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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 318427" data-attributes="member: 23">X-Men (2000) <img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VitDmdV8ckI/U3ro2zIXLeI/AAAAAAAAMg4/fLS7fwRu5Us/s1600/x-men.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Having only seen four X-films (the original trilogy and First Class) I plan to right a wrong by watching the entire series in the weeks ahead. It's  many a year since I've watched this one. My main memory of it is as a film that feels pretty basic but one that sets the scene well. Revisiting it, X-Men looks more impressive than I remembered, though it's does suffer in direct comparison to some of my recently watched MCU projects such as the Avengers and Guardians Of The Galaxy films. A good story goes a long way, however and watching this reinforced that the premise of the X-Men is as good as it gets for me when it comes to team films. I enjoy the angsty outcast angle and the analogies with human rights movements, and this series has three solid anchors in representing the various sides of the argument in Xavier, Magneto and Senator Kelly. With such a huge roster of characters from which to choose, it's right that this film should focus on a select few. The choice of characters, however, is pretty patchy: particularly when it comes to the Brotherhood. Toad and Sabretooth bring nothing of interest, and the changes to Toad in particular are for the worse. Famke Janssen has always felt a little wrong for Jean Grey, and while James Marsden looks absolutely perfect as Cyclops I really dislike the smug, smirking alpha male characterisation that comes across here. I've really disliked this version of Rogue on previous viewings, but found her very endearing this time round. Likewise, Hugh Jackman feels so right as Wolverine I can get past him being far too tall and appearing to speak with an American accent. Halle Berry looks right as Storm, though was barely explored as a character. But that's OK, as the potential is still there at this stage. As an X-Men reader of old, the cameos are very much appreciated. Kitty Pryde's excited me the first time I saw it and still makes me smile. Henry Peter Gyrich is a really nice touch, though I think killing him offscreen before the film even begins limited the possibilities a little when it comes to future films. The opening titles are a litte cheesy, and I don't like the font used for credits which is too pseudo-futuristic and actually makes it look more dated than it is. I really appreciate the film's vision, though, and the choice of opening with a grim image of a concentration camp is a ballsy one, setting this perfectly in the real world of discrimination and genocide. While it's far from the slickest of superhero films, the heart of the comic series is here, and it has to be given credit as the film which made superhero films viable once again in an era where they'd veered off into cheese and camp. It almost certainly laid the pipe for the beast that is the MCU.</blockquote>

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