'X-Men' – I have many fond memories of Bryan Singer’s first ‘X-Men’ film from the summer of 2000. I recall seeing it with my old friend Martin in my first summer of secondary school and loving it immensely. Many cite ‘Blade’ as the start of the comic-book film rush of the 00’s, but it was ‘X-Men’ which really cemented the blockbuster potential of not just super-heroes, (as ‘Batman’ did that 11 years prior) but intelligent sci-fi/action stories, fantasy worlds of metal claws and laser eyes, but grounded by grey morals and black leather. Such ideology ultimately resulted in 2008’s ‘The Dark Knight’, the biggest cinematic success of the decade. Looking back ‘X-Men’ has obvious targets for criticism, but I embrace them all for forging a new path. The slow pace and muted colour pallet put off people looking for the high-octane thrills of the usual summer fair. It is, alone, quite unremarkable but it set a tone for the decade to come. What really makes the film is the ensemble cast not just of bankable stars, but real dramatic actors like Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. ‘Batman and Robin’ this certainly is not.Of course the focus is on Hugh Jackman’s ‘Wolverine’, the character he is best recognised for and the centre of both the films themselves and their ad campaigns. Funnily enough, ‘X-Men’ focuses too much on Jackman while ‘Origins’ focuses too little. In actually both films contain pretty much the same amount of the character, but in ‘X-Men’ it takes away from the ensemble nature of the comics and reduces main characters like Cyclops and Storm to supporting roles. In ‘Origins’ too much time is spent on random supporting players and never is there a real focus on the internal nature of Logan as a character. Never does the film glance at lines as powerful and interesting as when in 'X-Men' Logan is asked if his knuckle claws hurt. His response is the simple and powerful: "Every time." For what is supposed to be Wolverine’s own movie, it has less character insight than the films before it, and that’s a shame.
The real power the film has comes straight from the comics. The parallels with McCarthyism, the connections between Professor X/Magneto with Martin Luther King/Malcolm X, the present and growing questions of government control, personal liberty and acceptance – problems which Singer is wise enough to not attempt to answer, instead highlighting both sides. ‘X-Men’ is deep in ways ‘Wolverine’ can only dream, but we’ll look closer at that film later.
****
“The war has begun.” - Magneto
‘X2: X-Men United’– From the thrilling White House attack that opens the film, to the dramatic death that closes it, ‘X2’ takes the criticism about the first film being “boring” and throws it out the window, without loosing any of the character and poignancy. ‘X2’ is ‘X-Men’ on crack, a thrilling evolution of the first film and the best lead-in a third could have hoped for. Bryan Singer’s decision to leave the series after this deprived the world of what could have been a stunning trilogy, instead leaving this film un-concluded. (I do NOT consider X3 a continuation of this story, no matter what Fox says to the contrary.) But we shouldn’t focus on the ‘could-have-been’ and instead remember this film for what it was. There is admittedly less consistent pathos than in ‘X1’, but the prison scenes with Xavier and Magneto more than fulfils any previous quota. Characters get more time to develop here, (except Cyclops, who was totally abandoned in this entire series) and as seems to be the rule this sequel is an utter improvement over the first instalment.Much of the ‘Weapon X’ back-story is covered again in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, but without the awesome Brian Cox as the new top villain; Col. William Stryker, to give the scenes weight. He is really missed there, but in full force throughout ‘X2’. There is a genuine feeling of our established safety and divisions from ‘X1’ being totally obliterated. The school is attacked by the army, the ‘X-Men’ team with Magneto, friends turn on friends and the cold grey of ‘X1’ looks more and more certain by comparison. It is hard to believe the follow up to this film became ‘X3’, a tragedy of blockbuster proportions. The effects work is also top-notch, especially the scenes at Alkali Lake and the fight between Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike. Overall this is the crowning achievement of the ‘X-Men’ franchise, lets hope the upcoming Magneto spin-off comes anywhere near it…
*****
*****
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