This film is a great start to the series. Where “Blade” and “Batman” had been very surreal, “X-Men” is serious and realistic. Its characters are serious; it deals with political scheming, prejudice, and being responsible with your powers. The politics really make the film more sophisticated, and it also contains espionage. The film centers on a three-way struggle between the humans who want to prosecute mutants, Magneto who wants to rule humans, and Xavier who wants to keep peace. The conflict is really thick, they want to turn the world leaders into mutants so mutants will be in charge, which is a clever reference to Constantine’s conversion to Catholicism ending Christian prosecutions and making Catholicism the preferred religion. But they have to use Rogue, a girl who ran away from home when it turned out touching people would kill them. Since she can absorb Magneto’s powers, Mystique disguises herself to act like Rogues friend, and convince her to leave. Wolverine tries to save her but Magneto uses the metal in Wolverine’s bones to overpower him, and threatens to kill many cops unless Xavier let`s him go. It all comes together in a finale where they defeat Magneto and his henchman at the Statue of Liberty, which is great symbolism.
The film really analyses freedom, individual human rights, friendship and purpose, but it also has a lot of great action scenes like Wolverine fighting Sabertooth and Mystique, but they all serve a purpose. The CGI still holds up very well. The film also has a great dark, brooding score, and the direction is dramatic and emotional.
Also the film has great characters played by great actors, who give the film deep emotion next to its smart intellectuality.
Wolverine is a wonderful protagonist. He has a back story that he was experimented on violently and brutally by the military which he served in, and from this got his adamantium skeleton, a very strong metal skeleton. He lost his memory, and as a result is violent, aggressive, angry, silent, depressed, and aimless, but also warm, caring, moral, and comforting, but also a bit stubborn and rude. When he meets Rogue, who needs help, he is cruel to her at first, telling her to get out of his truck, but he decides he can`t leave her. He gives her food and supports her, they bond a bit, and he tries to save her when they are attacked.
Rogue is immensely deep. She has the back story that she got a power that makes it impossible for her to touch people without hurting or killing them, causing her to feel lonely and weird. Hey does she know my number?
She travels across the world alone, aimless, shy, depressed, and desperate. She is unconfident, scared, sad, and outspoken, but warm, nice, and helpful. Wolverine supports her by giving her a ride, acting warm to her by giving her food, being nice to her, advising her, and she starts to feel relaxed and calmer. At the school, she feels a bit at home, thereby she feels happier, but she is still afraid of not being accepted. When Wolverine stabs her and she takes his powers to save herself, people get scared. Mystique manipulates her, she feels paranoid and worried, and Wolverine comforts her by telling her he will be there for and that these people care for her, and she feels happy. Magneto captures her and tries to kill her. She is scared, but Wolverine and the team risk their lives saving her, she finally feels at home and safe, although still being very missed when Wolverine leaves. Rogue is really engaging because she is very tragic.
The relationship between Wolverine and Rogue is really deep. Wolverine is confused, angry, and aimless, Rogue is lonely, depressed and aimless. He cares for her and supports her. They share their loneliness and grow to care for each other. When Rogue is endangered, Wolverine becomes her mentor figure. He saves her, and they become true friends for life.
Xavier is also wonderful. He is peaceful, calm, comforting, decisive, pragmatic, worried, helpful, a leader, brave, and often worried and friendly.
His relationship with Wolverine is also really deep. Wolverine is afraid and aimless. Xavier is friendly, caring, and comforting of him, and offers to help him get answers. Like Wolverine, he’s proactive, passionate and warm. He is also decisive, getting Wolverine to solve his problems with Cyclops and join the team.
Ice Man is done well. He is also friendly to Rogue and endeared by her, making her feel shy and awkward, but endearing her and making her happier.
Storm is also deep. She is a minor character, but she is shown to be brave, tough, warm, selective, decisive, and a bit angry. She feels angry towards regular humans for their intolerance, but she is also forgiving and nurturing. She supports Senator Kelly when he regrets discriminating humans when he is dying and she talks with him intimately, worried, helpful and as a team player. She is really interesting in that she isn`t completely enlightened, relaxed or tolerant. She has some anger, but still is moralistic fighting for the humans none the less. She’s principled, not giving into her anger, fighting for the humans. She somewhat resents protecting them and being brave and helpful, and can also be friendly, although she is a bit selective by being nice to other mutants. So she is a flawed hero, she acts wise, but does have negative feelings, and doesn`t act on, which makes her very moralistic and sympathetic, yet a bit dark and much multilayered.
Jean Grey is ok. She is warm, helpful, relaxed, and brave. Also she has telekinetic powers that have a lot of potential, but she can`t master it yet, making her really mysterious also.
