Series Review: X-Men
The X-Men comic books were one of the many geek staples of my childhood. Though many cartoons came and went through the decades, it was a long time after I was a kid that any of them seemed even close to capturing the wonder I felt at the original printed stories. As far as movies went, the idea of making an X-Men movie was never at the forefront of
Over the years, there have been a few more of these flicks produced. There were three in the original trilogy that Singer birthed (the last of which was not directed by him) and then one more recently came to us courtesy of director Matthew Vaughn (the guy who directed the amazing Kick-Ass). In addition, a sequel to that film will be arriving next year, the franchise returned this time into the hands of Singer. All-in-all, it’s been a long trip for the X-Men and their fans. But how did all those films really measure up?
X-Men (2000)
In this first installment, we are introduced to the various X-Men, many of them who will be back for the sequels. They have been gathered together by Professor Xavier in order to form a fighting team and use their mutant powers to battle against the potentially evil mutants of the world. Magneto, former friend of Professor X turned ideological enemy, has his own team of super heroes. The two groups go head-to-head with the fate of the world at stake.
This is where it all began. Bryan Singer, not a fan of the X-Men himself, managed to bring together a super hero movie that was worth watching. The story is pretty simple, a basic good versus evil story, but the undertones of fear and discrimination that the original comic possessed are present, which makes up for it. There are many great performances and a casting line-up that makes any geek shiver with delight (Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in particular). For one of the earlier super hero movies, this one was amazing, though newer films have certainly raised the bar.
X2: X-Men United (2003)
The next piece of the franchise, X2 puts a twist on the first film by creating a scenario in which Professor X and Magneto must team up in order to defeat a greater evil. The bad guy in question happens to be an old associate of Wolverine, though the hero can’t remember much of his past. In order to discover more about his unknown past, Wolverine ends up wandering to the bad guy’s lair. A plan to destroy every mutant on the planet is discovered. The heroes and villains must work together to stop it.
In my opinion, this one tops the first film in so many ways. Aside from a few issues (a poor depiction of my favorite character Nightcrawler chief among them), X2 is everything that a second installment of a super hero franchise should be. With nearly all of the characters known by the audience, they do a good job of jumping right into the story. Again, Bryan Singer is in the director’s chair and he does a fine job of it.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
And here is where the franchise falls flat on its face. The third flick in the trilogy basically copies the first film in setting a Team Magneto versus Team Professor X storyline, though this time attempting to revolve around two plots, neither of which mixes well with the other, nor is either explored to the fullest extent. In one arc, a new “cure” for mutants is being produced by the government. In the other, Jean Grey (dead at the end of movie two) returns as The Phoenix, a character well-known to X-Men comic readers. While the first of these arcs would have made a fine basis to the story, trying to shoehorn one of the most beloved storylines in the X-Men series and completely destroying it in the process does nothing but create pain within the hearts of fans. Add to this some shoddy attempts at character development, a terribly uncharacteristic portrayal of Magneto (not McKellen’s fault) and a mess of editing errors. The result is X-Men: The Last Stand, the second worst of the X-Men franchise. For the worst, read on.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
A truly tragic mess of a movie that, while it does retain Hugh Jackman as the character of Wolverine, does absolutely nothing for the franchise. Avoid it at all costs! I can not stress enough how horribly painful this movie is. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the wonderful things people over at rotten tomatoes have to say about the movie.
X-Men: First Class (2011)
This is Matthew Vaughn’s attempt at rebooting the series, though instead of just jumping right back into the layout, he instead takes us into the X-Men’s early days. We join Professor X and Magneto (before he took that title) as they work together to recruit their first mutant students. The enemy this time is Sebastian Shaw and The Hellfire Club. This group of mutants decides they’re going to use their powers to rule the world (as seems to be the case with most evil mutants), so the newly formed X-team must gather and stop them. Some ideological differences arise between Professor X and Magneto and by the end of the story we have the divide that sets the stage for future conflicts between the two and their respective teams.
Though many didn’t enjoy the new spin on the X-Men’s history, I personally felt that this was one of the best of the entire franchise. Vaughn takes many liberties, but nothing story-destroying. It’s a great new start to the franchise and, with the coming of the next film, will apparently be linked into the previous trilogy without messing up their continuity. As a diehard X-Men fan, I really like what Vaughn did and am looking forward to this incarnation continuing.
The next film on the list is X-Men: Days of Future Past. Anyone who is a fan of the comics (or even some of the cartoons) will recognize the storyline that this film will portray. After Vaughn’s amazing First Class flick, I hope that Singer can once again get back into the saddle and pull off something like his did in X2 as opposed to the mediocre mess that he made of Superman Returns. Filming on the movie began just this week, so cross your fingers, X-Men fans.
X-Men poster courtesy of collider.com
X-Men: First Class poster courtesy of collider.com
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