“X-Men“ was brought to fans in 2000 with what seemed like a great start for Fox and the Mutants on the big screen. Along with the Mutants came: Wolverine, Rouge, Jean Grey, and Professor Exavior just to name a few. They were all introduced with these powers that made each of them unique and usable in their own special way without making one seem unlikeable or powerless. Each also had a problem but solved it by the end this was excluding Wolverine who just wanted to be alone in his aimless walk.
The first act of the movie has Wolverine finding Marie (known as Rouge) who ran away from her home after putting her boyfriend in a coma with a kiss they shared. She runs away and ends up going from Mississippi to Canada in a time not specified in the movie. When she gets into Canada she does not like what she sees and questions the driver who locks the door and leaves. Then, while questioning myself on what is happening, they finally show why she is in Canada and why it was important, the plot needed Wolverine! Wolverine is the one that shows his powers in the bar and everyone in it. Then he drives away in his mobile home and trailer, Rouge not far behind jumps in the trailer and hitches a ride because she thinks that Wolverine will not be scared of her and the power she has. He discovers she is in the back and kicks her out just to stop and let her in the truck 20 feet down the road. This was a great beginning for Rouge and Wolverine and all but besides for showing the powers and introducing that one of them is wanted by the Brotherhood what really came out of the act?
The Second act shows Wolverine and Rouge ending up at Professor X’s School for Gifted Youngsters where they meet Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm. Those three students came to him at a young age and were some of his first students that stayed around and decided to teach with the professor. All of them are given a small background but only Cyclops and Jean are explored further with having a relationship where they are engaged. After a while of Rouge being in school, however, Mystique came and said to her that the professor was mad at her, so Rouge decided to run away. This was all in the grand scheme of the Brotherhood of Mutants and turning all the world leaders into Mutants. The plan I guess was really good but the movie made it seem over complicated and annoying as the biggest plot point.
The Third and final act has Rouge being captured by the Brotherhood and brought to the Statue of Liberty for the final part of the plan to turn all of the world leaders into Mutants. The X-Men and Wolverine then head off to save all the world leaders from dying a fate that was like the senator that died earlier in the movie. Wolverine then complains about the suit and Cyclops asks if he would rather have Yellow Spandex, and this to me is a really nice nod at the comics where they have Yellow Spandex suits instead of the Black suits in the movie.
I loved the movie overall but some things just bothered me more than others. First, some plots seemed over complicated. Finally, the movie also seemed to jump fast into it and did not slow down at all, in the hour and 45 minutes it was on it felt like 55 minutes because of the limited plot. I guess it being entertaining could shorten the time but I think it was because of the fast and very shallow plot at points. I did, however, love the movie and what they were able to keep from the comics as sources, some of the scenes were also improvised by the cast who changed some of their lines.
