Rating: 
Summary: best comic book movie since batman
Review: Where do I begin praising this movie? First and foremost, X-Men is a comic book movie. As a comic book fan, all I'm looking for from this is a good story that is faithful to the series and the characters. While several things changed in the transition from comic page to big screen, all of the characters are very faithful to their roots (with the exception of Toad, who's a pretty lousy character in the comics anyway). The biggest complaint I heard from friends was that "they mixed up Rogue and Jubilee!" While this is partially true (Rogue is Jubilee's age and has Jubilee's relationship with Wolverine), it's not entirely true. Rogue is Rogue, not Jubilee. She's a young Rogue, but she is Rogue. That out of the way, all of the changes that were made were done to make a good movie. The demands of comic books and movies are two completely different things, and the folks who made this movie understood that. So they changed the things that had to be changed and left everything else alone. Aside from all that, it's a great movie in its own right as well. No knowledge of the characters or stories from the comic book series is needed to enjoy this movie, which is a terrific action film that, unlike many action films, also features a very talented cast of actors and an extremely skilled director.PS The extra features on the DVD are great, as well. It contains all of the standard features (trailers, director interview, subtitles, deleted scenes) but also has the "Mutant Watch" promotional show from Fox, as well as character designs for two characters not in the film (Beast and the Blob) and a hilarious scene of "Spider-Man" (Bryan Singer under the costume) surprising the X-Men just before the big climax. PPS For those of you who didn't catch it, X-Men creator Stan Lee has a cameo in this movie. He's the hot dog vendor behind Senator Kelly in the beach scene.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but wastes potential to be great.
Review: X-Men could've been the best film of the summer. It's still mostly good, but it has a bunch of flaws- little lapses in direction- that, combined, hurt the film. In other words, this film is pretty good, but by no means great. For a comic-book adaptation or any action film, the story is exceptionally smart and clever. There are a number of clever little details which combine to make a very convincing setting. For example, Xavier's school is just like a regular school, and its students have their own quirks (like when a boy uses teleportation in a basketball game and the other kids yell "Hey, no fair! We said no powers!"). The allusions to racial and ethnic tensions in our own world are apparent in the persecution of mutants, the McCarthyism of Sen. Kelly, and the opposing philosophies of Magneto (Malcolm X) and Prof. Xavier (MLK, Jr.). I like how the two were friends yet separated by principle. All the conversation scenes with them are clever and entertaining; we can tell that these two people have known each other for a long time and are aware of each other's nuances and behaviors. And, even though it consisted mostly of innuendo jokes, the love triangle between Logan, Cyclops, and Jean Grey provides nice tension among the X-Men. The characterizations are well-done. The opening scene, of a concentration camp, is in exact contrast to what one would expect from a comic-book action film, and the tone of it (hopeless, desperate, isolated, angry, dark) sets the stage for the themes about to be presented in the movie later on. It creates understanding for Magneto, and a human connection to the mutant. The superheroes in this film are not perfect and happy; the film not only shows us how they suffer and have their own inner conflicts, but also portrays the responsibilities and risks each of their superpowers entails. (Like when Rogue asks Logan, "Does it hurt when they come out?" and he answers, "Every time.") This is a serious, realistic superhero film. There's almost no parody or self-mockery of the characters that would be used to "lighten things up." That's very refreshing. But X-Men has its flaws, which end up showing why it can be called pretty good, but not great. First of all, the story. By itself, the story for X- Men is great, in theory at least. But in the context of the film, it's not. Its weakness comes from its application. It's simply given way too much time in the film. Because it's blown all out of proportion, it loses its effect by being stretched too far. It should've been secondary to the most important element: the action. If it were compressed more, the effect would've been magnified and it would've worked a lot better. X-Men's story is good, but not good enough to survive being given as much screen time as it was. It becomes tedious. It takes up so much, the action only has about 