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Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
Based on the
best-selling comic books, this live-action allegory about persecution and
tolerance revolves around an awesome team of black leather-clad mutants who
become reluctant superheroes. For the X-uninitiated, wheelchair-bound Prof.
Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is the world's greatest telepath who runs a
secret school where gifted youngsters are taught by Storm (Halle Berry), Cyclops
(James Marsden) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and
Rogue (Anna Paquin) are the newcomers. The adversarial evil Brotherhood -
Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos), Toad (Ray Park) - is
led by the strongest and most powerful mutant ever known, Magneto (Ian McKellen),
who captures a conservative U.S. Senator (Bruce Davison) in his determination to
get respect by whatever means necessary. Director Bryan Singer ("The Usual
Suspects," "Apt Pupil") enjoys dark character studies, keeping
the comic-book action taut. And he's obviously been influenced by
"Matrix" effects. The Cerebro, a chamber in which Xavier's
psychic abilities are enhanced, is fascinating, as is Magneto's Lair and the Map
Room, where a six-foot diameter table made of steel pins rises to form a 3-D
topographical map of New York City. The Rogue Effect, which drains a person's
life-force, is impressive and there's an incredible, high-energy, destructive
sequence at the Statue of Liberty. With her scaly blue skin and red hair,
Mystique is eye-candy as a shape-shifter, transforming herself, including
fingerprints and voice, into anyone with whom she comes in contact. On the
Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "X-Men" is a cool, mythic 7. Die-hard
Marvel Comic fanatics may quibble with these movie mutants but fans are out
there and they will come.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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