X-Men

Review by Garnet Brooks

This first X-Men film is directed by Brian Singer. Its cast includes Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Jannsen, James Marsden, Halle Berry, and Anna Paquin. The film is one of several comic book adaptations that manage to be excellent.

The X-Men are comic book mutants. One of the constant sources of weirdness in translating comics to film is the need to explain the costumes and names. The makers of this film wisely decided to minimize the use of the comic book names. Thus, Wolverine is more often called Logan. Rogue is referred to as Marie at times but more often is actually called Rogue. Magneto is Eric and fortunately for actor Ian McKellen the character only has to appear into that silly magenta cap intermittently. Patrick Stewart gets to wear nice, tasteful blue pin-stripped suits most of the time. The modified sun glasses James Marsden wears only make him look slightly campy.

The story begins in a concentration camp during World War II where young Eric discovers his ability to bend metal while crying and trying to get to his family. They are lead away to the crematorium and only he survives. The bereft Eric becomes embittered and misogynistic. He has lost faith in mankind early on and is scheming to advance the cause of the mutants at the human race's expense. Charles Xavier has known Eric many years. Instead of becoming disaffected he has spent his time building a school for mutants and striving to protect them in less radical ways. Xavier can project his thoughts into the minds of others and influence them. His protege Jean can do something similar.

Many years after Eric's horrible experiences, in Mississippi a young girl is realizing that she has mutant powers. This is Marie. She too discovers her powers in a horrible way. The first boy she loves is nearly killed because she kissed him. Marie flees far away to the north where she meets Logan. He is older and has been wrestling from time to time to make money. Logan does not remember much about his past but he knows some terrible experiment was conducted on him. Whatever it was it left him with a metal clad skeleton and razor sharp metal claws that extrude when he becomes threatened. Logan and Marie are attacked by Sabertooth a henchman of Magneto. They are rescued and taken to Xavier's school.

There are two battles brewing: the one between Magneto's forces and Charles Xavier's and the one between mutants and the humans who want to destroy them all. This latter group is spearheaded by a powerful senator who wants to make all the mutants register. These people want to exclude mutants from public schools and presumably from public life. No clear parallel is drawn in this film but in the background one waits. Eric, we presume, was Jewish. It was the fascist agenda of Hitler in World War II to destroy all the Jews. This was termed the final solution: annihilation. It began by making Jews wear badges on their arms. They were closely monitored before they were forced into labor camps and crematoriums. This is not stated but what might be in store for the mutants is a long slide down this slippery slope. What begins with registration might turn in time into annihilation. The mutants are different and people fear them. Would the policies of people like the senator lead in time to genocide? This may be a part of reasoning of Magneto. He has clearly decided that humans are expendable. He has a plan that will turn normal humans into mutants. It is unclear if Magneto knows or cares but Xavier learns that the process will kill the people subjected to it. The film nicely sets up these conflicts and the battle is played out in and around the Statue of Liberty.

The film has sweeping conflicts and good special effects. Rogue winds up being the hardly helpless damsel in distress and the X-Men fight to save her. The X-Men have a great aircraft to tool around in while they are fighting evil. Magneto has a whirling giant magnet that produces an ethereal wave. Xavier has the best toy. It is a circular chamber with a thin metallic walkway leading to an admittedly dorky looking skullcap which he puts on when he wants to find all the mutants. One of the henchpeople is Mystique in dark blue rubberized bodysuit. She poisons Xavier and the other X-Men have to band together to save Rogue.

This one disc DVD set has less in the way of special features than some. It has a nice Brian Singer interview though. The film is a science fiction classic and well worth watching.