X-Men
***1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre)
Released in the UK by 20th Century Fox on August 18, 2000; certificate 12;
104 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Bryan Singer; produced by
Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter. Written by David
Hayter; from a story by Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer. Photographed
by Newton Thomas Sigel; edited by Steven Rosenblum, Kevin
Stitt, John Wright.
CAST.....
Hugh Jackman..... Logan/Wolverine
Patrick Stewart..... Professor Charles Xavier
Ian McKellen..... Magneto
Anna Paquin..... Heather/Rogue
Famke Janssen..... Jean Grey
Bruce Davison..... Senator Robert Frank Kelly
James Marsden..... Cyclops
Halle Berry..... Storm
Tyler Mane..... Sabretooth
Ray Park..... Toad
Rebecca Romjin-Staros..... Mystique
When comic book readers grow up, they move from
DC works to Marvel -- whose stories are usually darker, with more vital stakes,
interesting dilemmas and mature characters. Smart moviegoers get fed up of
frivolous material too, and start looking for stories without recycled Hollywood
conventions. We don't have to be artistic snobs to demand this. Give me an
action movie any day, as long as it's not assembly-line
garbage.
The first half of the trailer for Bryan Singer's
"X-Men" would lead you to believe it's a futuristic Orwellian
drama. A senator delivers a fascistic speech demanding to know about the
whereabouts and powers of human mutants, rousing the crowd by playing on
their fears of the unknown, reminding us how susceptible people can be to
Nazi-like propaganda. Soon we realise that it's a sci-fi film about groovy
superheroes, but it's one of depth and sophistication, that deserves to be
taken seriously.
Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, James
Marsden and Halle Berry star as Wolverine, Rogue, Jean Grey, Cyclops and
Storm -- the main pupils of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), a physicist
who runs a private school to help mutants control their powers and behave
beneficially in society. "X-Men" takes place in "the near future", where
mutants live in significant enough numbers to be a major political issue.
Statesmen like Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison) get most of their votes
by stirring up prejudice for these beings; Xavier hopes that positive mutant
achievements can bring that to an end.
Never before has a superhero adventure movie devoted
significant time to setting up political context for its fictional reality.
"X-Men" bases its whole plot around it. Xavier's ideological opposite is
Magneto (Ian McKellen), who lived through the Holocaust as a child, and has
a much less optimistic view of humanity than his old friend. He favours direct
action, and plans to hijack a United Nations conference with a machine that
uses radiation to turn regular men and women into mutants. Xavier's crew
determine to stop him, especially when it becomes apparent that Magneto's
device is defective, and may end up killing a collection of world
leaders.
"X-Men" is easy to take seriously because its
themes are potent enough for the delivery to avoid pomposity. There's a cute
moment of self-parody when Wolverine first sees his comrade's uniforms, and
describes them as ridiculous. "What would you prefer... yellow spandex?"
queries Cyclops. Viewers educated in pop culture will know that the "X-Men"
cartoon, and certain editions of the comic book, did indeed have their
protagonists wearing such material.
Another key factor to the film's success is the
richness of its characters: Wolverine, for example, has no memory of his
past except for disturbing recollections of being experimented on by mad
scientists; he's constantly frustrated, and we feel for him. Rogue carries
around the pain of being unable to engage in human contact -- her skin drains
energy from other people's bodies, and she feels like it's a curse to prevent
anyone from loving her. Magneto makes an interesting villain because he's
not actually evil -- there's a poignancy to the way he's doing what he thinks
is necessary and just, and genuinely doesn't realise how dangerous and vengeful
he is.
The picture also delivers the goods on the level
of action and visual excitement. Special effects are integrated into the
material seamlessly; Xavier's school is a serene paradise of cleanliness
and technological perfection, Magneto's lair a breathtaking silver construction
held together by the man's telekinetic control over metallic objects. Scenes
of training and fighting serve as an effective showcase for the characters'
powers, like the blades that come out of Wolverine's hands, the changes in
weather instigated by Storm, the powerful rays that shoot out of Cyclops's
eye.
In many of its parts "X-Men" achieves greatness;
if I'm not giving it the full four-star monty, it's because of annoying
structure. This is another one of those action flicks that introduces its
characters with exuberance, then sees one of them kidnapped, and rushes
prematurely into rescue mission and action climax. Singer's original cut
ran 135 minutes -- not all that long, really -- so why did the studio cut
out a quarter of it to get the skimpy current running time? They're not going
to make any more money but they have put a big mar on masterful filmmaking.
If it wasn't for the probability of an uncut DVD, I'd be
bitter.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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