Well, well: finally, something I can sink my teeth into. With the help of a good writing team, a good director (The Usual Suspects) and an excellent mix of good, fun action, mixed with flawless special effects and spectacular cinematography, the X-Men have been raised from the 2 dimensional comic book to the big screen in a big way, and made to fit perfectly into the real world along with the rest of us wimps. I feel handicapped, not having any real knowledge of the characters or the background of the story, but that made it all the more interesting. The challenge for me was to see whether I would understand it, or if it was gonna leave me in the dust of ignorance while all the X-o-philes walked out nodding their heads in reverential understanding of the phenomena that is the X-Men. The cast is a good mix of people, the highlight of which is Jackman, a relatively unknown Aussie who played the Wolverine impeccably with the just the right touch of sarcasm and bite. All the characters seemed genuine, fearful and fearless at the same time, not knowing what to make of their differences from the rest of the human race.
Naturally the war between good and evil is always predictable, and sequels will no doubt be inevitable - I can hear the floodgates of promotional mass marketing opening as I write this. But I have to hand it to these guys: it kept my attention throughout, the special effects and the sets were fantastic and the story didn't completely suck. I might have chosen a different catalyst to the all-out war of mutants against mutants against humans; for that kind of battle to take place, the reasons should have had more meat in them. But that's a fine point compared to the rest. Enjoy this one, it's what I had hoped Batman would have been like.
Chris Fata
North American Ambassador
Trash City Magazine
