X-Men (X-Men (DVD))

Member Name: sharktrager

Product:	X-Men (DVD)
Date:	24/03/02 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent special effects

Disadvantages: Too many characters

Well I finally got around to watching X-MEN. Although I'm a great fan of comic book superheroes, I've never been particularly interested in those published by Marvel Comics - DC is more to my taste. For this reason I've never been particularly bothered about watching the X-MEN movie, but now I'm glad that I did, and I'm certainly looking forward to X2, the sequel which is currently being prepared.

The film is about mutants, who are the next step in the evolution of the human species. Some politicians are lobbying for these mutants to be placed on a special register, as they are believed to be dangerous.

And some of them certainly are - particularly the Brotherhood of Mutants, who are led by Magneto (a very camp Ian McKellan). His mortal enemy is Professor Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), who is dedicated to stopping Magneto's plans to turn the world's political leaders into mutants.

To this end Xavier uses his group, known as the X-Men. These include Cyclops, Storm, Rogue, and a newcomer to his circle, Wolverine.

The only trouble with the film is that there are too many characters - too many heroes, and too many villains. As a result, none of the characters feel as if they are the main character (with the possible exception of Wolverine, played expertly by Hugh Jackman). All of them feel like supporting characters. While I'm not against movies with 'ensemble' casts, it just didn't feel right here.

The special effects are magnificent, which is very important in a superhero movie. Too many movies in this subgenre have been let down by ridiculous special effects, but thankfully this is not the case here.

So, to sum up - this is a good movie, and certainly one to see. Although it hasn't encouraged me to go out and read up on the X-Men comics or the Marvel universe in general, it does have me eager for X2, and more importantly, SPIDER-MAN in just a couple of m
onths time.

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