their genes, allowing them to preform extrodinary feats. Dr. Xavier trains the children to use their powers for the forces of good and dubs them the X-Men.
Rating: Summary: Extra DVD features are pale in comparison to the Matrix Review: Although the movie was good, it's clearly evident that this was a hastily put together DVD. The DVD features are pathetic and pale in comparison to what was done on the Matrix. It's a pity they didn't spend more time adding interactive content to take advantage of the DVD format, instead they relied on clips from the Charlie Rose show and artistic drawings. I also disliked the way they selected to show the extra 10 minutes of footage they spliced out. The DVD would display the original uncut scene and then it would display the cut scene directly afterwards. Wait for the enhanced version (if one ever does come out).
Rating: Summary: Comics come alive Review: If you love the comics you will enjoy this live action not over done or cheesed great acting and great special effects
Rating: Summary: Enjoyable and fun Review: When I went to see "X-Men" in theaters I was a little nervous because it had a lot of potential to make for a really awful movie. But I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that this movie is very good. I would recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction or action movies. And people who have no prior exposure to X-Men should give it a chance - my sisters didn't even want to see it and they liked it just as much as I did. There are some changes from the comic book and cartoon series that serious fans may object to, but I thought that in the end they worked out for the better. The casting was perfect, even though Halle Berry's performance was a bit off the mark. Character development is a bit of an issue for the lesser parts, but each character was interesting enough to keep your attention and make you look forward to seeing them again in the sequel (especially Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' surprisingly good turn as the wonderfully wicked, though a bit underused, Mystique). Hugh Jackman was a wonderful find as Wolverine - he has wonderful chemistry with the other actors and makes the difficult range of Wolverine's emotions believable. I can't wait for the sequel!
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