Rumor has it that if you Google Hugh Jackman movies, you might find Avengers: Endgame amongst them. Having that said, along with the fact that Disney has bought out 20th Century Fox, it is possible that the X-Men will finally make their debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So I figured that I should expand my knowledge on the X-Men franchise as well. Of course, I will be unfairly comparing this franchise to the MCU as I feel that the first X-Men movie is a little rushed.
We open up on the origins of Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, as he was taken to a concentration camp in Poland. As he's taken away from his family he was able to bend the iron gates while he's being dragged away to where the soldiers couldn't get through.
We flash forward to the present, excuse me, the not so distant future, where we see Rogue almost kill a person just trying to have her first kiss. This sets off a collision course that will lead her to Logan AKA The Wolverine. Logan has the powers to rapidly heal from any injury, can extend claws from his fists, and his skeleton is almost made entirely out of adamantium. Rogue can suck the life force of anything and anyone she touches. So physical contact is no longer on the table for her. Her and Logan's path leads to Sabretooth, another mutant who is under the guise of Magneto. Sabretooth tries to attack them but gets interrupted by Storm and Cyclops, two other mutants who can conduct weather at will and shoot lasers out of their eyes respectively. Storm and Cyclops take Rogue and Logan to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters where they are recruited to be taught how to properly control their powers.
Professor X's school is a lot like Hogwarts in the sense that all the students there have heightened abilities based on their mutations ranging from controlling fire to controlling ice to jumping through voids to teleporting through walls. Another mutant on the front lines is Jean Grey who is speaking for the X-Men that they deserve a chance at a normal life rather than be registered like guns.
Senator Kelly, a man on the opposition end, gets a taste of his own medicine as Mystique, a mysterious being who looks almost naked, takes him hostage to Magneto where he radiates his own powers into Senator Kelly's body through a mysterious machine. We learn later that the machine, however, can ultimately kill a person as Senator Kelly's rejected the radiation, causing the cells in his body to break down and he would perish into a blob of water. Since then Magneto has attacked and instead of taking Logan, as was once believed, he has taken Rogue hostage because of her ability to absorb life from other forms. He intended to use her as a transmitter in his machine where he intended to use it to blast the members of the UN Summit meeting held on Ellis Island to make them mutants and suffer the same fate as the mutants have.
Having seen what it has done to Senator Kelly, the X-Men team up to take down Magneto, save Rogue, and prevent the radiation from happening. Throughout the movie Logan has trouble with the fact that he has no memory of his past, and so Professor X was able to uncover the location of an abandoned warehouse, not far from where Logan was picked up, as a possible place where he was experimented on, which explains how he was able to get his entirely metal skeleton. The movie ends with Professor X visiting Magneto in prison playing a game of chess, which ends with Professor X winning and Magneto saying that there is a war still coming and he intends to fight it. Professor X says that he will be right there waiting for him.
I will be honest, this was a decent start to one of the most successful Marvel franchises. The special effects have gone down by the wayside a little bit, but that is not the movie's fault. We have advanced since the movie's release, but that does not mean that it wasn't a bad movie. It was still a lot of fun with the banter between Logan and Scott, AKA Cyclops, over the affections of Jean Grey, which reminds me. Why do all the X-Men have little nicknames in according to their powers with the exception of Jean Grey? I mean, Ororo is Storm because she can conduct weather. Logan is the Wolverine because he acts like a wolverine; he can sniff out the enemy and kill them with his claws. Scott is Cyclops because he can shoot a laser beam out of his eyes. But Jean Grey is Jean Grey. Jean Grey is a telekinetic as well as a telepathic, just like Professor X having his own telepathic powers. But if you put them all together as the X-Men with their names, it is just like listing The Three Stooges, like Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey, like why is her name different? Does she have another name that we know of?
Magneto has a special trait that most Marvel villains don't have: a real motive. It made sense that he would be a Holocaust survivor. We see under stress from being taken away from his parents. But then he turns his hatred from non-Jews to non-mutants. But rather fight to make a place for mutants, like Professor X, he intends to kill non-mutants.