15 minutes to develop. This is a result of a script that still needed work, and some bad editing. Secondly, X-Men is a little weak in its visual aspect, and doesn't have a lot of imagination put into it. The sets, effects, and detail simply aren't well thought-out or original enough to be called great. If you want to see a truly visual film, watch Gladiator (definitely the best film of the summer), which has wonderful, diverse sets, with minute detail packed into every scene and setting. X-Men has nothing special like this. And the costumes (except Mystique's) look like they were bought at some cheap Halloween outfit store. Finally, the third weakness X-Men has is, unfortunately, the most important aspect: the action. Although director Bryan Singer did a good job overall with X-Men, his direction at times could be summed up in one word: lazy. He lets the story get expanded to insane lengths, and one can so obviously tell he's a novice at action. The action scenes are undeveloped (with only about 15 minutes net screen time, it's no wonder); the mutants' powers are never really taken advantage of (Toad, one of the best, appearing for a whopping 5 minutes, 2 1/2 minutes of which he spent fighting with his tongue, which is just stupid). The action has a poorly- made, hokey quality about it; besides the flaws I just mentioned, the wire work is awful: whenever someone is thrown or blown away by an impact of some sort, they fly across the room completely horizontally, as if they're on a trolley. And during the Wolverine vs. Mystique fight (the best part of the film), the martial arts are sluggish and the actors seem to be slowing down for each other's benefit, so that they'd get all the moves down. Whenever Mystique kicks or flips, it looked awkward and forced- again, the poor wire work. Not to mention that this looks like a ripoff of an action scene from The Matrix, only slower. You won't be sorry seeing X-Men, but it isn't anything special. Go see (or see again, or buy) Gladiator, the best film of the summer, or The Matrix, or The Phantom Menace, all excellent examples of how an action film should be done. This is still a good film. I am giving it three stars, after all. I applaud Singer for actually making a smart, clever comic-book adaptation. But if there will be a sequel, I hope another director is attached to it, one who can truly take advantage of the potential this material has.
Rating: 
Summary: X-ellent.
Review: When I first heard that the X-Men were about to hit the big screen, my first thought was that what we'd get was a cheap and fast "made-for-video" affair, where no-names with no brains would run around in latex and generally give Stan Lee's most inspired creation a bad name. How wrong was I! OK - so maybe this film doesn't carry the impact of "Superman", nor the stylish slick of "Batman"; however - this is a better film. It has brilliant actors, newcomer Hugh Jackman steals the entire film with his fantastic performance as Wolverine, and the casting of Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier and Ian McKellan as Magneto is nothing short of inspired. I could go on and on about this film - however, what really sells this is that Non-X-men-fans will dig it. My girlfriend, never having read a single X-Men comic, thought it was brilliant. You can't do better than that.
Rating:
Summary: XMEN: COULD THEY HAVE WASTED ANY MORE TIME?....
Review: I'll start by saying I did enjoy this movie, I just found that a lot more could have been done in the amount of time that the movie was. What did they really do? Introduced the characters (of course) , Magneto threatned to cause some damage, the XMEN stopped him. That was it. Nothing really happened. The special effects were good and the acting was fine. It seemed to me like more happened in the 1/2 hour cartoons than in this movie. I'm hoping for a bit more to happen in the next movie. This movie is fine for setting up the next movie, I guess they did that right.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Effects Bad Movie.
Review: Two things to point out: 1. The speacial effects were great. Must Have on DVD for your home theater. 2. The worst movie ever, from cheezy lines to a plot with more holes than swiss cheeze! Its a horrible thing to do to the once great and prosperous X-Men Cartoon show on TV. I rather be wacthing X-men Re-runs than this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Good Action Movie, with a few smart funny lines
Review: I never knew anything about the X-Men comic book series before buying this movie. I thought it would be bad but people recommended I buy this movie. I bought it and was I wrong! This movie is awesome. Even for a person who knows nothing about X-Men the story line and the conflict are easy to follow. The action in this is great. Buy this DVD it belongs in you collection!
