The first time I sat down to watch Bryan Singer's X-Men, I was
expecting the typical superhero film. You know the formula: the hero gains or
discovers his/her powers, they meet and battle the cardboard cut out villain,
and defeat his grand plan to rule the world-all while learning a very important
lesson, which is usually some sappy moral that's thrown in by the filmmakers to
give the audience the feeling that they are being imparted with A Very Important
Message. This was pretty much what I was expecting as the opening credits rolled
on X-Men. And then something totally unexpected happened: I was promptly blown away.
X-Men has an audacious opening sequence that takes place in a German
concentration camp in 1944 Poland. The prisoners are being herded down a narrow,
fenced-in area, where they are being separated into two groups of male and female.
When a young boy is ripped from the embrace of his mother, he puts up a furious
fight, reaching out for his mother through the bars of a heavy metal gate while
it takes several German soldiers to just barely hold him back. As the boy
continues to reach out with his hand, the metal bars on the gate begin to twist
and bend. The boy is finally subdued when one of the soldiers brutally bashes
him on the head with his gun, knocking him out. Yet when the soldiers glance up
at the gate, they find that it has somehow been ripped apart.
And just when you would expect that this was the origin of one of the film's
heroes, you would get a further shock upon realizing that that young boy would
grow up to be Magneto, the central villain of the film. Over the years, Magneto
has harnessed his powers over manipulation of metal, as well as his hatred of
humanity, the so-called "normal" people. When the story proper begins in the
early 21st century, the United States and other countries are faced with a
bizarre new problem: more and more people with strange, superhuman powers--known
as mutants--are springing up all over the world. And they are seen by many to be
a burgeoning threat to the normal human race, despite the fact that many of them,
like Professor Charles Xavier, who runs a school especially for mutant children,
are peaceful and decent. While the American Congress debates whether mutants
should be licensed, Magneto decides that it is time to make a preemptive first
strike.
Meanwhile, up in Canada, a mutant named Logan Cade scratches out a living
fighting in barroom tough man competitions. He fights under the name of Wolverine,
and has steel claws that shoot out from between the knuckles of his hands. He
discovers a young runaway hiding in his trailer by the name of Rogue, whose
power is particularly dire: she can suck the life force out of anyone by just
the slightest touch. When they come under attack on the snowy rural road by
another mutant named Sabertooth, Cyclops and Storm rescue them and bring them
back to their base of operations. This turns out to be the lower levels of the
Mutant school run by Professor Charles Xavier. Wolverine discovers that there is
a war brewing within the ranks of mutants. And the oldest of Professor Xavier's
students, including Storm, Cyclops and Jean Grey have formed a special team
known as the X-Men, who are aligned against The Brotherhood of Mutants, led by
Magneto. It turns out that Wolverine is a key element in Magneto's master plan,
and the X-Men must find out what it is before it is too late.
Masterfully directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men is a superb story that is told with
intelligence and immense style. The large cast of characters is all evenly
balanced; the strengths of each serves to propel the story forward nicely. And
Singer's three-dimensional treatment of the villain is refreshing. While it's
hard to agree with his ruthless methods, you can see some logic in Magneto's
harsh view of humanity. In other words, you can understand him; even sympathize
with Magneto, while still considering him to be a threat that must be stopped.
Ian McKellen's sturdy performance as Magneto is a large part of the success of
this character. Patrick Steward, better know to millions as Captain Jean-Luc
Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, ably plays Professor Xavier, while
Hugh Jackman makes the most of his career-making role as Wolverine. The DVD I
reviewed is the X-Men 1.5 version, which has far more special features than the
original DVD release. There's a full length commentary of the film by Singer and
Brian Peck, which was actually recorded during production of X2, so there's even
some mention by Singer of the differences between making the first film and its
sequel. The film also has an enhanced viewing mode, which offers behind the
scenes featurettes within the viewing of the movie itself. There's even a second
disc of features, which include various featurettes on the making of the film,
and even a sneak peek at X2. If you're like me, and have never read an issue of
The X-Men, that fact won't stop you from enjoying this marvelous superhero movie
that aims high and easily hits its mark. --SF
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