Welcome to the Galactic Theater, where we'll explore the works of master manipulators of light waves, examine the themes brought to play, and critique the final products of months of hard work.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.

That said, on to the review!

Mankind is evolving in ways no one could ever have suspected: in leaps and bounds, with genetic mutations or aberrations resulting in strange abilities that no ordinary man or woman should ever possess. And for a nation--no, a species--that has always feared what it could not understand and hated what it feared, these "mutants" pose a threat to the survival of the very race that has created them. And with that hate comes the ugly reactions that once resulted in the Ku Klux Klan, and the internment camps of World War II, this time in the form of the Mutant Registration Act. And no voice is more supportive or louder than that of Senator Robert Kelly. But while the senator is all for rounding up every last mutant in the nation, there are those who would gladly destroy all of humanity to protect the rise and evolution of the mutants, a.k.a. Homo superior. Most prominent of these are the mutants known as Mystique, Toad, Sabretooth, and Magneto: the Brotherhood of Mutants. But there are also those who would protect humanity from rogue mutants, by training young mutants in the responsible use of their abilities, and by smoothing the reception of those mutants into mainstream human society. Their leader is Charles Xavier of the Xavier Institue for Gifted Youngsters, and they are the X-Men.

Now, Magneto has a plan to ensure that mutants will be accepted into society, and it is a simple but deadly plan. Will mutants be discriminated against if every single person is a mutant him or herself? First to feel the touch of accelerated evolution is Senator Kelly himself, having been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Brotherhood. But Magneto has no intention of creating mutants one at a time...the effort to power his special evolution-inducing machine would kill him. For that he needs a special mutant, and he knows exactly where to find that one.

Up in northern Alberta there is a man who fights like a wild animal, with a ferocity that rivals the animal whose name he has adopted: Wolverine. And this particular man has a singularly unique mutant ability: an instantaneous healing factor that enables him to survive practically anything, from the self-inflicted stab wounds needed to escape from imprisonment to the extension and retraction of his adamantium claws from beneath his skin. Not to mention being catapulted a great distance after crashing his truck into a tree (or a tree crashing into his truck). Or being thrown into a bunch of trees by a man even more bestial than himself. Or being flung nearly the entire length of a train car to crash into the other end. The question on everyone's mind is plain: what does Magneto want with Wolverine?

Long-time Marvel and X-Men fans will definitely love this movie. Not only does it bring a popular comic book series into live-action (as opposed to animation), it does so in such a way as to make it seem more likely to happen--and therefore more believable--than some of the movies and television series the purportedly portray real life accurately. Maybe it is because of that aspect of fantasy and "obvious" unreality that allows viewers to more readily accept it as being possibly real.

Long-time Marvel and X-Men fans may also find the movie slightly disappointing and/or confusing. After all, the movie doesn't quite follow the chronology that the comic followed (and continues to follow). Cyclops and Jean Grey, for example, were two of Xavier's first students, but one of their classmates was the Iceman. In the movie, they are still two of Xavier's first students, but now they are teachers at the Institute and Iceman is one of the students currently enrolled there. How weird is that? But, on the other hand, having this new storyline which is somewhat connected but mostly unrelated to the comic books makes the movie an enjoyable introduction (to those experiencing X-Men for the first time) and alternative presentation (for long-time fans) to the X-Men.

One of the best parts of this movie was the casting of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier. He has the commanding presence he incorporated into Jean-Luc Picard, as well as the calm understatement which has seemed to be Professor X's trademark character trait throughout the comic series. He plays opposite the likewise well-cast Ian McKellen, who as Magneto has everything one could ask for in a super villain, from the fierce expressions to the arrogance of his tones to the condescension towards everybody else. These two gentlemen do a good job of leading their opposing teams against each other.

I really only have one problem with this movie, or rather to any movie that tries to incorporate humans flying through the air exclusive of an airplane or other vehicle. The actors almost always come out looking like they're marionettes dancing to anybody's tune. Which, given the fact that they are almost always strapped into harnesses to get them airborne, is a tolerably accurate description. And the resultant landings always seem awkward and broken. Isn't there any way to smooth these things out?

X-Men brings yet another comic book to the big screen (think Superman, Batman, Blade, etc.) and live action. And while some movies struggle to adhere as closely as possible to the original text, this is definitely one movie that has established its own origins that even the X-Men comic creators can appreciate and enjoy.

Interested in buying this video? You can! Just follow the link to order the VHS version or the DVD version. You can also visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.

Interested in buying this video? Unfortunately, it isn't available...yet. It may become available next year, but there are no guarantees. Your best bet would be to find out if it is playing at an academic theater or in a film festival somewhere. In the meantime, you can visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.

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