X-Men

We didn't know what to expect when we rented this DVD. Comic books had never been a big part of my life, and I had probably read fewer than a dozen of the X-Men comics. My wife liked them, and still has quite a few stashed away. How bad could it be, compared to some of the turkeys we've seen?

In fact, it wasn't bad at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it was. Neither the acting, special effects, or production values were the least "comic-ish". The actual story is as plausible as any other action movie, and given the existence of mutants as the one given "what if", it could be argued that the plot follows naturally. Who really knows what motivates a mutant?

Linda tells me that the movie was true to the spirit of the comic books, without slavishly following any one character or episode. Certainly the politician arguing that mutants should be registered is true to political behaviour as it is currently known in North America. I had to chuckle at the political sophistry, and some of the blatant attempts at point scoring.

The studio is probably already planning a sequel. Now that they've gone to all the trouble of creating some good characters it would be a shame to let them fade away. After all, the chief bad guy is locked away in a special prison where his mutant powers are no use. Yet some of his people, especially the shape changing woman, would seem to have the ability and desire to free him. Come to think of it, watching her morph from shape to shape and back to what is essentially blue body paint was one of the delightful parts of the movie.

I'd certainly rent the sequel DVD, and wouldn't object too strongly about seeing this movie again, although I probably wouldn't actually buy the DVD.