X-Men
X-Men is a movie I got by accident, so I decided to watch it while
I had the chance, because I had heard some reasonable things about the
movie, at least relative to a "blockbuster sci-fi summer action movie"
- low competition, to be sure! It sure boasts some big name actors,
including Hugh Jackman, Patrick
Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Halle
Berry among others, as well as being directed by Bryan
Singer, of Usual Suspects fame. It is the story of two "mutants" who get
recruited into a special secret academy for mutants, as they battle an
evil group of mutants and the prejudices of the general society.
The movie starts with Rogue (
Anna
Paquin) rudely uncovering her power of absorbing other's powers as
a teenager, then becoming an outcast. She starts wandering, coming
across a bar where Logan (Wolverine, played by Jackman) battles others
in a caged bare-fisted brawl. They then get attacked by other
mutants, and are rescued by yet another group.
They find out their rescuers are led by Professor Xavier (Stewart),
who has a private academy for kids showing mutant powers. This shields
them from the outside society, who are agitating for a law requiring
registration, and in general show a great prejudice against all of
them. An ex-colleague of Xavier, Magneto (
Lord of the Ring's
McKellen), has formed a group of mutants anxious on taking over and
Xavier's group is opposing them.
Magneto, who's powers are the coolest - he is a human magnet, so you'd
be surprised the mischief he can get into - is going to sabatoge a
meeting of the world's leaders on Ellis Island by placing a device
that will turn them all into mutants into the torch of the Statue of
Liberty. The X-Men must stop that plan, especially as he has evil
plans for Rogue in the process. They do.
As a fairly short movie,
X-Men has an even harder time getting
past the exposition of mutants, future society and such and into the
story than most sci-fi movies have. It is a problem in general with
the genre, and the short running time doesn't help. I think a lot of
stuff must have ended up on the cutting room floor, because a several
plot twists simply aren't explained at all. And the denouement is
reached in a hurry, before we can even begin to associate ourselves
with the bickering X-Men.
The acting is reasonably strong, especially from Paquin and
Jackman. Barre is almost imperceptible as Storm. My favorite evil
mutant was Toad, played with delight by
Ray
Park. The sound on the DVD is excellent, as you might expect,
although the visuals weren't as crisp and special as you might think
from a new summer blockbuster. All in all, a light and forgettable
movie, without enough of a hook to make me put
X2
at the top of my "To Watch" list!
Buy X-Men at Barnes & Noble
Buy The X-Men Collection 4 Disc Set from DVDPlanetHalle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick
Stewart
Disc 1: X-Men 1.5 Full Length Movie Feature (Widescreen):
The atomic age has given birth to a new race of beings known as
"mutants". Blessed - or cursed - with awesome powers, they are the
most mysterious and misunderstood superheroes and villains of all
time, evoking fear and mistrust on a global scale. And now, two
warring factions of mutants - the good led by Charles Xavier, the evil
by Magneto - will face off in a showdown that will result in
humanity's salvatiion... or total annihilation!
Posted by jdarnold at March 20, 2004 09:00 AM
