X-Men
I can’t be the only fanboy who likes Bryan Singer’s original X-story?
It’s often felt like that since the “Usual Suspects” director first brought Marvel’s mutants to the screen 10 years ago, beginning the modern renaissance of comic book films. Yes, there’s a lot here that didn’t get ironed out until later films (like the Wolverine-Sabertooth relationship, which had to wait until last year’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”), but the heart of Singer’s film is in the right place.
In this case, it’s the duality between Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen), and the friendship between Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, who became a household name rightfully) and Rogue (Oscar winner Anna Paquin), which is the driving force of David Hayter’s screenplay. Yes, Singer would up the ante big-time and create a classic with 2003’s “X2: X-Men United,” but he delivered just enough intrigue and action to get the ball rolling again (and build on the slight success- for others, not me- of 1998’s “Blade”) after “Superman” and “Batman” flamed out for DC.
The story Hayter and Singer tell is at once self-contained, and also the start of a great universe, with a lot of stories. The first trilogy that started here and ended with 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand” was about the battle between Xavier and Magneto, the battle for the future of mutants, and, well, a lot of other stories that didn’t quite get their due. (**Clears Throat** Dark Phoenix…Storm)
Still, Singer may not get all the facts right (but come on fanboys, you guys should know all about ret-conning by now), but the story he tells draws you in, especially when Rogue first finds herself in Canada, where Wolverine is spending his time fighting for money in a bar. After he’s kicked out for showing his claws, Rogue tags along, only to have the two attacked on the road by Sabertooth and Toad (the great Ray Park), who are after one of them, but it’s not until Rogue and Wolverine have been saved and taken to Xavier’s School for the Gifted that anyone can figure out which one, and for which purpose.
Singer has a great cast to work with, which also includes Halle Berry, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Bruce Davison, but it’s his way with moody action and suspense that really makes “X-Men” work. From the battle at Grand Central Station to the fight at the Statue of Liberty, Singer and his long-time cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel create visual marvels (including an opening scene set in 1944 Poland that gives us a glimpse as to where Magneto’s worldview comes from, as well as our first look at Cerebro) that play with light and shadow evocatively. And Michael Kamen creates an underrated score that delivers most successfully in the emotions it evokes in Wolverine and Rogue’s relationship.
Still, Singer’s movie- and its’ first sequel- continue to work best when they stay close to the characters, and what challenges this world puts in their way. That’s what resonated strongest for me in 2000. Watching it again today, that’s what works best still. The same can be said for every great Marvel movie we’ve seen since.
