These days superhero films are a dime a dozen, often with multiple entries in the same franchise releasing each year. Multiple entries from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have landed themselves in the biggest box office totals of all time, and though not quite as successful DC have had their fair share of success. But I want you to cast your mind back to a simpler time when superhero films were typically lycra clad cheese-fests that were so far outside the realms of possibility that they really only did appeal to comic book fans. One film sought to change that image overnight, a bold move sure, but it worked and ushered in a new age of superhero film that would last right up until the MCU took its first tentative steps. That film was 2000’s X-Men.
Mutation is what has allowed humanity to become the dominant species on the planet. Starting out as single cell organisms and evolving into what we are today over millions of years. At an increasing rate people are discovering that they are born with extraordinary abilities as evolution is taking yet another step forward. But the rest of humanity fears what these mutants are capable of and see them as a threat.
When a teenage girl, Marie (Anna Paquin) discovers that her skin is dangerous to those around her she runs away adopting the alias Rogue, she soon meets a cage fighter with inhuman healing abilities, Logan (Hugh Jackman and the two become targets of a group of mutants led by Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Ian McKellen). They are however rescued by Ororo Monroe/Storm and Scott Summers/Cyclpos (Halle Berry & James Marsden) who along with Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) are teachers at a school led by Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart) that is designed to train mutants to control their powers and use them for the benefit of mankind.
A United Nations bill is on the verge of being passed that will require mutants make themselves publicly known on a register as well as details about what they can do, Magneto seeks to stop this from happening with violence whilst Xavier and his pupils do whatever they can to ensure that Magneto’s plan fails.
The X-Men film franchise is quite possibly my favourite superhero film franchise, even in spite of the mixed quality of the sequels. I hadn’t seen the majority of the X-Men films since around 2015 and despite knowing them like the back of my hand there was evidently a lot I had forgotten in the time since my last viewing because this film is simply incredible at not only conveying its singular story, but also setting up what would become the franchise we know today all within the opening ten minutes of the film.
Mutation is what has allowed humanity to become the dominant species on the planet. Starting out as single cell organisms and evolving into what we are today over millions of years. At an increasing rate people are discovering that they are born with extraordinary abilities as evolution is taking yet another step forward. But the rest of humanity fears what these mutants are capable of and see them as a threat.
When a teenage girl, Marie (Anna Paquin) discovers that her skin is dangerous to those around her she runs away adopting the alias Rogue, she soon meets a cage fighter with inhuman healing abilities, Logan (Hugh Jackman and the two become targets of a group of mutants led by Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Ian McKellen). They are however rescued by Ororo Monroe/Storm and Scott Summers/Cyclpos (Halle Berry & James Marsden) who along with Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) are teachers at a school led by Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart) that is designed to train mutants to control their powers and use them for the benefit of mankind.
A United Nations bill is on the verge of being passed that will require mutants make themselves publicly known on a register as well as details about what they can do, Magneto seeks to stop this from happening with violence whilst Xavier and his pupils do whatever they can to ensure that Magneto’s plan fails.
The X-Men film franchise is quite possibly my favourite superhero film franchise, even in spite of the mixed quality of the sequels. I hadn’t seen the majority of the X-Men films since around 2015 and despite knowing them like the back of my hand there was evidently a lot I had forgotten in the time since my last viewing because this film is simply incredible at not only conveying its singular story, but also setting up what would become the franchise we know today all within the opening ten minutes of the film.
The story starts in Nazi occupied Poland 1944 where a young Erik Lehnsherr is separated from his mother upon entry to Auschwitz concentration camp. Terrified and angry, Lehnsherr reaches out to his mother and begins to bend the metal of the chain link fences surrounding him, as well as dragging several soldiers through the mud who try to restrain him.
Decades later Marie D’Ancanto has her first kiss with her boyfriend David. After coming in contact with her skin David is left comatose for months. Understandably traumatised and afraid of her own body, Marie runs away from home.
Meanwhile Dr. Jean Grey speaks in Congress against a bill that proposes that mutants be identified by name and what powers they possess on a public register. Charles Xavier looks on at the hearing and sees Lehnsherr leave the room, confronting him in the hall Lehnsherr tells Xavier that history is repeating itself and that the war between humanity and mutants has now begun.
These three scenes convey basically everything the series stands for, and it’s done so skilfully which many of the sequels do not do anywhere near as well. The scene at Auschwitz not only sets up Lehnsherr as a villain really well but used in parallel with the Congress scene allows audiences to see the patterns being formed by modern governments in categorising mutants and demonising them. Meanwhile we also get to see two instances of the powers manifesting themselves in young mutants and how traumatising the experience can be in two very different ways.
Rogue’s scene in particular is one of the best scenes in the entire series and Paquin’s performance is on point here. This level of raw emotion is never recaptured in the series, and it’s so powerful to watch.