Rating:
Summary: Good Start to a long string of movies
Review: This movie was the perfect begining to a number of movies. it started out by introducing us to the various X Men and how they became who they are. Good plot, great special effects and costumes and great choice in cast. Anna Paquin really has come a long way in her short career. She will be around for years to come. Hugh Jackman is also the perfect choice for the Wolverine character. Definitely see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: The actors carry this film, especially Jackman and Paquin.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Reason This Movie was so Good was...
Review: The actors. Each actor was prefectly cast for the roles that they played. Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, James Mardison as Cyclops, Hally Berry as Storm, Anna Paquin as Rogue, and Ian McKellan as Magneto. They all did good jobs with the characters they played. The X-Men made a great first Movie and now let;s see if they can follow it up with a good sequal. X-Men creator Stan Lee has a cameo apperance in one scene. Directed by Byran Singer. Screenplay by David Hayter. Music by Michael Kaiman. Visual Effects by Ditgital Domain.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular form with little substance
Review: Though highly imaginative with astounding visual effects, "X-Men" explodes onto celluloid much the same way as most of the other comic book films, with a weak and predictable plot and characters as two dimensional as their paper counterparts. This is not to say that it isn't entertaining because it is. It is very high on filmmaking "coolness" and the action is intense and impressive. However, it suffers from excessive form and very little substance. The science in this so-called science fiction story is laughable. If we are to accept the premise presented here, suddenly, over a period of about 50 years, man takes a quantum leap in evolution and dozens of people develop superhuman powers with none of powers duplicated in any two mutants. There is no explanation as to what triggered so many drastic mutations; it is just a sudden acceleration of evolution. Well, evolution doesn't work that way, not even close. Major evolutionary changes are generally separated by thousands or millions of years and it will usually be a single change in a species that elevates the whole species. So the concept is really more fantasy than science fiction. "Lighten up", you say. "Who cares if it is science fiction or fantasy anyway? It is just an awesome movie!" That's a good point. However, even fantasy films need a plot. "X-Men" trots out the same tired storyline; good superheroes battle to save the world from bad superheroes as mere mortals helplessly look on. There is nothing remotely novel or interesting about the story. The film tries to make itself socially relevant with platitudinous comparisons between social injustice in human history and the persecution of the poor superhuman mutants. However, the comparison is inapt since true persecution always flows from the strong to the weak and not vice-versa as depicted here. Feeling sorry for the mutants is like pitying wealthy corporate executives because everyone fears and despises them. They have the power. How much sympathy can we have for them? At the risk of inducing a lot of impassioned e-mail, I have to diverge from popular opinion about how great this film was. This film was all sizzle and no steak. There was only one character with a shred of substance and that was Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The rest were just cardboard cutouts. In 1995, at the age of 29, wunderkind director Bryan Singer directed a brilliant and exquisitely complex film called "The Usual Suspects". He then burst into flames with "Apt Pupil", a dreadful film about a boy who became enamored with an elderly Nazi war criminal who was trying to live out his life quietly in the U.S. After that disaster, he went underground until "X-Men". This film showed that Singer is a stickler for detail and he knows how to make a stupendously vacuous action flick, but it shows not a shred of nuance that would earn it the right to stand in the shadow of "Suspects". That film showed that he has a certain directorial genius, but we are not likely to see it emerge again if he keeps taking lucrative, but shallow projects like this. The acting; well, there wasn't much acting to be done. Anna Pacquin and Hugh Jackman had the only parts that weren't utterly superficial. Both of them did a good job, actually conjuring up some emotions other than resolute righteousness. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos looked about as sexy as a human being could when covered in reptilian body armor, and she said all six of her lines like a true professional. I'm being overly hard on the film. It wasn't bad. It was very enjoyable. It just didn't deserve the raves that were doted on it. I rated it a 7/10 on the strength of the visual effects and the action sequences. These areas were an easy 10/10. The screenplay was about a 3/10. It's definitely worth seeing, but leave your brain at the door.
|
