September 16, 2003
X-Men (2000)
[3 - Enjoyed it]
After watching X2 (2003), I thought I would go back and watch the original X-Men (2000) movie. Like the sequel, X-Men is an action packed popcorn flick extravaganza. The action is just right, the one-liners funny and the script just serious enough to be rewarding while not taking itself too seriously to be amusing.
The opening scenes in the concentration camp were a surprising and excellent way of laying down an intellectual and moralistic foundation on which to build the rest of the movie. For those who are not up on their American history, Senator Kelly's statement when we first meet him about building a list of known mutants is almost verbatim the McCarthy statement about keeping a list of known communists in the United States. X-Men manages to keep this thoughtful edge as it delivers sexy and action packed fight sequences enhanced by well managed special effects.
The casting for X-Men seems to have been particularly well done. I assume that even the most devoted fanatics of the comic books were pleased by the way in which the characters were brought to life. Special kudos go to Ian McKellen for his portrayal of Magento, Patrick Stewart for Professor Xavier and of course Hugh Jackman for giving us the Wolverine we know and love.
I would like to leave the review with a scene from the movie that still makes me laugh:
Wolverine: It's me!
Cyclops: Prove it!
Wolverine: You're a dick.
Cyclops: Okay.
This movie is definitely superior to your typical sci-fi flick in that its characters are not mere action-hero ciphers ... They have feelings and motivations, all of them. I was especially impressed by Anna Paquin as Marie, and I thought the relationship between her and Wolverine (Logan) was very interesting, considering its mostly non-sexual nature.
I think most would agree that X2 is generally better than this one, but there is one respect in which X-Men completely beats its sequel: the soundtrack. Michael Kamen's original score for X-Men is an absolute killer, a kind of orchestral electronica of which I've never heard the like. Unfortunately he was not brought back for the second movie, and while John Ottman's music is good, it simply lacks the guts and power of Kamen, and frankly detracts from the finished movie. So that's one thing that I really love about X-Men as oppose to X2.
Posted by: heathcliffe on September 17, 2003 09:46 AMIs there anything more provocative and gd sexy than the thought of a hot shapeshifter. I mean, people talk about a gymnast being versatile in the sack!
I do like X2 better, but they're both interesting superhero movies. They may be my favorites of the genre, a genre, however, that hasn't reached the heights of many others (especially now that fantasy has LOTR as its gold standard). I hope they make a third. I imagine they will.
What makes them interesting is that they do attempt to some degree better than the other superhero movies of presenting a moral dilemma. Magneto's fears and desires are understandable. His methods are faulty. This plays out even more strongly in the second movie where the "good" mutants and "bad" mutants temporarily team up.
Posted by: Nick on September 16, 2003 11:36 PM
