...it's done with such remarkable visual style, you might not notice its want of substance.
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Move over Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, too. The X-Men are back. Sort of.
Based on the Marvel comic-book characters created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the original 2000 film version of the "X-Men" is mostly just that--comic-book material. But it's done with such remarkable visual style, you might not notice its want of substance. In fact, "X-Men" resembles a lot of today's action movies: It involves a boatload of good actors in state-of-the-art technical wizardry, but at its core its characters lack the heart of the aforementioned superheroes. No matter; it didn't stop the movie from being enjoyed by legions of "X-Men" fans, and it's no wonder a sequel was inevitable.
In anticipation of "X-Men 2," those foxy folk at Fox have exploited the first movie all over again on DVD, decking it out on two discs with more bonus items than you can shake a wolverine at and calling the new set, what else, "X-Men 1.5." I love marketing. But before I catalogue what's among the "1.5" Special Edition supplements, let me repeat my feelings about the movie itself. Either bear with this or skip down a few paragraphs to the "Extras."
In typical comic-book fashion (well, it IS based on a comic book), both the premise and the plot of "X-Men" are quite simple, even though the filmmakers do their best to muddle them up, anyway, making the first hour of patchwork developments a chore to piece together. Here's the idea: Mankind, according to evolutionary theory, has taken millions of years to mutate into the species we are today; but what if those mutations could be effected in only a few years? Would not the result be a race of beings with possibly extraordinary powers compared to mere Homo sapiens? Without explaining how these instant mutations could occur (comic books are immune to logic), the story line assumes such things have already happened, resulting in a world of the "not-too-distant future" inhabited by growing numbers of mutant people with unusual capabilities. Actually, it gives the writers a wonderful if flimsy excuse to let loose a bevy of superheroes and super-villains on the world without having to explain how they got that way. I can buy that.
As our story opens a debate is going on in the world community about what to do with the mutants among them. In a passing nod to racial prejudice, some of the world's leaders want mutants to register their status with the government, and such a move is championed by an extreme right-wing senator named Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison). In another part of the countryside we observe various mutants and the trouble they're having trying to conform to normal society. Chief among these people are Logan (Hugh Jackman), also known as Wolverine for obvious reasons when you see him, the movie's most interesting and well-developed character, who has enormous strength, regenerative powers, and metal, retractable claws; and Marie (Anna Paquin), known as Rogue, whose touch is deadly to anyone she encounters. After breezing around with them for a while, we are introduced to Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), also known as Professor X, a kindly chap with extravagant wealth, exceptional extrasensory powers, and a home for wayward mutants. Under the cover of running a school for gifted children, it is Prof. X's desire to help young aberrations of nature understand and control their remarkable powers. It is to the professor's school that Logan and Marie eventually are taken and where the plot begins to assume shape.
Unfortunately, about half the film has gone by before the story begins to gel. The first hour is all exposition and introduction, establishing the identities of the various X-Men and revealing their characteristics and forces. Usually, this is the best part of a superhero movie (M. Night Shyamalan making a whole film out of it in "Unbreakable"), but here there are too many little character preludes to care much about any single one of them. As well as Logan and Marie, there are Scott Summers (James Marsden), known as Cyclops because of the devastating fire in his eyes; Ororo Munroe (Halle Berry), known as Storm for her ability to whip up thunder and lightning; and Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), with a talent for telekinesis, the movement of objects by the mind alone. Why she hasn't a nickname I never found out.
None of these good folk would matter, of course, if there weren't some bad guys to combat, so naturally there is an equal number of evil mutants for them to fight. Turns out that in his youth, Professor Xavier was good friends with a young mutant named Erik Lehnsherr (Ian McKellan), known as Magneto, who eventually got angry with the way the rest of the world viewed his kind and turned to the dark side, waging war against Mankind. So it's Professor X and his group of heroes versus Magneto and his baddies. Trouble is, I found Magneto's gang far more interesting than X's crew. Among Magneto's followers are Victor (Tyler Mane), known as Sabretooth because he resembles a prehistoric cat; Raven (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), known as Mystique for her ability to change form at will; and, my favorite, a repulsive fellow called Toad (Ray Park), who is able to jump great distances (and I always thought toads just sort of waddled), spit venom, and use a twenty-foot tongue to reach out and grab things in an instant. I was disappointed he couldn't induce warts, too, but that might have been a rather circuitous route to besting a foe.
Magneto's nefarious plan is to turn the leaders of the world into mutants at a UN Conference, thereby making them all know what it's like to be different. Actually, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me. Professor X and his spoilsports are out to stop him. Some of the best parts of the movie are the scenes between Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. These two ultra-polished professionals lift the proceedings from the depths of the ridiculous into something almost resembling significance. But not even they can save a script fraught with plot digressions. The opening scene, in a 1944 Nazi concentration camp in Poland, still has me baffled. Something to do with Xavier and Magneto as youngsters first exercising their unique powers. And the references to various experiments on mutants. And where Xavier and Magneto get their money. And how they could build the enormously complex buildings they inhabit without somebody noticing. OK; this is, after all, comic-book fare, and I accept you've got to go with comic-book ideas, so ignore the foregoing.
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[release]10644[/release]