The Weird Turn Pro

X-Men
Directed by Bryan Singer
Story by Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer
Screenplay by David Hayter

Brian Singer’s cinematic retelling of the Marvel Comics’ The Uncanny X-Men, retooled for modern sensibilities, is a refreshing departure from the often campy comic book movies before it.  Great casting, sound, visuals and decent writing add depth and realism to the revamping of this 40 year old tale of a world of humans, mutants, politics, and terrorism for the 21st century.  

Even though X-Men has a rich and vast history from its conception in the 60s, the introduction of a number of new plots and characters didn’t change the basic story and the theme has always remained the same.  Humanity undergoes the next stage of evolution from homo-sapian to homo-superior.  These evolved humans are referred to as mutants, and each one has different abilities beyond that of ordinary men and women.  Due to their differences and their potential danger (as they are often in command of potentially deadly forces), they are usually looked upon with fear and disgust. 

Magneto (Ian McKellen), a mutant and victim of Jewish persecution as a child during the Holocaust, grows up to see new persecution begin when anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison) introduces the Mutant Registration Act to Congress.  The chemistry between Magneto and his longtime friend-turned-adversary Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is dynamic from the start as the dichotomy of their opposing viewpoints on the future of human and mutant interaction pits them, and their respective followers, against each other. 

Xavier is the founder of  a school for “gifted” students where mutants learn to control their powers and wait in relative anonymity for the day that society becomes more accepting of their genetic differences.  Xavier aims to achieve a peaceful resolution between mutants and the rest of humanity.  Magneto, spurred by the fear of the Mutant Registration Act, decides that humans are a threat to mutantkind and decides to remove humankind by making the humans of the world into mutants starting with an international group of delegates and the city of New York.

Casting for these two roles could not have been better.  Patrick Stewart commands his scenes despite the limitation of being confined to a wheelchair.  He gives Xavier dignity that exists well in the comics, but could easily have been lost on screen.  Ian McKellen brings a level of sophistication and depth to Magneto.  He portrays Magneto as a reluctant villain who wishes to remake the world to prevent the tragedy of his past from repeating itself.

Rogue (Anna Paquin), a mutant teenage runaway (after a mishap leaves her first boyfriend in a coma), finds an ally and father figure in Wolverine (Hugh Jackman; though I always had my heart set on Glen Danzig for the role).  Wolverine is a cigar smoking loner with claws and a metal skeleton who has no memories of his life prior to the last 15 years.  The two quickly become embroiled in the larger conflict as Magneto’s Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) and Toad (Ray Park) attack them only to fail with the help of Xavier’s team of X-Men: Cyclops (James Marsden) and Storm (Halle Berry).

This initial fight scene in the movie sets the tone for all of the fight scenes to follow.  The special effects are prominent to showcase each person’s abilities but is done well and tastefully.  The dialog during these scenes is generally sparse and well placed—lacking the normal comic banter that does not translate well on the big screen, with one exception to be explained later.  The soundtrack is orchestral and compliments the scene instead of the usual modern rock-rap soundtrack sadly prevalent in most action sequences in modern film.

Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Magneto’s second-in-command in The Brotherhood, is a shape shifter.  She kidnaps Senator Kelly.  He is later used by Magneto to test a device designed to turn humans into mutants before his large scale attempt.  She also, in various guises, breaks into Xavier’s school, sabotages Cerebro, convinces Rogue to run away to later be captured.  Later, she has one of the better fight scenes with Wolverine.  Aesthetically, Romijin fits the role though she has few lines to say all that much of her acting. 

Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) is the telekinetic Dr. Jean Gray, a student of Charles Xavier.  The sometimes-less-than-subtle sexual tension between Wolverine and Jean Grey during their scenes together create a nice subtle love-triangle between the two and Cyclops that persists throughout the movie and is not only true to the comic but very believable between these actors.

For the most part everyone is well cast, even the smaller role of Bobby Drake (Shawn Ashmore), and it’s not at all surprising that nearly every major actor in the film would return for the sequels. 

There is just the right amount of character development and action to keep the pace constant and engaging.  The action is laden with special effects but not so much as to be campy.  Even the costume design is mature and represents a real seriousness that the overarching story demands.

Unfortunately, the movie is not perfect.  Hardcore X-Men fans might be disappointed with the Wolverine-centered story arc and marginalized rolls of Cyclops and Storm.  Halle Berry’s performance leaves much to be desired as well, though in fairness no one could deliver the lines, “Do you know what happens to a toad when its struck by lightning?  The same thing that happens to everything else,” and come out looking good, especially during an action sequence.  Overall though, these shortcomings can easily be glossed over by the films highlights and overall balanced approach to the X-Men canon.

Ultimately, this movie is a decent film adaptation of the Marvel comic book series.  It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely a step up from the growing number of lackluster comic based films out there.  With its ample amounts of good acting, action, character development and plot, it’s a good film.

Review by DJ Aengel