The relationship between Wolverine and Jean Grey is odd because it is extremely underdeveloped; really feeling like it is there just because it was in the comics. Also, it is so flat. Wolverine just makes passionate jokes, there is no warmth or passion, and feels more like minor attraction, but he acts like he loves her (Luckily, this isn`t very important). Also, it makes Wolverine rather mean spirited, hitting on a woman who has a relationship with someone else. That is just really cruel to that person, making them have to chose, and hurting the life of the person you want her to leave you for. Since he is supposed to have a good heart, meaning he thinks of others feelings, grows to be friendly, and even bonds with them near the end, and becomes caring and selfless. Meaning, he wouldn`t hurt 2 nice people. It is terrible that at the end he still hits on her. That is just mean, it was a very bad character development, and was inconsistent with Wolverines character and arc.
Than Jean Grey and Cyclops have an off-screen relationship, which is cool, but just underdeveloped and unimportant.
Cyclops is just a leader, a bit whiney, brave and helpful.
He hates Wolverine just for flirting with his girlfriend, which is just really immature. He acts so light about it, while being so insistent. This being so important, it feels really immature and flat.
Senator Kelly is great. He is really loyal to his cause, scared but persistent, hateful and paranoid, but grows to venerable, warm, and bonds with the people he hated, and is forgiving. He hates mutants, but then he becomes one. He’s dying and is venerable and asks for their help. He sees that, as he himself is a mutant now, not all mutants are evil. He grows to see some of them are kind by helping him when he is venerable, and no longer hates them, forgives them by bonding with them, and regrets his mistakes.
Magneto is fantastic. He is arrogant, violent, manipulative, passionate, idealistic, and cruel by sacrificing innocent people to achieve his cause. Yet, he is compassionate by trying to avoid killing innocent people, like with Senator Kelly, by mutating him and trying to catch him. While trying not to shoot the cops, but abusive, by being willing to kill innocent people when it benefits his cause. He is very intellectual, talkative and stubborn by not listening when they tell him his plan kills people. He has the back story the he grew up in a Concentration Camp during The Holocaust and was separated from his parents. Later on, he thought humans would discriminate mutants like Jews and became vengeful and arrogant. He is great because he’s an intellectual and so ambiguous, making him mysterious and complex, similar to Count Dooku later on in The Star Wars Prequels.
His relationship with Magneto isn`t delved very deep into this film but it still deep, as Captain Logan mentions in the few scenes we have with them. We see Xavier really understands Magneto, but is hopeful for more in him and disappointed over their lost friendship. Magneto is tired out of Xavier’s bossiness. We see this by Xavier telling his points in just a few lines and acting really sentimental, saying he looks for hope, and Magneto giving quick dismissive responses. This relationship is really deep because it is so tragic and so understandable. It is understandable that Xavier wants to be optimistic and wants to find a peaceful way because he loves humanity. Of course he would want his friend to be able to help him, but Magneto opposes him because he simply sees no hope with the immensity of the intolerance. This is natural and it is logical that he has given up because creating tolerance is really difficult.
I thought Mystique was wonderful. She is angry, she is stealthy, manipulative, very sadistic by smiling at all her evil deeds, cold, violent, passionate, loyal, and also I think she doesn`t wear clothes because she has embraced her animalistic form. She likes how she has an animal like body and is proud of it. Therefore, she doesn`t wear any type of clothing, fitting her animalistic appearance.
Sabertooth is just angry and sadistic. It feels really obvious Bryan Singer didn`t feel any passion for this character.
Toad is just gross, violent, jokey, and…that is about it.
Hugh Jackman can really look angry, and talks raspy, but also sounds warm, holds someone comfortably, and move violently.
Patrick Stewart is wise comforting and relaxing.
Ian McKellen, who also played Gandalf in “The Lord Of The Rings” Trilogy, is charming, intellectual, intense, menacing and natural. He had previously starred in Bryan Singer`s film “Art Pupil,” where he was also great. He’s really the guy whose stories are nice to listen to.
Famke Janssen is sweet and fluent.
James Marsden is intense and witty.
Halle Berry is tough, brave and warm. She has a cat’s qualities. She`d be great to play a cat character...oh, ouch. Thank goodness I never saw that movie, and I never will. No, you can’t make me! That is one of the worst comic book adaptations ever!
Anna Paquin, is venerable, she can cry naturally, is sweet and intense.
Tyler Mane is intense and menacing.
Bruce Davison is obnoxious, mean spirited, but also venerable.
Ray Park is gross and intense.
Finally, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is intense, making and colorful.
So all in all, this is a great film and it gets a 9-. It is one of the best superhero films and one of my favorites.
Make sure to check out reviewreviewer1's YouTube channel out, since he and I worked together on this script. Stay tuned tomorrow when we look at one of the best films in the X-Men franchise.
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