Review Date: July 15, 2000
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier)
Ian McKellen (Magneto)
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Anna Paquin (Rogue)
Famke Janssen (Jean Grey)
James Marsden (Cyclops)
Rating: PG-13

Have yourself interesting characters and you have yourself an interesting film. It almost always works no matter the type of film at hand. Bryan Singer's X-Men is no exception to this rule as at the end of the day it is the characters themselves that make X-Men work. The film, which is based on the long-running comic book of the same name, stars Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant with unmatched telepathic abilities and the leader of a small group of fellow mutants known as the X-Men. After some very impressive introductions to a few of the film's main characters two of Xavier's X-Men are sent out to find the mutants known as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Rogue (Anna Paquin) before they can be captured by Magneto (Ian McKellen), another fellow mutant who is no longer willing to take the treatment of humans towards mutants (think of the Red Scare in the 1950s).

Cyclops (James Marsden) and Storm (Halle Berry) are successful in their mission and in turn Wolverine and Rogue are brought back to Xaiver's school for gifted mutants. The two get introduced to the setting, and although they have their doubts about it (especially Wolverine), they both decide to give it a try with neither having any place else to turn. It is in the two new additions to the team that the film really shines. Both Jackman and Paquin give wonderful performances and really do steal the show, especially in their scenes together. They not only have the characters down pact to their comic book counterparts, but more importantly bring a level of humanness to the film when together, a trait which just hasn't been seen in recent comic book adaptations nor for that matter most action films as of late. They may be super-heroes but at the same time are still human enough that we can sympathize with the feelings of both. It is this that really sets apart X-Men from past comic book adaptations such as Superman, Batman and to some extent even Blade and Spawn. Whereas those super-heroes were put on platforms above society by the society they protected, the X-Men aren't appreciated for their services as most of the society protected by them are unaware of their existence, and the few who do know of it, only hate them out of fear. They may have superhuman strengths, but because their society doesn't see them as heroes, we are better able to identify with them as humans. This can even be said about the film's main villain (thanks in some part to the film's opening scene), Magneto, as in addition to understanding the reasons for his cause, we are also challenged as to whether or not we agree with those reasons.

The film isn't perfect as it does have a few subtle problems. The most obvious is the underdevelopment of the other three X-Men: Storm, Cyclops, and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). While we get a decent look into Jean Grey and Cyclops through their very different relationships with Wolverine, the film fails to play on the relationship between the two despite their being romantically evolved. Storm is almost a non-factor in the film in terms of the plot, which was likely due to some last minute cutting of the film. Also coming into play in this area is the film's final showdown. It starts out impressively between the X-Men and Magneto's brotherhood of mutants, but fails to hit a high when it comes down to just the X-Men and Magneto. The score is also pretty weak when considering the classic themes that have accompanied both the Superman and Batman films and the techno score that accompanied Blade. But again, neither of these problems is earth shattering in light of the entire film.

Other than that the film accomplishes everything else that could be expected from it. Both the special effects and action sequences are impressive, but at the same time never take over the story as they are instead molded to fit into just what the story requires at a given time. Nothing more, nothing less. The same can also be said about the supporting villains, Sabertooth (Tyler Mane), Toad (Ray Park), and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos). Neither of the three are given the chance to take over the film, a la the Batman franchise, but all three move the plot along and are impressive to watch as well. Even the catch phrases and humor are kept to a minimal, and because of that they too carry a much more realistic feeling to them.

In the end X-Men is different because it is about the imagined set in the real world, rather than the imagined set in an imagined world. By approaching nearly everything outside of the characters in a realistic manner and by presenting the characters as more human than supernatural the film is both easy to believe in and even easier to identify with. While it doesn't make X-Men the best film of the summer, it does make it one of the better films of the summer, and more importantly, arguably the best film to have ever come out of the super-hero genre as it will please both fans and non-fans of the comic book. With the film also playing primarily as an introduction to the series things are bound to only get better. Now if only the Winter movie season of 2002 would arrive here a little sooner.

Rating: 3.5 Stars