x-men

this is a landmark film. x-men was the first modern comic book movie to find success, which has lead to the explosion of other comic book movies over the past ten years. directed by bryan singer, this film made superheroes a legitimate subject for films. the story follows wolverine as he discovers the school for mutants, which team up to fight against the villain magneto. this film lead the way for two more sequels, and the recent wolverine prequel (which doesn't in anyway match up story wise to this one...). what makes this film work is the excellent cast and singer's ability to make a real world for these extreme characters to live in. he does an amazing job of finding the deeper themes to their stories, that of 'a stranger in a strange land', and being an outcast while trying to help those who hate you. we follow wolverine as he begins to realize that he doesn't have to face the struggle alone, we see rogue as she comes to terms with who she is and tries to except it, professor x. as he tries to make peace, magneto as he tries to make war, and senator kelley as he tries to exploit the situation. each of these stories create a layer of the film and all tie together to show how comic book movies can be more then men in tights. though this film still struggles with still being a bit over the top (such as sabertooth and toad, and the really lame plan of magneto's), it still has enough ties to the real world to make it work. singer, in the film's sequel, overcomes this problem later, it is still a huge barrier keeping this movie from being as great as it is trying to be. it is a really good introduction to the x-men world, but by no means flawless.