In the beginning, Jean states that mutation is caused by puberty and emotional stress. What about in Rogue's case? Was she stressed about school or something? She kissed her boyfriend and nearly killed him. She was happy. She was euphoric. Why did she try to kill him? Explain that to me.
Like I said, the movie was rushed. Compared to Iron Man, there were too many superheroes. Compared to Guardians of the Galaxy, you barely have enough time to comprehend all the people, their names, their superhero names, their powers. Guardians stripped away all that. Peter went by Star-Lord, but other than that, there's Drax, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.
The X-Men, as a whole, seemed to be more about kicking ass and taking names rather than deal with own issues. If they focused on that, they would be more entertaining. I get it it's frustrating to have the people, you swear to protect, hate you for who you are. I feel a little lied to, come to think of it. Superheroes were created to give us hope and someone to look up to. The comic strips I've seen show them fighting for justice with people off to the side cheering on the heroes. I must have looked at the wrong strips. I'm starting to see it in the MCU too. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. often had characters opposing them saying they aren't keeping the promise they made. Any enhanced individual they come across believe they are going to be locked away from the life they once had, even if they went to S.H.I.E.L.D. for help first. Everybody else just hates S.H.I.E.L.D. for interfering. It's struggling to see our heroes like this. We're seeing that their motives aren't what they used to be, or they weren't good, to begin with. Our heroes are being made mortal and held responsible for the damage they create.
I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return on Friday with another movie. See you then.
Like Movie Thoughts? Check out my new blog, Before I Go See It, where I give upcoming movies a similar taste. I will be getting those Super Bowl trailers out very soon.
Released On: July 14, 2000
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn
Director: Bryan Singer
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.4/10
Awards
Saturn Awards
(Click here to view awards for "X-Men")
Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With X-Men in 5 Minutes or Less
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - The X-Men Trilogy
We open up on the origins of Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, as he was taken to a concentration camp in Poland. As he's taken away from his family he was able to bend the iron gates while he's being dragged away to where the soldiers couldn't get through.
We flash forward to the present, excuse me, the not so distant future, where we see Rogue almost kill a person just trying to have her first kiss. This sets off a collision course that will lead her to Logan AKA The Wolverine. Logan has the powers to rapidly heal from any injury, can extend claws from his fists, and his skeleton is almost made entirely out of adamantium. Rogue can suck the life force of anything and anyone she touches. So physical contact is no longer on the table for her. Her and Logan's path leads to Sabretooth, another mutant who is under the guise of Magneto. Sabretooth tries to attack them but gets interrupted by Storm and Cyclops, two other mutants who can conduct weather at will and shoot lasers out of their eyes respectively. Storm and Cyclops take Rogue and Logan to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters where they are recruited to be taught how to properly control their powers.
Professor X's school is a lot like Hogwarts in the sense that all the students there have heightened abilities based on their mutations ranging from controlling fire to controlling ice to jumping through voids to teleporting through walls. Another mutant on the front lines is Jean Grey who is speaking for the X-Men that they deserve a chance at a normal life rather than be registered like guns.
Senator Kelly, a man on the opposition end, gets a taste of his own medicine as Mystique, a mysterious being who looks almost naked, takes him hostage to Magneto where he radiates his own powers into Senator Kelly's body through a mysterious machine. We learn later that the machine, however, can ultimately kill a person as Senator Kelly's rejected the radiation, causing the cells in his body to break down and he would perish into a blob of water. Since then Magneto has attacked and instead of taking Logan, as was once believed, he has taken Rogue hostage because of her ability to absorb life from other forms. He intended to use her as a transmitter in his machine where he intended to use it to blast the members of the UN Summit meeting held on Ellis Island to make them mutants and suffer the same fate as the mutants have.
