Fan Or Not, 'X-Men' Has Good Story
Action Drags At Parts For Explanations
Director Bryan Singer took on the heady task of bringing the well-respected comic book characters the X-Men to the big screen with much criticism from fans.
But the action-movie novice has proven himself with "X-Men" by resisting the urge to treat the live-action characters like cartoons, and bringing to life a story that will be entertaining for X-Men experts and non-fans alike.
While the main characters in "X-Men" are two dueling bands of mutant humans with various supernatural powers, the main themes are very basic to the human existence -- intolerance of others and coming to grips with your own abilities and differences.
From an opening scene set in a 1944 concentration camp to the final battle atop the Statue of Liberty, Singer and a team of scriptwriters -- Christopher McQuarrie, Ed Solomon, Laeta Kalogridis, Blanche McDermaid, Josh Whedon and David Hayt -- make sure to give more prominence to the characters than to the fight scenes. This actually hinders the movie at spots when the action has to stop to make way for long expositions of the characters' special powers and their histories.
Shakespearean-trained actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen go head-to-head as Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. Xavier heads a school for gifted (mutant) children and leads the adult X-Men on various quests to protect mutants from persecution. Magneto is Xavier's colleague-turned-nemesis who is convinced that humans and mutants can never live in harmony and is ready to start a war for dominance.
Bruce Davison plays Senator Kelly, a politician bent on passing legislation that would segregate mutants from other humans.
Joining Stewart is Halle Berry as the weather-controlling Storm, Famke Janssen as the telekinetic Dr. Jean Gray and James Marsden as the laser-eyed Cyclops.
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TRIVIA
The story begins when the X-Men save metal-clawed Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and young, energy-draining Rogue (Anna Paquin) from an attack by Magneto's band of evil mutants. The two reluctantly join the good guys, and an action-packed tale ensues.
As a mild fan of the TV cartoon and Marvel comic book X-Men stories, I thought that this movie served as a good introduction to the big screen. The script is peppered with humorous banter and dialogue that is not as trite as that in many action movies.
The ending of the movie, of course, leaves the door wide open for a sequel. But even without a second movie or years of comics to back it up, "X-Men" can stand alone as a solid summer movie.
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