X-Men-A-Thon: Part 1

X-Men-A-Thon: Part 1

G-Jays Productions presents X-Men-A-Thon, a 4 part movie review series of all 4 X-Men movies which includes the first trilogy (X-Men, X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand) and the 2011 reboot (X-Men First Class). I did not include X-Men Origins-Wolverine because I consider it as a 5th wheel; a Wolverine movie rather than an X-Men movie.  


X-Men is a very successful franchise that includes comic books, toys, cartoon shows, and live action movies. X-Men (2000) is the high-budget and much awaited first live action X-Men movie.

Plot

A teenager named Marie (Anna Paquin) aka Rogue almost killed her boyfriend when she kissed him. In Fear, she ran away from her family and bumped into Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Sabertooth (Tyler Mane), a strong ferocious feline-like mutant, attacks Rogue and Wolverine. They were rescued by Cyclops and Storm (James Marsden and Halle Berry) who brought them to the X-Mansion where they met Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) aka Professor X, a mutant on a wheelchair who can read and control minds. He runs the X-Mansion school, trains mutants to the full potential of their powers, and teach them to use their powers for the greater good of mankind. Conflicts arise when Magneto (Ian McKellen), a mutant with magnetic powers, kidnaps Rogue so he can use her powers in a machine that will turn ordinary humans into mutants. The X-Men have to save a world that does not trust them.

Good News Comes Last

X-Men is a very good movie but it does have some downsides. Since this was released in 2000, some special effects and CGI (computer generated imagery) were not that clean; there are a few scenes that looked awkward and cartoon-ish. In addition, the story is not that strong; it is more like a TV show episode rather than a grand mutant epic movie. Another concern of most fans is the costume. The movie used black leatherette suits for the X-Men rather than the actual costumes (in the cartoons and the comic books) that fans are  familiar with. 

To answer the fans, Director Bryan Singer added Cyclops line "What would you prefer, yellow spandex?" in a scene where Wolverine complains about the uniform. As for me, I don't mind whether they used the comic book or the black leatherette uniform. I don't think it affects the movie that much aside from making it more colorful.  

The Good News

The best thing about X-Men is the movie's phasing; this could be credited with very good writing and directing. They know that special effects is not their biggest strength. They made up for it with tension filled scenes and  entertaining (but practical) action sequences rather than scenes with very high production values. The characters and all the mutants are true to the comic books and the cartoon shows. This is very important because X-Men fans, particularly kids, should recognize the movie characters based on the TV and comic books. Magneto is my favorite X-Men character. My favorite scene is when Magneto floats the guns of the police battalion and points their own guns to them. It's amazing, you should see it. 

G-Jays Verdict

Most movies these days have a lot of special effects and CGI but low on story and quality (like Transformers 2). X-Men is the opposite. It has good story, good phasing, and a lot of entertaining action sequences without too much special effects. I highly recommended X-Men and this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Watch it! 

G-Jays Ratings: 85%