With
X-Men: Dark Phoenix, presumably the final chapter in the Fox X-Men franchise, coming out later this year I've decided to look back on the series. To begin we have the movie that started it all...
While some credit the earlier
Blade or the later
Spider-Man with igniting the ever ballooning superhero movie craze, and indeed, both films contributed to the formation of the genre, the film that really got the ball rolling was
X-Men. Certainly, there
had been financially successful comic book films before this but while
Superman was very much a tribute to the classic era of comics and
Batman was more of a pastiche of the pop culture
image of Batman
, X-Men was the first really "mature" modern
superhero film. Along with
Spider-Man,
X-Men established the play book that the Marvel cinematic universe would later follow, staying true to the spirit of the comics while forging ahead with its own stories and its own interpretation of the characters.
Looking back on the film today it's remarkably restrained, especially in light of more recent giant tentpole movies like
Avengers: Endgame. Compared to a Captain Marvel (or even a more human character like Iron Man) the X-Men's powers are downright quaint and the conflict has far lower stakes then say,
Aquaman. It also has some surprisingly dark scenes. In particular the scene where Wolverine accidentally stabs Rogue after waking up from a nightmare, nearly killing the one person he's made a connection with. Senator Kelly's death, too, is quite shocking. As far as I know, this is the first film to portray superpowers as being as much a curse as a gift, though I'm just about sick of that particular trope at this point.
The writers do have some ambivalence about the property's comic book origins. This is particularly apparent in groaner lines like, "yellow spandex" or "you know what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lighting? The same thing that happens to everything else." Despite the more grounded approach these movies take, they can't seem to
help but draw attention to the more heightened elements of the world. This is something the series would never quite come to terms with (even the recent
Deadpool movies suffers from it in a certain sense).
With that said, the writers do a great job establishing the core relationships, between Wolverine and Rogue, and Xavier and Magneto, and the conflict of ideas between the X-Men and the brotherhood. Rogue and Logan are the two "outsider" characters that help the audience to learn about the world. Both of them are relatable and likable. They also have a strong relationship and good on-screen chemistry. Rogue is not the femme fatale/spitfire she is in the comics but I'm OK with their take on her (more of a mix between Kitty Pride and Jubilee) because her power set strengthens the contrast and complementary nature between her and Logan. She is young and scared, he is old and jaded. She has only just discovered her power and he has forgotten who he was before he had them. Her power is to drain the powers (or life force) from others, while his are to heal.
Magneto is a great, reliable villain, and remains one of the best comic-book movie villains to this day. This is large-in-part due to the relationship between he and Xavier. The two continue to respect (even love) each other despite their difference of opinion. Both of their points of view are understandable and make sense for their characters. Magneto's experience in the concentration camps made him distrustful of humanity while Xavier, with his mental powers and sensitive understanding for human psychology, has hope for peaceful coexistence. Even the humans, represented by Senator Kelly, are given their day in court so-to-speak. The actions of mutants like Magneto and his brotherhood make his desire for Mutant registration understandable if not exactly justified.
Unfortunately, not all the characters are as well fleshed out. Jean Grey basically exists to be a love interest for Logan. Similarly Cyclops, who, as the team leader, should really get some character depth, is just a romantic rival for him. Storm gets even less to do though she does have one good moment with Senator Kelly. The brotherhood (Mystique, Sabretooth and Toad) are similarly shallow. Rogue's prospective boyfriend, Iceman, only makes an impression at all because Mystique disguises herself as him .
Though not all of the characters get a chance to shine, the casting is really great all around. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are inspired choices as Xavier and Magneto. Similarly, Hugh Jackman, though I've always been bothered by his height, is really great as Wolverine and, after all these years, it is hard to imagine anyone else playing him. Anna Paquin is also well cast as the relatable audience surrogate that is this film's version of Rogue. Famke Janssen is a great Jean Grey (though she won't get to shine until the second film). James Marsden is wasted as Cyclops (though ironically this is about the most he gets to do in this series). Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Ray Park are clearly having a blast as Mystique and Toad. Tyler Mane is an imposing (if practically silent) presence as Sabretooth. Shawn Ashmore isn't in it enough to really put much of a stamp on Iceman but would prove himself later on. Finally, Bruce Davison brings his usual slimey qualities to Senator Kelly.
The action is well done, even if the CGI and the wire-work is a bit lacking at times and (his despicable sexual conduct notwithstanding) Brian Singer does a good job, in general, behind the camera. There's a lot of dynamic camera movement and the film has a distinct visual style. There's more of a distinct authorial stamp here then in most of the more recent Marvel fare.
X-Men is not a perfect film but nonetheless, it holds up quite well all these years later. It's hard to imagine what the current movie landscape would be (for better or worse) without it.
Score: 8/10
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