X-Men (2000) Film Review: An Important Yet Dated Superhero Milestone...

 

With the release of "Reminiscence" this weekend, I wanted to talk about the film that launched Hugh Jackman to Hollywood fame. The superhero genre is still recovering from the 90's and while "Blade" did a decent job at the box office, all eyes were on the upcoming adaptation on one of the most popular teams in comic book history. In a not-too-distant future, the majority of humanity is living unknowingly with mutants, people with extraordinary abilities. A young girl named Rogue runs from home after acquiring a deadly ability to siphon the life out of the people she touches, joining with a cage-fighter known as the Wolverine before being saved by the X-Men, a group of mutants following the leadership of Charles Xavier, a telepath who believes that humans and mutants can live together in peace. However, he is at odds with a former friend turned rival named Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who can control metal, and his hate towards humanity after Congress is planning to enlist an act that will forcibly reveal mutants and their abilities to the public. Charles and Magneto are in a heated battle, while Rogue and Wolverine learn that their lives may be more crucial than they think. The story is great in getting the viewer to understand the type of world they are getting into. Mutants are well-known to the public, but their desire to stay hidden and wanting no problems is constantly in jeopardy. The X-Men aren't Avenger-level heroes with fanfare and reputation, but rather a secret organization that do espionage missions and hide in plain sight with a school for the gifted. The time period is never explored because the film wants to feel timeless in its themes of prejudice and identity. While the world-building is fantastic, the story can have issues regarding comic accurate depictions and Magneto's overall plan. The tone however is the perfect level of being grounded, serious, and fun at the same time. This is not a movie where one-liners are spewed nonstop and comedy is a backbone, it's a no nonsense film that is justified due to the importance of the story and circumstances.

Hugh Jackman makes his breakthrough role as Logan/Wolverine. While the character has more to do in later films, Jackman shows just how perfect he is as the character through his gruff attitude, sincereness, and aggressive combat. Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier is also perfect as the disabled mentor for the team. Stewart has this soft-spoken mannerism and monotone delivery that makes him seem like he's always in control despite his condition. Ian McKellen as Magneto is another perfect role as the calculative villain. McKellen is great at boasting and showing high pride for Magneto and his people, while also being intimidating when he needs to, even when wearing the goofy costume. Anna Paquin as Rogue has always been ridiculed for being too young for the role, but she does a good job for being the timid and innocent mutant who doesn't know what she wants or who she is in the world. Bruce Davison as Senator Kelly is also good as the discriminative politician who only cares for the safety of humankind. As for the rest of the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood, they do take a sidelined role. Some good minor characters are Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's Mystique, Halle Berry's Storm, and James Marsden's Cyclops, while forgettable appearances are Tyler Mane's Sabertooth, Ray Park's Toad, and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey. The actors and actresses for these side roles aren't bad by any means, but they don't get much to work off of due to the central roles taking up the majority of the story. However, said central roles are great introductions to beloved performances and memorable characters.

Bryan Singer has recently been blacklisted in Hollywood for the various allegations he had done in the past. While he had done some awful stuff outside from his career, his overall talent as a director hasn't changed at all. What makes his direction so interesting in this particular film is that he makes the film feel more grounded and noir rather than flashy or colourful. This may have been due to the reputation of superhero films prior, but his decision to not makes things vivid or given over-the-top expressions has been debated about constantly. Personally, I think that it's the best call he could have made given how risky of a project it is. While it may harm the viewing experience for more modern fans, I personally like how different it feels to both others in the franchise and genre as an interesting time capsule of sorts.  The leather costumes, while criticized for not being comic-accurate, work for this particular film and tone. The cinematography by Newton Thomas Siegal is fine, but not anything to go crazy about. There's decent medium shots, zoom-ins and slow-mo during the action, but it's not meant to be overly flashy. The score by Micheal Kamen is extremely underrated in the franchise with a unique theme song, tiny callbacks to the animated series and an overall sci-fi thriller-esque approach that fits the film's identity more than a bombastic superhero theme that it will get in the future. The visual effects are decent, but have aged in places. The CGI aren't laughably bad or poorly rendered, but simply a product of the time. Despite this, there's some great prosthetic work with the mutant features such as Wolverine's claws and Mystique's body. The action sequences are on a more minimal side. Considering the modest budget and varied abilities, the action isn't as ambitious compared to other films and they can be seen as the weakest aspect of the film with the only highlights being the Magneto holding the police hostage and the Wolverine vs. Mystique fight offering the most creativity and effective effects. Despite the weak action, I don't watch the movie for it. I watch it because the characters, story and world-building are riveting and the film feels more like a spy thriller akin to the first "Mission: Impossible" than an action-filled blockbuster, which shows how talented Singer is to pull off something so captivating in its restrictions.

"X-Men" is an odd film to talk about in the current superhero climate. While the story has some excellent world-building and thematic depth, the tone being on the more serious side, the performances from Jackman and the others are stellar, Siegal's camerawork is well done, Kamen's score is really good in how different it is to the rest of the franchise, great-looking practical and prosthetic work, and Singer's great direction on making the world feel like our own rather than a fantastical, colourful cartoon, the film aged poorly in certain areas. Comic-book accuracy is thrown out in areas, Magneto's plan is tonally over-the-top, some of the side characters feel forgettable due to their limited roles and screentime, the CGI is dated in areas, and the action itself is not very exciting for the most part. It's a quality movie for sure and it manages to hold up well in the new ecosystem, but it has to be viewed in a different matter. It's not an epic action-fuelled superhero blockbuster, it's a philosophical, sci-fi spy thriller to an extent and that makes it stand out from the average genre flick.

Verdict: 7/10. Solid film, but can be lacking in areas other films of the genre and franchise will improve on later. Still a nice movie to revisit from time to time.