MCU Rewatch - X-Men

[sonotadream]

X-Men (2000) dir. by Bryan Singer

Written by: Tom deSanto, Bryan Singer, David Hayter

Starring; Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Ramijn, Bruce Davison

Synopsis: In a world where mutants (evolved super-powered humans) exist and are discriminated against, two groups form for an inevitable clash: the supremacist Brotherhood, and the pacifist X-Men. (from imdb.com)

Starting a new project, where I watch the MCU. Starting with X-Men, because everyone’s coming back for Avengers: Doomsday. Will I be done before Doomsday comes out? Not likely. But I may finally finish that sweater I started two years ago…

 

Did I watch it when it first come out? Yep. I’ve been a X-Man fan since watching the animated series growing up, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see them in the big screen.

 

Highlights: the cast, obviously.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen work perfectly as Professor X and Magneto. Their tense confrontation at the train station is probably the best scene in the movie.

Hugh Jackman is still playing Wolverine for a reason. It’s nice that one of Wolverine’s characteristics they chose to highlight it’s his rapport with teenage girls.

It’s overall an entertaining movie. The effects are good, the story is coherent and the movie holds up.

 

Worldbuilding notes: mutants are a know entity at the start, although it bothers me that there's a big generation gap between Xavier and his first students - no middle aged mutants?

 

Little things that stood out: The moment when Cyclops introduces himself to Wolverine looking like the perfect boy scout, only to get rebuffed... of course, he hates him forever.

Wolverine warms up to Scott when he finds the “turbo” setting in his bike.

The way the team acts in the final act - that's their first real field mission, right?

This is bringing future knowledge, but the way Sabretooth is obsessed with Wolverine and his army tags - does he know they're brothers?

 

The Plan: even if there weren’t fatal side effects, I don't think Magneto's plan would work. Turning all the world leaders into mutants wouldn't

 

The other stuff: Halle Berry doesn't get a lot to do as Storm. And, as someone who usually doesn't notice these things, her wig is kinda bad.

Not sure if Anna Paquin is doing a southern accent (not sure if I'd recognize it, tbh)

The love triangle stuff between Jean/Scott/Logan is meh. Logan relentless hits on her, mostly annoys Scott, and, at the end, Jean is like, maybe into him?

 

Ranking (for now):

1. X-Men (2000)