X-Men (2000)

Nowadays, we are rather spoilt for choice when it comes to superhero/comic book films. This was not always the case.

It's not that Hollywood never tried before, but there is a time and a place for everything and up until 2000, it didn't fly all that well with audiences and critics alike. Sure, there was the odd success, but big comic book films? That took a little longer.

Enter 'X-Men'.

Many studios considered comic book adaptations to be box office poison, only fit for the fanboys and -girls, but nothing really serious. That is why this film didn't receive a humongous budget like the large scale Marvel adaptations we have grown accustomed to. And yet they managed it, the bloody cheeck. They managed to bring to life a close, real-life version of the X-Men. Not an easy feat, by any means.

Director Bryan Singer managed to trim away the fat and focus on only a few of the very expanded cast you could have whilst making an X-Men-film. I mean, it is entirely possible even the creators have lost count how many mutants they have created over the years. So who do you pick? Well, how about the best known, for starters. So you get a core group of Wolverine, professor Xavier, Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey opposite more sinister mutants like Magneto, Mystique, Toad and Sabretooth.

Yes, it is the start of the enmity between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Classic line-up? More or less. Any good? Absolutely.

The story is also lean, but makes for a good thread throughout, seeing as there are already quite a lot of characters to be introduced. That makes it all easy to digest and the action set pieces speak for themselves. Even the characterizations are rather on the nose, which is fun.

Possibly the one thing that makes this film stand out, is the excellent casting. I would be hard pressed to find a more iconic casting choice than here. Patrick Stewart as professor Xavier? Ian McKellen as Magneto? Hugh Jackman as Wolverine? Come on, that is primo casting right here. And this is undoubtedly also what makes this film work: the actors and actresses chosen all throw themselves and are fully immersed in their roles. I'm especially fond of McKellen, who plays Magneto as he comes across in the comics: a man who has experienced much in his lifetime and who is only evil in that the end justifies the means. He is never a caricature of 'evil' and that makes it all the better.

Does this film have a few downsides? Yes. Anna Paquin as Rogue maybe wasn't the most inspired choice, because she mostly feels like a whiny little brat, but you need an angsty teenager for a large part of the audience to connect. And she's not even in the film that often, to be honest. Also, the actor portraying Sabretooth was given the complete look of the comic book, but they forgot that comic book Sabretooth is a well written character whereas here, he's just there. Nothing more than a silly henchman. Pity.

Nevertheless, 'X-Men' is a truly enjoyable film. It is not the best in the series (nor the worst), but for an introduction and relatively cheap beginning to a much larger franchise, you can't really go wrong with this one.