Bryan Singer
X-Men

Let's be frank: which is the only Marvel comic-based movie that everyone agrees on? Spider-Man? Probably yes. But also (and especially I add) X Men.

Released back in 2000 (it seems like yesterday watching it with friends after picking it up from Blockbuster when I was still hanging around in Milan...) this is one of those films that can safely be called historical, at least in their genre. If it's true that the very first film of this kind was Blade (which I saw years and years ago but seemed like crap to me, unfortunately...), X Men is the real turning point product.

A record operation for the time in terms of investment, special effects, and promotions; but all this is not enough to make a great movie (see Avatar, another half-crap). The plot of this first chapter of the saga is perfectly fused with the atmosphere of the comic, as much as possible of course.

The cast is worth mentioning: the ever gorgeous Halle Berry as Storm, a superb Patrick Stewart in the key role of Doctor Xavier, an equally commendable Ian McKellen as the old friend/enemy Magneto. But especially a young Hugh Jackman, who with his performance in the main role of Wolverine proposed himself as a rising star of the new Hollywood generation. Today, in fact, he is one of the most celebrated actors on the scene, as well as a sex symbol, which never hurts in these cases.

Telling the movie chronologically risks being heavy and tedious. But how not to mention the brief yet suggestive opening scene on Magneto's origins under the Nazi regime; the settings in which enemies like Mystique, Sabretooth, and the frog Toad appear, characters also worth mentioning, undoubtedly superior to those in the subsequent chapters.

Or the epic final battle that will end with the inevitable happy ending, but without losing tension, and with Magneto being locked in a glass prison. This work, in conclusion, is a not predictable film, well-acted, and well-made as a whole. Of course, the inevitable romantic nuances cannot be missed (they will materialize in the following chapters), but without ever becoming too sugary or banal.

A pinnacle in its genre, a genre often snubbed by purists, but at least in this case wrongly so. One of the main merits of X Men (or faults) lies in having caused the trend of these movies. Many more or less successful productions will follow (the 3 Spider-Men are wonderful, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Iron Man are passable but nothing special; horrible Daredevil and Electra, good the other 2 X Men).

A movie to watch, perhaps with friends, without too much commitment, but that will not disappoint.