X-Men (Marvel Comics Movie Review)

Plot
Two mutants come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

Jason's Thoughts
In the review I wrote for Blade, I stated that without that movie, other movies based on Marvel Comics may not have been made.  While that statement is true, it is X-Men that kickstarted a resurgence in the superhero action genre.

X-Men is an all around great movie.  The casting of Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier and, the then unknown, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is spot on.  The sound and special effects are also top notch, and it is shot in a style that hadn't been seen with a comic book movie in nearly a decade with Batman.  And, while there are a few liberties taken here and there, the movie doesn't stray too far from the original source material.

One aspect that sets X-Men apart from a typical comic book adaptation, though, is the story itself.  Instead of having a couple of costumed adversaries going at it and destroying everything in their paths, there is a deep story in this film.  On the surface, X-Men is about a band of mutants, however, it is about a band of mutants who are trying to stop another group of mutants from harming mankind.  The same mankind that has rejected them and wants the government to be able to keep tabs on them at all times.

It had to be hard to create a movie like X-Men due to the long running history of the series.  Unlike a movie based on a sole character, X-Men is based on a group of mutants which has featured dozens upon dozens of different characters.  Having too many characters at once would have dragged the movie down, and like reading the comic book at times, can lead to a bit of confusion as to what is going on.  Trust me, I have read X-Men comics in the past.

Instead, X-Men featured a small core of characters, many of which have been mainstays of the series.  A few other characters are also introduced or are in the background for those with keen eyes, such as Iceman and Pyro.  Unfortunately, the history of these characters and how the X-Men were formed, was either non-existent or briefly touched upon.  For fans of the series, this fact can be easily overlooked, but the movie seemed to have an incomplete feeling due to that.  As a matter of fact, even the villains are overlooked as I don't recall ever hearing Sabertooth's name mentioned once, and he was featured throughout the film.

Overall, that is the only drawback of the whole movie.  Of course, this is addressed in future movies in the X-Men series, so it is a slight drawback at that.  All in all, X-Men is an excellent movie and is a great start to the series.

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