X-Men (2000)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Bryan Singer

Writers (WGA):

Tom DeSanto (story) &
Bryan Singer (story) ...

Release Date:

14 July 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Evolution Begins.

Plot:

Two mutants come to a private academy for mutants whose resident superhero team must oppose a powerful mutant terrorist organization.

Plot Keywords:

Mutant | X Men | Superhero Team | Senator | Train

Awards:

11 wins & 23 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Hugh Jackman	...	Logan / Wolverine
Patrick Stewart	...	Professor Charles Xavier
Ian McKellen	...	Eric Lensherr / Magneto
Famke Janssen	...	Jean Grey
James Marsden	...	Scott Summers / Cyclops
Halle Berry	...	Ororo Munroe / Storm
Anna Paquin	...	Rogue / Marie D'Ancanto
Tyler Mane	...	Sabretooth
Ray Park	...	Toad
Rebecca Romijn	...	Mystique (as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos)
Bruce Davison	...	Senator Kelly
Matthew Sharp	...	Henry Gyrich
Rhona Shekter	...	Magneto's Mother
Kenneth McGregor	...	Magneto's Father
Shawn Roberts	...	Rogue's Boyfriend

Also Known As:

X-Men (Canada: French title)
X-Men 1.5 (USA) (DVD box title)
X-Men: The Movie (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37616) | Ireland:12 | Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

A scene appears in a TV spot for the film, but does not appear in the movie, of an extended talk between Scott Summers (James Marsden) and Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) regarding Logan's stay at the mansion. Scott tells the Professor "He's not one of us. There's no way he's going to take orders." Xavier politely replies, "Give him an order worth following. He'll take it." More of this extended scene appears in the official movie adaptation novels and books, but it was cut out of the final film to meet the allowed running time.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight atop the Statue of Liberty, Sabretooth throws Wolverine away from the statue's crown. In the next shot, their positions are reversed, with Wolverine's back to the crown.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Prof. Charles Francis Xavier: [narration] Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zoom (2006)

Soundtrack:

STILL I LONG FOR YOUR KISS

Smart, stylish, and very cool

"X-Men" is a rare treat-- a blockbuster that lives up to its hype and a comic book adaptation that hits the mark.

Along with Tim Burton's "Batman", this stands head and shoulders above all other superhero movies. It's a genre that's usually synonymous with silly, campy, cartoonish crap, but Bryan Singer delivers a long-awaited exception to the rule. "X-Men" is smart, stylish, and very cool... one of the better sci fi/fantasy films of the last decade.

Of course, it helps to have good source material.

The X-Men comics, which originated in the 1960s, are more politically progressive and morally complex than older superhero stories such as "Superman" where the heroes are always right, and truth, justice, and the American Way always prevail. The series is a well-crafted parable about individuality and discrimination. The characters are mutants--struggling to find a place in a society that rejects them. Its primary villain, Magneto, isn't an evil lunatic-- he's a sympathetic character, a misguided revolutionary playing Huey Newton to Professor Xavier's Martin Luther King. The iconic character, Wolverine, is a beer-swilling anti-hero who cares little for ideals and fights only to protect himself and his loved ones. The female characters are as powerful and important as the men, rather than being mere love interests.

Rather than making just another flashy explosion-per-minute-special-effects-extravaganza, Singer practices the lost arts of character and plot development. As a result, the movie has a far greater depth than the average big budget summer flick. The acting is also quite good on the whole. Hugh Jackman, who plays Wolverine, is fantastic--a bona fide Clint Eastwood caliber badass. Some of the dialogue is fairly cheesy, but in the hands of Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart it sounds quite convincing. (Stewart has made a career out of making lame dialogue sound cool.)

Hard-core fans of the comics have complained about the omission of several popular X-Men. This is silly. A movie that gave the background on every character in the comic books would be 6 hours long. There will be plenty of time to develop new characters in the forthcoming sequels. Fans have also complained about the casting of Anna Paquin as Rogue. I disagree. Rogue is unable to touch another human being without harming them--she would not realistically act like a confident, sassy warrior. Paquin did a tremendous job of conveying the fear and isolation that such a young woman would feel. She will undoubtedly grow into the part in future movies.

In the end, "X-Men" is a comic book movie. Superpowers are explained with silly pseudoscientific babble, the plot revolves around a fairly ridiculous take-over-the-world scheme, and names like "Magneto" are spoken with a straight face. Don't read all the glowing reviews and expect Citizen Kane. But don't underestimate "X-Men" either. It is an intelligent movie that people will enjoy whether or not they are familiar with the comic.