Gushing about X-Men

Before I talk about my re-viewing experience [it's one of those flicks I've seen a bunch of times], I'd like to get into a little background. When I was a kid in the '70s, the only hero comic I was into was The Avengers and my idol was the Scarlet Witch. Then in 1979 my 6th grade boyfriend introduced me to The X-Men, and while the boyfriend lasted about as long as most grade school boyfriends do, my appreciation for this comic endured well into college. Scarlet Witch was joined by Phoenix, Wolverine and Nightcrawler on my list of coolest comics characters ever. When plans for a movie were announced, I anticipated it with uncertainty; I was hopeful, yet painfully conscious of the unending list of really cool things that Hollywood has tried to ruin. I mean, who could bring these characters to life with any believability? Who could translate this amazing world to live action without losing its magic? Who could possibly create a Wolverine that wasn't a weak and mockable caricature?

It turned out that Bryan Singer could. Of course, he had help, most notably the prolific & talented Richard Donner and real life comic hero himself, Stan Lee. I watched X-Men again last night and found it just as engaging as any of my previous viewings. The story kicked ass, comic booky without being campy, and the characters were portrayed wonderfully. So many of the effects were extraordinary, especially Mystique's many transformations.

With one exception, the casting was terrific. Then-unknown [in the US, at least] Hugh Jackman is as close to a perfect Wolverine as I could hope for, and the hair department even got his 'do right without making it look excessively silly. It seems like a small thing, but as with many good works, it's the details that matter. Famke Janssen was an excellent Jean Grey, James Marsden's Cyclops irritated me just as much as Cyclops irritated me in the comics [by which I mean he did good], Ray Park was a delightful & disgusting Toad, and even Anna Paquin, who was lacking the heft of some of her co-stars, impressed as Rogue. While there might be a better actor somewhere out there to play Professor Xavier, Patrick Stewart shone brilliantly. As for Ian McKellen's Magneto, he totally owned that part.

Halle Berry, unfortunately, disappointed. I've seen her in things in which I enjoyed her performance [most notably Monster's Ball], but as Storm, she was flat and uninspired, trying to portray a strong character but lacking the presence to make me believe she actually had the strength to be Storm. As a young girl growing up in a feminist household, I really appreciated the strong female characters in my comics. Marvel did not short-shrift the ladies when it came to heroes. And the character of Storm, while not on my list of personal heroes, was surely a favourite. Unlike Berry, she was most definitely not the weakest part of any story.

Truly, though, I think that's my only complaint with this movie. It stayed true to the characters I loved as a kid while providing excellent entertainment for my adult sensibilities [stop laughing]. Even the things that had high potential for cheese [Wolverine's hair, Magneto's goofy helmet, any number of silly one-liners] were pulled off with style. On a scale of Crapfest to Blow-me-away-awesome, I give it a Double Plus Good.

A preview of my thoughts on X2: holy shit, what a great movie!