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Comic Book Movie Rewind

X-Men - 2000

By Alexandrea CallaghanPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Next up on comic book movie rewind we have the original X-Men. Now this poor team has been through a lot as far as adaptations go, the original films as I recall were not truly terrible unlike their shifted timeline counterparts. The first of the trilogy was released in 2000 and was a phenomenally casted film. The acting was never anyone's issue with these films. However it has been almost a decade since I’ve watched these so let’s see how these hold up.

We get background into Erik right away, in a way that was super important. Considering the MCU’s persistence on erasing Jewish people from their characters, opening on a scene of families being ripped apart and shoved into an internment camp was not only a great representation decision by Fox but it was also a great story decision. If you know anything about the X-Men then you know that the reality of the struggle between humans and those born with the X gene is about race, oppression, fear and coexistence. Making the themes super obvious right out of the gate is what some people need to really understand a meaningful superhero story.

This was really the beginning of the hero and the “villain” having the same goal but drastically different approaches in a superhero setting.

I do believe that one of the main gripes with these movies is that they nerfed the hell out of Rogue, now she is one of my favorite characters so I understand the disappointment but the adaptation didn’t actually bother me. The context for that is that I was very small when these movies came out so this was my first introduction to Rogue, I much later fell in love with her comic book counterpart, though I understand the frustration of not being able to see your favorite character at full power for multiple movies (check how many articles i've written on Scarlet Witch).

The scenes with Wolverine and Rogue make me happy, their big brother-little sister relationship is one that I really love. The sabertooth scene where Storm and Cyclops save these two is really wonderful, there isn't any unnecessary dialogue, and it really relies on the cinematography and the acting.

Anyone who hated Hugh Jackman as Wolverine can suck it because he was amazing, the fact that he’s “too tall” really, really does not matter.

Halle Berry’s long, blond wig in this movie is aggressively awful. Patrick Stewart as Professor X gives me life, and I just realized they did a recast for Kitty Pride when she became relevant.

Rebecca Romajin is absolutely amazing as Mystique and the makeup/CGI job in these movies is so good, and consistent (unlike the shifted timeline versions where she literally changed colors in every freaking movie). Oh the 2000s CGI, specifically when Magneto fires up his machine.

Turning the senator into the thing that he hates was genius on so many levels.

The animosity between Scott and Logan was built in very well, added bonus of it being comic book accurate and kind of an essential part of their characters.

Logan going to find and help Rogue is such a beautiful moment, he comforts her, gives her hope and offers her safety, it's just so well acted from the both of them and wonderfully written.

The showdown between Erik and Charles actually gives us a lot, there's some insight into their relationship and how well they know each other. This scene again builds amazing tension with very little dialogue, whether you agree with it or not it's definitely a stylistic choice, one that I really love. Show don’t tell is beaten into writers for a reason, David Hayter really understood the assignment (the screenwriter for Multiverse of Madness did not).

I just want to point out that the mutant registration act and the accords are the same thing, they are literally both influenced by what the Nazi’s did to the Jews. They both require superhuman registration, they are both immoral and dehumanizing and being on the side of either makes you a dumpster fire.

I feel like these films and the shifted timeline films are the difference between what good acting can and can’t do. Both casts were impeccable, and though these films had flaws and corny dialogue the core of the films is good, while with the shifted timeline movies no amount of good acting can save the bad storytelling, underdeveloped characterizations and inconsistent canon.

Overall I think the setup done in this film is very well done, that characters grow and develop in their relationships but it still leaves room for further exploration. I also appreciate that this movie is an hour and a half long. I'm a firm believer that if you can’t tell your story efficiently then you aren't capable of telling it at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the use of actual acting and light dialogue to tell this story and I really enjoyed it. I don’t think it's the pinnacle of comic book movies but it's still very good.

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About the Creator

Alexandrea Callaghan

Certified nerd, super geek and very proud fangirl.

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