There is no peace. Not here, or anywhere else.'
With the arrival of X-Men: Days of Future Past, it seems only fitting that we should look back at where it all started; the original X-Menfilm. Back in 2000, after the film rights were acquired by 20th Century Fox, X-Men (based on the legendary Marvel comics’ superheroes of the same name) catapulted onto the big screen, becoming a financial success. This success has often been credited with the revival of the superhero movie, not to mention bringing to life many of everyone’s favourite mutant superheroes (and villains) via the silver screen.
You can also check out this review via entertainment website I'm With Geek - feel free to check it out, it's a great website, full of news and reviews of the latest films, games, television, books, comics and more. Now back to the review!
Marvel is one of those universes which seem to do no wrong; the characters are fantastic, their abilities are imaginative and the world is of epic proportions. So it was little surprise when the X-Men got their big screen debut – now all that was left was to see if the film could showcase all that had to offer from the mutated heroes. It was a big task, and rather unsurprisingly, one film wasn’t nearly enough to be able to do the mutants justice, so the original film quickly became part of an ever-expanding series, totalling 7 films to date (with the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past).
And this is where it all kicked off. The original X-Men followed 17-year old Marie D’Ancanto, as she struggled with her mutant ability of being able to absorb the life force (and any mutant abilities) from anyone she touched. After an unfortunate incident with her boyfriend, Marie ran away and became ‘Rogue’ and meets Logan or the ‘Wolverine’, who is a mutant with super healing powers, and metal claws. The film sees the two mutants be brought into a world of conflict between Professor Xavier’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants, who have opposing views about mutants and humankind.
You’d be forgiven for thinking a film based off a comic book series would be slightly elusive or perhaps confusing to understand for the non-avid fan, but X-Men presented itself rather coherently and didn’t need to go into too much detail about its characters (other than making it obvious what their superpower was and how this fitted in with the story) so it didn’t feel overly drawn out or tedious by avoiding meticulous details. The special effects for the action sequences were remarkable and fitting for a science fiction film of this calibre, and the transformations of the various mutants was incredible. The costumes and set pieces were pretty extravagant (which particular reference to Mystique, who has blue skin and is able to change her appearance – requiring some serious costume changes and special effects) and the overall tone of the film was suitable for its target audience.
Casting wise, there can be no better Magneto and Professor X than Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly. They electrified the screen, and the only disappointment of the first film was that it was just introducing itself and laying the foundations of its construction, which meant that we didn’t get to see as much of the good Professor or the metal controlling Magneto as we would have liked to. Still, in one of the main roles as Rogue, Anna Paquin (who won an Oscar for her role in The Piano) shone as the character; as a child, I was actually really fond of her. Hugh Jackman, of course, put in a valiant performance as one of the characters he is probably most known for today – the Wolverine. His character was so popular that it spawned many films solely focused on his individual mutant over any other (good or bad, you decide).
The first X-Men film brought us something different in science fiction, a multitude of mutants that possessed remarkable abilities, unique in the fact that there was something for everyone. For fans of metamorphosis, there is the agile Mystique or for those with a penchant for weather, the enviable Storm. In short, having a great base material never hurts when making a blockbuster film. With so many X-Men films to look forward to, it seems only sensible that you reacquaint yourself with the one that started it all – the illustrious X-Men.
4 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment