X-Men

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Are You Xperienced?
by Nonia Bidness

I am happy to say it has been a good 30 years since I've looked at a comic book. Well, I'm not so happy to say it, but am sure glad its true . I suspect my last comic book experience was "Archie and Jughead" or maybe "Katy Keene" (she had fabulous clothes and hairdos!). I never was an action comic fan at any point in my life. I think my naïveté of the genre stood me in good stead for viewing X-Men. I knew nothing about the characters that were going to be in the movie, I wasn't rooting for the appearance of any favorite, I wasn't critical of plots and casting the way an X-Men aficionado might be.

With my virgin eye, I enjoyed this movie. I had already figured that anything based on a comic book just might be in the arena of fantastic; this really was like a good science fiction piece and not so terribly unbelievable. At least, the premise was acceptable, developed in a manner that followed along without confusion or breaks in continuity. There were really fewer and smaller "holes" in this plot than in many of the more realistic summer fare. Perhaps that goes along with the fantasy - we give this genre more freedom to be "out there."

The characters were fascinating - just to give you the briefest story line, this is about a group of mutants…the rare creatures who discover as children, often, that they have some very unusual (often terrible) talent, power or trait. The character played by Patrick Stewart(beautifully, I might add, and they sure gave his skin a radiant smoothness that was lovely to look at) has compassion for the mutants and has a school for them, to help them cope with their differences and to harness them for appropriate use. Society is biased against and afraid of the mutants (not without cause, of course, as many have truly dangerous "gifts"). And then there is the "bad" mutant factor...Ian McKellen does a flawless job with this role, as he always does. It is amazing that this is the same man who was in Richard III and Gods and Monsters - he really transforms for each of his roles.

I was a bit disappointed with the performance turned in by Academy Award winner Anna Paquin, but it probably was not the acting as much as the directing or script (she was prone to just making faces and kind of moving her mouth when she probably "should have been" saying something, to be realistic). I though Halle Berry's character was not too exciting, but I guess we have to have some sexy women around, don't we? The other characters and actors were all terrific - I don't want to give away who the other "mutants" are, as I enjoyed having the movie "show" them to me.

The best thing about this movie, for me, was the great job done on the special effects. This film was quite visually thrilling. The story was exciting, and appears to have left plenty of possibilities for sequels. Yes, there are weak moments, yes, there are far-fetched themes, yes, there are things one could criticize if one were just determined not to have fun...

This gets a solid 3 stars from me and a recommendation to go see it on the big screen when you are in the mood for a different xperience.

Pros: wonderful visual effects, plausible story line, good acting by most, interesting characters.
Cons: a few little holes.
Bang for the Buck: Worth full-price to see it on the big screen.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Movie Mood: Action Movie/Science Fiction.
Will you see this film again? Yes, but I'll wait for it on video.
Overall rating: 3
Recommends to friends? Yes.

Nonia Bidness July 24, 2000