X-Men
It may not sound like much of a compliment to say that "X-Men" is the best comic-book movie to come along in quite some time. After all, its only recent competition has been "Mystery Men," "Blade" and "Batman & Robin."In fact, it would have been difficult for this science-fiction action-adventure film to be worse than those. But, perhaps a bit surprisingly, it turns out that "X-Men" can stand alongside the first couple of "Superman" and "Batman" features as among the best in this admittedly non-competitive genre.
What makes this such a surprise is that "X-Men" is based on a seemingly untranslatable source — the cult-adored Marvel comic, which has already spawned a disappointing Saturday-morning cartoon.
While the results here aren't perfect (not all of the risky casting works, for example), and there are things that may irk fans of the source material (such as the drastically altered costuming), there's enough action and related "coolness" to please those unfamiliar with the comics, and just enough tidbits to appease more open-minded fans.
Also, the film contains some surprisingly heady material dealing with such topics as intolerance.
The title characters are mutated humans (including James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Halle Berry) with superpowers. Under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), a powerful telepath running a private school for mutants, they've decided to use those powers to benefit mankind.
Both will be needed if the X-Men are to be successful in their fight against the forces of Magneto (Ian McKellen), a superpowerful Holocaust survivor who is trying to take over the world.
If that isn't enough, our misunderstood heroes are also trying to counter efforts by U.S. Sen. Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), who wants to require all mutants to reveal their powers and identities to the world.
The latter theme and subplot adds significant weight and meaning to the story, which is fortunate, because it nearly falls apart with some too-comic-bookish contrivances toward the end. Still, although the script was written by committee, it holds together pretty well.
Of course, that may not come as too much of a surprise, considering it's been realized by a director (Bryan Singer) known for making story-driven, not action-impelled, movies. His smartest move here is trying to strike the right balance between character interaction and fight sequences, both of which are done well.
Singer has also made the most of a limited budget — $70 million, far below that of most summer-blockbuster films. And the film looks like it cost a great deal more than that.
He also benefits from his cast. The performances are surprisingly good, particularly those of McKellen, Stewart, Paquin and Jackman — whose work here should make him a star. (The sole exception is Berry, whose all-over-the-place accent is a minor annoyance.)
"X-Men" is rated PG-13 for comic-book action and violence (including some hand-to-hand combat), partial nudity (supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' revealing makeup), a few crude references and a handful of profanities. Running time: 103 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com