Having seen what it has done to Senator Kelly, the X-Men team up to take down Magneto, save Rogue, and prevent the radiation from happening. Throughout the movie Logan has trouble with the fact that he has no memory of his past, and so Professor X was able to uncover the location of an abandoned warehouse, not far from where Logan was picked up, as a possible place where he was experimented on, which explains how he was able to get his entirely metal skeleton. The movie ends with Professor X visiting Magneto in prison playing a game of chess, which ends with Professor X winning and Magneto saying that there is a war still coming and he intends to fight it. Professor X says that he will be right there waiting for him.
I will be honest, this was a decent start to one of the most successful Marvel franchises. The special effects have gone down by the wayside a little bit, but that is not the movie's fault. We have advanced since the movie's release, but that does not mean that it wasn't a bad movie. It was still a lot of fun with the banter between Logan and Scott, AKA Cyclops, over the affections of Jean Grey, which reminds me. Why do all the X-Men have little nicknames in according to their powers with the exception of Jean Grey? I mean, Ororo is Storm because she can conduct weather. Logan is the Wolverine because he acts like a wolverine; he can sniff out the enemy and kill them with his claws. Scott is Cyclops because he can shoot a laser beam out of his eyes. But Jean Grey is Jean Grey. Jean Grey is a telekinetic as well as a telepathic, just like Professor X having his own telepathic powers. But if you put them all together as the X-Men with their names, it is just like listing The Three Stooges, like Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey, like why is her name different? Does she have another name that we know of?
Magneto has a special trait that most Marvel villains don't have: a real motive. It made sense that he would be a Holocaust survivor. We see under stress from being taken away from his parents. But then he turns his hatred from non-Jews to non-mutants. But rather fight to make a place for mutants, like Professor X, he intends to kill non-mutants.
In the beginning, Jean states that mutation is caused by puberty and emotional stress. What about in Rogue's case? Was she stressed about school or something? She kissed her boyfriend and nearly killed him. She was happy. She was euphoric. Why did she try to kill him? Explain that to me.
Like I said, the movie was rushed. Compared to Iron Man, there were too many superheroes. Compared to Guardians of the Galaxy, you barely have enough time to comprehend all the people, their names, their superhero names, their powers. Guardians stripped away all that. Peter went by Star-Lord, but other than that, there's Drax, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.
The X-Men, as a whole, seemed to be more about kicking ass and taking names rather than deal with own issues. If they focused on that, they would be more entertaining. I get it it's frustrating to have the people, you swear to protect, hate you for who you are. I feel a little lied to, come to think of it. Superheroes were created to give us hope and someone to look up to. The comic strips I've seen show them fighting for justice with people off to the side cheering on the heroes. I must have looked at the wrong strips. I'm starting to see it in the MCU too. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. often had characters opposing them saying they aren't keeping the promise they made. Any enhanced individual they come across believe they are going to be locked away from the life they once had, even if they went to S.H.I.E.L.D. for help first. Everybody else just hates S.H.I.E.L.D. for interfering. It's struggling to see our heroes like this. We're seeing that their motives aren't what they used to be, or they weren't good, to begin with. Our heroes are being made mortal and held responsible for the damage they create.
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I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return on Friday with another movie. See you then.
Like Movie Thoughts? Check out my new blog, Before I Go See It, where I give upcoming movies a similar taste. I will be getting those Super Bowl trailers out very soon.
Released On: July 14, 2000
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn
Director: Bryan Singer
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.4/10
Awards
Saturn Awards
- Best Science Fiction Film - winner
- Best Director Bryan Singer - winner
- Best Writing David Hayter - winner
- Best Costumes Louise Mingenbach - winner
- Best Actor Hugh Jackman - winner
- Best Supporting Actress Rebecca Romijn - winner
- Best Young Actor/Actress Anna Paquin - nominated
- Best Supporting Actor Patrick Stewart - nominated
- Best Special Effects - nominated
- Best Make-up - nominated
(Click here to view awards for "X-Men")
Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With X-Men in 5 Minutes or Less
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - The X-Men Trilogy
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