X-MEN - An Overview of the First Trilogy

Part One

An X-Men movie was always on the cards, but the technology of filmmaking needed to catch up before it could be done justice. The script went through a coupla dozen rewrites. The last including two lines from the respected screenwriter/producer/director Joss Whedon. His draft was considered too full of pop culture references. Pity.

The plot of film is fairly simple; use Wolverine and Rogue as an introduction the X-Men, whilst Magneto and his brotherhood of mutants plan to change the world's leaders into mutants.
The casting of X-Men was typically complex, with many actors either approached or tested for key roles. I wasn't happy with the initial casting of Dougray Scott. It's not that I don't like the actor; I just couldn't see him in the role of Wolverine. By some chance, a relative unknown got the part; Hugh Jackman. At first I wondered what was going through the minds of the producers. He's 6 foot! Wolverine in the books is short and described by Sabretooth as a "runt". Jackman was more known for his singing prowess in musicals like Oklahoma too. So, I wasn't sure what to expect. Teaser pictures and ultimately the teaser trailer wiped away any fears. This Jackman guy looked good and, apart from a dodgy growl moment at the beginning of the movie and a couple of visibly self-conscious ad-libs of the word "Bub", he did "bang-up job".

I had no problem with the rest of the cast initially, although I was eventually disappointed in both Storm and Sabretooth's portrayal once I gotto see the film. Halle Berry improved in X2 but was awful in the first film. The script didn't help. Her lines left little to work with, despite Joss Whedon's revision. "You know what happens to a toad when it's hit by lightning..." was not the light hearted off hand remark Whedon had intended and was delivered with a casual indifference. Berry's attempts at doing an African accent, whilst staying true to the character's origin, didn't suit Berry who has a naturally pretty voice anyway.

Sabretooth looked weird. Tyler Mane did his best, but the portrayal wasn't what I expected. In the books, Sabretooth, or Creed, wasn't just muscle, he was as intelligent as Wolverine but much more devious. This did not show at all in the movie. Sabes ended up being one of Magneto's henchmen. Mystique on the other hand was a total surprise. On the page she wore a white, revealing dress. The movie Mystique is buck naked, apart from the strategic placement of scales. I'd rather have had a little more of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' great looks come through the make-up, facially, but they made her look quite alien. Luckily, we got to see her looking "normal" in X2. The other bad guy, Toad, had little time to shine. Ray Park also did well with very little and managed to inject the role with character.

Patrick Stewart was born to play Xavier. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the role. Ian McKellern was a revelation. Magneto always looked far too young in the comics. McKellern played the role with just enough smarm. He wasn't blessed with the best lines either. "Are you sure you saw what you saw?". The best thing about the script, was McKellern's delivery.

I wasn't expecting to like Anna Paquin's Rogue, but Paquin played the role with a sympathetic vulnerability. Pity about the attempt at a Southern accent.

I'm still not sold on Famke Janssen as Jean Grey. Having her as "Dr" Grey was kind of odd anyway, but she didn't come across convincingly as a woman who needed to keep her powers in check. The chemistry between Jackman and Janssen was almost non-existent. Still, it could have been Julianne Moore, so should be grateful.

Thankfully, there was plenty of action to keep us amused. The first appearance of Wolverine had me and other fan boys in a spin. The first time those claws appear you know Bryan Singer means business. Although the metal sound effects are a bit cheesy, the cage fight is handled well for the feature's classification. The Wolverine/Sabretooth battle, on the statue of Liberty is well directed.

Overall the first X-Men movie seems rushed and some of the logic suffers as a result. Originally, it was clear that Storm and Cyclops were tracking Sabretooth, who in turn was tracking an unknown mutant. Sadly, in the finished film they just turn up out of nowhere. A good scene shown in TV spots was missing too; when Cyclops complains that Logan won't follow orders, Xavier corrects him and says that he'll follow an order if it's worth following. The effects of the mutant wave were shoddy, and I gather that they weren't happy with the post production of this. That's not to say that I don't like X-Men, far from it. The movie just feels like it should be a half hour longer. Take away the adverts and the movie's short of 90 minutes.

I still give the movie 8/10 for the Wolverine scenes alone.

**Wayfarer continues his look at the X Trilogy with X-2, soon!**