X-Men (2000)
Quick summary: Magneto kidnaps Marie, a young mutant, with the intention of using her powers to destroy humanity. However, the X-Men and Wolverine team up to save her and stop Magneto.
This movie is very overlooked and deserves all the credit it needs, especially as the movie that fully kicked off the superhero genre. As well as that, this is an amazing origin story movie!
It definitely pays close attention to character development. Unfortunately, a few side characters are dropped and not given much thought, which is understandable, and it provides plenty of actors time to shine. Ian McKellan’s presence alone, it doesn't surprise me that he nailed this role. He plays the sympathetic villain who believes himself to be the hero of "mutant-kind" with precision and ease and his moments with Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier are some of the many highlights of the film. They show off a wonderful connection of old friends who sadly grew apart due to different beliefs, they show no hatred towards each other and honestly I think that is so impressive to pull that complex of a friendship off, and I commend them for that. I also really like how the line between good and evil is blurred, I won't spoil it, but it portrays two sides of a worldwide argument really well and leaves unsure on who to route for.
Hugh Jackman was perfect and nails the role of Wolverine and he plays off Anna Paquin’s Rogue beautifully. They produce this amazing father/daughter relationship straight off the bat. Both have much in common as they are both running from something and both find it difficult to be around other people; Wolverine due to his aggressive nature & unknown past and Rogue because of her inability to touch other people without potentially killing them. They trust each other after not being able to for a while. Again this is such a complex relationship to pull off without seeming weird, and they work wonderfully together with Hugh Jackman finding just the right balance between barely constrained rage and warm tenderness.
Like most Superhero films, the plot is rather simple, but it is an origin story mixed with world-building, so I imagine they didn't want to cram too much in, which I'm glad they didn't. It gives us plenty of time with what we have and nothing feels rushed through. As far as the action is concerned, it’s thrilling. Bryan Singer goes out of his way to make every action scene in the film memorable. Admittedly, they are a bit cheesy and the script is sometimes equally cheesy, it was just pretty funny to watch as characters flew across the sky slowly when punched and unrealistically crash into walls and such. But it was the 2000s, so what do you expect. It's all really fun and engaging.
For the most part, "X-Men" still holds up pretty well, despite a line or two of extremely cheesy dialogue. The cast is great, the action is exciting, the effects are decent, and the narrative is both inventive and concise. As far as I can tell, it plays very close attention to the original comics so that's definitely a bonus!
9/10
"Wolverine : You actually go outside in these things?
Cyclops : Well, what would you prefer, yellow spandex?"
"Logan : [Logan's first line] Beer."
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