After watching a lot of animated X-Men stuff, I thought that it was time to watch some live-action movies. I'd heard rumours that the X-Men franchise was rather hit and miss. Well, this was a very solid start.

Not everyone delivers a top performance, but I was so happy that my favorite characters delivered. Hugh Jackman does a relly good and charismatic job as the tough Wolverine coming from a place he doesn't even know himself. He ends up meeting Marie aka Rogue who brings him to Xavier's School for the Gifted. Their relationship is a highlight here.

Magneto gets a lot of star power from the magnificent Ian McKellen and a well done take on his harsh past which leads him onto his dark path in life conflicting with his old friend Xavier who are also given a nice portrayal by Patrick Stuart.

The otherwise talented Halle Berry wasn't as convincing as Storm, I must admit. The booming persona I knew was shifted to a quite monotonous one, and her powers weren't to show before nearing the climax. James Marsden was a good choice as Cyclops, but was kind of the same case as Storm without real punch to the performance.

But despite a few small bumps on the road, I enjoyed X-Men more than I had expected, because the story was actually really engaging when the focus was on the right elements like Wolverine and Rogue and how Magneto fulfills his plan. It's not the usual superhero movie where action and special effects are the main focus, but more like a psychological drama with some hero elements. That makes it stand out among the crowd.

But even though the special effects weren't the main focus they were awesome, hands down! It may be a movie from the year 2000, but back then the effects weren't used as much as they are today, so when they were good they really rocked the screen.

I would recommend X-Men to people who like a well balanced movie with a well told story spiced up with the right amount of action and special effects.

Here's a cinematic rarity: a comic strip getting a successful big screen treatment. It doesn't happen very often, but we're finally at the stage of CGI technology to actually make an effects-intensive movie like this work, and look "right". This is a film never designed to win any awards for the script, direction, or acting abilities, yet instead appeal to the crowds as a fun, exciting way to spend one hundred minutes of your life. And with a film like this, the biggest impact comes watching it on the big screen. I've never been a fan of the X-Men comics or television series myself, which is why I was surprised about enjoying this film. The characters are clear cut, easy to identify with and, most of all, extremely cool. For a blockbuster film like this it's rare to find characterisation, but (gasp) it does occur here, chiefly with the character of Wolverine, who is given most screen time. Hugh Jackman is excellent in the role, bringing the right balance of instability, anger, love, and honour to his character, and he's also very charismatic as well. And that's not mentioning the great big bloody spike things which frequently shoot out of his knuckles.

The rest of the X-Men are familiar, yet due to there being so many of them, are given little or nothing to do. Storm gets to partake in some spectacular hell-raising moments yet that's it. Patrick Stewart is on hand as the wise mentor Professor Charles Xavier, yet is also given little to do aside from roll around in his wheelchair and lapse into unconsciousness at important moments. Anna Paquin puts in a good, heartfelt performance as the shunned Rogue, unable to come into skin contact with another living soul, and we do feel for her situation, but she's the only one. Cyclops has great x-ray vision, but when he's got his glasses on, he's forgettable.

The bad guys are a mixed bunch and seemingly possess little in the way of intelligence. And, there's only four of them. Sabretooth is a big, hairy and powerful guy, yet just seems like a bigger, inferior version of Wolverine. Ian McKellen, as Magneto, seems a somewhat lame leading bad guy, and the decision to make him a three-dimensional and human villain takes away some of the impact of his character. And the sight of him floating around in a cape is guaranteed to raise the odd chuckle. Mystique is visually arresting as the blue-skinned shape shifter, but most of her tricks have been stolen from the liquid metal man in TERMINATOR 2 and countless "body snatcher" films. Finally, Ray Park (better known as the actor under the makeup playing Darth Maul in THE PHANTOM MENACE) is a delight as the purely evil Toad, with a whopping great tongue and the ability to jump about all over the place.

For those expecting action, there is actually not that much, aside from the predictable ending. One standout moment has chaos reigning at a train station, but little else in the way of fighting occurs. As this is a 12 certificate film, we never actually see any on screen deaths occur, and there's hardly any blood or impact to the violence either - here, it's unfortunately glamorised. Wolverine's claws are used to impale only a few people (who survive),which is a bit of a cheat. But the biggest cheat of all is the film's cop-out ending, predictably paving the way for a sequel, which leaves most of the bad guys alive and the fate of the others unknown.

This film is definitely worth watching for the special effects alone, as they easily surpass the overdone nature of the ones in something like THE PHANTOM MENACE. They're also almost constantly on screen, and most effective when they occur in "normal" situations when you don't expect them. My particular favourite was when one unfortunate man dissolved into water, or a moment where one character squeezes between cell bars and has his eyes bulge out alarmingly. And then there's all manner of comic-book explosions, lightning, lasers, and big clouds of vaguely threatening white stuff (no, I have no idea what it was supposed to be either). The only complaints come from the occasionally poor editing and the open-endedness of the finale. Otherwise this is well worth a watch and a nice, satisfying piece of light entertainment.

Not one of the best Superhero films but a long way from one of the worst. While with imperfections and better was to follow in the franchise, X-Men is a good film and a solid start though with a yet-to-properly-find-its-feet feel. X-Men is well-made, the special effects while not mind-blowing are great, the film was slickly shot and edited and the dark, moody visual style worked wonders. Michael Kamen's music score had those grand, mysterious, rousing and haunting qualities that really add a lot to the film's atmosphere. Apart from the odd cheesy moment the dialogue is smart and taut with some subtle humour that thankfully did not feel out of place, and Bryan Singer shows that he does know how to direct an action sequence, tell a good story and not let the special effects overwhelm everything, a solid directing job indeed. The story, while simple compared to what was to follow in the succeeding films, is compelling and doesn't try and take itself too seriously or like a joke. The character exposition was nicely done on the whole and doesn't drag things down too much, Cyclops, Storm and Toad are underdeveloped but Wolverine and especially Magneto(who actually has depth to him rather than being a clichéd villain) are interesting characters. The relationships between the characters were also believable, Wolverine and Rogue's was a standout. And the story didn't feel like it was second fiddle to the action sequences, which weren't big and bold as such but were tightly choreographed and performed with spirit and passion. Admittedly though the Statue of Liberty climax while strikingly filmed is on the silly side at times, but it was fun too. The cast are mostly very good, apart from a stiff James Marsden(he and Famke Janssen's chemistry was very bland),a monotone Tyler Mane and Halle Berry and Ray Park also felt a bit bland. Hugh Jackman however shows great charisma as the lead character Wolverine and has a powerful screen presence, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos is a sexy and icy Mystique, Anna Paquin did bring a feistiness to Rogue and Famke Janssen is fine. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen promise much on paper, and both of them deliver, Stewart brings a cool, classy command to the screen as Professor X but even better is McKellen, who is certainly menacing but gives Magneto a sympathetic edge. To conclude, a good film and a solid start to the franchise. 7/10 Bethany Cox