It might surprise the general, non-comic book reading populace to know that "the Uncanny X-Men" and not Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, is the best-selling title in Marvel's repertoire. Perhaps its concept of outsiders who feel alone in the grand scheme of things strikes a nerve. Not only does the outsider concept -- presented in the form of mutants -- make for good comic book material, but it also translates well onto the big screen.
X-Men is a summer blockbuster that cares enough about its fans to respectfully develop them as characters and not setpieces in an action movie. With copious heroes and villains to choose from, it's also a dream come true for younger viewers who will no doubt be playing with the toy figurines (some of the mutants have developed superhero traits based on animals, others have traits based on nature or science). Above all though, the film tells a light, compact story and doesn't let awkward CGI impede complete immersion into its setting (unlike Spider-Man, for instance).
The troubled teen mutant Rogue (Anna Paquin) runs away from home when she discovers how destructive her powers are. She meets a fellow outcast named Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and, together, they are discovered by a super-team led by wheelchair-bound Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Meanwhile, Xavier's former friend-turned-nemesis Magneto (Ian McKellen, who seems to be having the most fun onscreen) is ready to unleash a machine that will spell certain doom for the regular humans on the planet; specifically a meeting of the world's leaders who, admittedly, already seem mutant-ish to begin with in real life anyway.
The movie has an expansive (and, no doubt, expensive) supporting cast, with X-Men such as Storm (Halle Berry), Cyclops (James Marsden) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and shady bad guys including Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Toad (Ray Park), Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), and Bruce Davison, who plays a human senator on a mission to expose mutants for what they are. While no elaborate background information accompanies their screentime, nevertheless their mutant traits are clearly portrayed in alignment with the comics for the most part. Fans will be delighted in the minutiae here, from the flashback sequence detailing Magneto's origins, to a clever way of explaining why Rogue has a streak of white hair. There is a particularly slick line reading by Jackman and Marsden regarding the team's uniforms that is in-joking at its very best.
If X-Men epitomizes the anti-hero, it does so with an unexpected degree of sentiment and empathy. In later scenes when colder characters (Magneto, Rogue, Wolverine and Professor X) engage in honest dialogue with one another, it is a refreshing approach that debunks the notion that an action film must rely on token romances to give it heart. Beyond these four principals, there are one-liners that are openly flirtatious in design, witty repartee and sensual subtext embedded even within some of the fight sequences.
Put on the same playing field as other film adaptations of comic books, X-Men falls in the upper range over efforts such as Hulk and Spider-Man and is on-par with DC's efforts to bring their heroes Superman and Batman to the big screen (at least, the first installments of those respective series). Director Bryan Singer keeps things modern, hip and fun and the end result is a welcome, full-throttle attack on the senses and the imagination.
