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Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Famke Janssen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry Review:
Last I checked, X-Men was supposed to be a comic book. Certainly not the most philosophically deep form of literature. But I enjoy these kind of movies. They are what I see as nice, light entertainment. Well, hold on to your hats here. X-Men opens with a scene of masses of Jewish people (you know they are Jewish because of the yellow stars) being driven like cattle into the gates of Auschwitz. The scene shows a young boy and his parents being separated amidst the tumult. Subsequently, the boy is rammed on the head with a gun by a Nazi soldier. Well, it's not just a comic book any more. From what I can tell, this scene was meant to account for the "evil" nature of the super villain (Ian McKellen) in this movie. It was supposed to explain his violent reaction to the threat of persecution by humanity (like that needed explanation?). My only question is, WAS THIS NECESSARY?. I answer in the negative.
I'm not sure why this movie couldn't develop their character in some other way - in any other way. Especially in a movie that will likely be viewed by children (which is not to say that children shouldn't be educated about the horrors of the Holocaust - just not by a comic book movie. I understand that McKellen's character's concentration camp past was described in the comic book. But please, just leave that chapter out. The choice to include this scene was irresponsible, offensive, tasteless, and disappointing (and that's without me looking into my thesaurus. Because of the choice to include this highly insensitive scene, I recommend that people don't go to see this movie.
Now that I've vented, I'll talk a bit about the movie. The truth is, this was a fairly enjoyable movie (once my fury from the opening scene subsided). I thought the casting was very well done. Patrick Stewart plays Dr. Xavier, the ultimate good guy. I'm a not-so recovering Trekie, so I love anything Stewart does. But in truth, he was the perfect pensive, philosophical character. Ian McKellan was perfectly dispassionate and diabolical as Magneto. Hugh Jackman, who plays wolverine was very convincing.
The plot held your interest, and there was some interesting food for thought about how people deal with "the other." Of course, this is still a comic book movie. So you really have to trust your own taste on this movie. If you like this kind of movie, X-Men was well done. If you don't go for this sort of movie, there's not much that really separates this movie from other movies like the Batman movies. Go back to my main movie page. Please send questions and comments to Noah Colin Gradofsky at:ncg7@columbia.edu
Rated: PG-13 (but what does the MPAA know?)
Plot: : Marvel Comics comes alive in this story about mutant humans and their internal struggle with how to deal with humanity's hostility toward them.
My Rating: No Rating. I reccomend that no one see this movie (in theaters or by renting).
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