The plot itself is kept relatively simple, and in fact I was surprised by just how little happens in the story. Once Logan and Rogue are taken back to Xavier’s School for the Gifted, things move very quickly towards the climax of the story. But a lot of character building goes into each scene. This is an ensemble film at the end of the day and whilst Rogue and Logan are definitely the ‘main characters’ the screen time is distributed very well amongst the other X-Men and Magneto. The only characters that don’t get much depth are Sabertooth and Toad, Magneto’s henchmen. Sabertooth has hardly any dialogue and is portrayed as dumb but tough. Whereas Toad is the comic relief and the only aspect of the film that seems detached from reality. There are a couple of moments where he seemingly breaks the fourth wall, playing it up for the audience, but I’m unsure if this was intentional or just the way I’m perceiving it.
Part of what makes the characters so believable is their fantastic casting. Whilst Hugh Jackman would be the series main success story and its poster boy for much of the series twenty year run, it’s McKellen and Stewart that are the real perfect casting choices here and provide the best performances in the film.
Decades later Marie D’Ancanto has her first kiss with her boyfriend David. After coming in contact with her skin David is left comatose for months. Understandably traumatised and afraid of her own body, Marie runs away from home.
Meanwhile Dr. Jean Grey speaks in Congress against a bill that proposes that mutants be identified by name and what powers they possess on a public register. Charles Xavier looks on at the hearing and sees Lehnsherr leave the room, confronting him in the hall Lehnsherr tells Xavier that history is repeating itself and that the war between humanity and mutants has now begun.
These three scenes convey basically everything the series stands for, and it’s done so skilfully which many of the sequels do not do anywhere near as well. The scene at Auschwitz not only sets up Lehnsherr as a villain really well but used in parallel with the Congress scene allows audiences to see the patterns being formed by modern governments in categorising mutants and demonising them. Meanwhile we also get to see two instances of the powers manifesting themselves in young mutants and how traumatising the experience can be in two very different ways.
Rogue’s scene in particular is one of the best scenes in the entire series and Paquin’s performance is on point here. This level of raw emotion is never recaptured in the series, and it’s so powerful to watch.
The plot itself is kept relatively simple, and in fact I was surprised by just how little happens in the story. Once Logan and Rogue are taken back to Xavier’s School for the Gifted, things move very quickly towards the climax of the story. But a lot of character building goes into each scene. This is an ensemble film at the end of the day and whilst Rogue and Logan are definitely the ‘main characters’ the screen time is distributed very well amongst the other X-Men and Magneto. The only characters that don’t get much depth are Sabertooth and Toad, Magneto’s henchmen. Sabertooth has hardly any dialogue and is portrayed as dumb but tough. Whereas Toad is the comic relief and the only aspect of the film that seems detached from reality. There are a couple of moments where he seemingly breaks the fourth wall, playing it up for the audience, but I’m unsure if this was intentional or just the way I’m perceiving it.
Part of what makes the characters so believable is their fantastic casting. Whilst Hugh Jackman would be the series main success story and its poster boy for much of the series twenty year run, it’s McKellen and Stewart that are the real perfect casting choices here and provide the best performances in the film.
There are very few issues I have with the film overall; in fact, I think it’s near flawless in a lot of areas. But there’s always one scene that gets me every time and it’s when Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) disguises herself as Bobby Drake (Shaun Ashmore) and convinces Rogue to run away from the school following the use of her powers against Logan. The next time we see these two characters together is in X-Men 2 and they’re dating, we never get to see Rogue get mad at him for saying such horrible things and him being really confused about the whole thing because it wasn’t really him. It almost seems as though she forgets that whole thing ever happened and just falls madly in love with him.
The other problem I have is with Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), one of the films major antagonists. It’s not specifically him I have a problem with, but his death. We never really get to understand what Magneto’s machine did to him. I mean we understand he gets powers from it and turns into a Stretch Armstrong doll, but why does he liquify in his final moments? Is it all the seawater he took in when he fell from Magneto’s prison? Or is it just the machine tearing his body apart? Considering we never see the effects on anyone else it’s a bit of a mystery as far as I’m concerned.
When X-Men released in 2000 the MCU was still eight years away, and The Avengers was twelve. Yet it not only provided a grounded take on comic book superheroes, but also gave audiences a great ensemble superhero film. It was ahead of the curve in almost every aspect and even revisiting it now over twenty years later it’s still incredible and stands head and shoulders above a lot of the superhero films that release today. The series as a whole may have its faults in places, but the original X-Men is nothing short of a masterpiece.
The other problem I have is with Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), one of the films major antagonists. It’s not specifically him I have a problem with, but his death. We never really get to understand what Magneto’s machine did to him. I mean we understand he gets powers from it and turns into a Stretch Armstrong doll, but why does he liquify in his final moments? Is it all the seawater he took in when he fell from Magneto’s prison? Or is it just the machine tearing his body apart? Considering we never see the effects on anyone else it’s a bit of a mystery as far as I’m concerned.
When X-Men released in 2000 the MCU was still eight years away, and The Avengers was twelve. Yet it not only provided a grounded take on comic book superheroes, but also gave audiences a great ensemble superhero film. It was ahead of the curve in almost every aspect and even revisiting it now over twenty years later it’s still incredible and stands head and shoulders above a lot of the superhero films that release today. The series as a whole may have its faults in places, but the original X-Men is nothing short of a masterpiece.