MovieChat Forums > X-Men (2000) Discussion > this really hasn't held up very well

this really hasn't held up very well

posted 9 years ago by mrrockey
10 replies | jump to latest

After watching it again recently on TV, I gotta say, it really hasn't held up well at all. While it deserves a certain level of respect for the fact that it made superheroes seem cool again after the debacle of stuff like Batman & Robin and Steel(though frankly, I'm much more inclined to declare Sam Raimi's Spider-Man as the real kickstarter to this massive superhero craze), it really isn't all that good simply as a FILM.

The problem is, X-Men's story just isn't very interesting. Or at least, it's just not told very well. While the general premise is fine, the way the plot is structured and written just doesn't work for me. What mainly bothers me is how uninvolved the protagonists are. The entire film is just the Brotherhood of Mutants doing something to them, so the X-Men reacts and gets their asses kicked. While I like seeing Magneto manipulate others to fall into his scheme, I hate how the X-Men never actively go out to pursue the mystery until the very end. All they do is wait for him to do something to them, and then they might pick up a clue or two when Magneto directly tells them and then FINALLY, would they do something. It's just so boring to watch and it feels like nothing but setup.

Speaking of the X-Men getting their asses kicked, that happens way too much in this film. While it's nice to see our protagonists in genuine peril here and there, it's lame how that's what happens the whole movie. When they go to the train station, they get their asses kicked. When they go to the Statue of Liberty, they get their asses kicked. What's even worse, is that there's no proper fight scene until the very end(unless you count Wolverine fighting the bald guy in the ring), they get wiped out in seconds every time before. Even if they had to be defeated in order for the story to progress, couldn't there be at least one proper fight scene? And when there finally is action, it's just so forgettable and poorly directed.

Then there's the tone. X-Men took itself quite seriously for the time, with a pretty dreary color palette in places and a removal of the silly costumes in place of leather suits. This wouldn't have been a bad thing, but the movie just looks and sounds so flat as a result. The cinematography is bland and uninteresting, the score is completely forgettable, and it feels way too slow to ever be exciting.

I would say that the film is expertly cast(maybe with the exception of Halle Barry) and there's the occasional nifty visuals, but outside of that, the film is bland, slow, uneventful, poorly paced, flatly directed, and all-around just kinda boring. 5/10

[–] AndrewGS 9 years ago

I like the film a lot (especially the cinematography) but it's true that there was a lot of set-up and it didn't use Cyclops, Jean or Storm very well. But having a lot of characters, let alone also with a relatively short runtime, is always difficult and it established Xavier, Wolverine, Rogue and the villains pretty well.

I thought Wolverine getting owned by Magneto in their first encounter made Wolverine's later fights with Mystique, Sabretooth and Magneto more interesting but agreed that the other X-Men should have been a lot more effective in action at both the train station and Statue.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

It's a lot better than most of the recent Marvel & DC films so I'd say it's held up very well.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4497) 3 years ago

So one’s preference for this older film to the new unkewl stuff is what makes it hold up well even though for over a decade many have said the film shows its age. Lol. And no, many who say it’s dated don’t exactly say it’s a weak film now… it just doesn’t pack the punch it used to in the eyes of said many. I would dare to agree with that.

Now the opening scene holds up very well, sure. It’ll never age. But the rest of the film, while solid, hell no touches the recent best Marvel and even DC stuff. (And in some aspects, not even some of the lesser.) The X-Men franchise alone had much better offerings later on. But subjectivity, ya know? I mean films like Logan, Days of Future Past and First Class are highly regarded, they’re considered to be the best of the franchise by so many. Those like you, of course, disagree. In any case, safe to say in the majority you are not. But that’s okay, the kool crowd has got your back here.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

Deleted’s post is what is known as “damning with faint praise.” “Hey, the tripe in this buffet is awful, but at least it’s better than the dog shit.”

You can do better than that. Do so.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (18433) 3 years ago

I still like it a lot. Plus the next two films I think are pretty solid.

[–] HAL9000 (935) 2 years ago

i just rewatched it and i still prefer it to the avenger crap.
only thing thats somewhat off is the wirework. there is no explanation why the special abilities also include antigravity.
x2 is also quite decent
x3 is already overloaded with effects and xavier was out of character.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7993) 2 years ago

Personally, I like this film and the second one a little bit but I was always somewhat disappointed in this series. I grew up on the 90s X-Men cartoon. Then this came out and Rogue is just some meek scared girl in the first movie. She doesn't get to kick butt and personality wise she was more like Jubilee. In that cartoon she kicked a lot of butt. I know she couldn't have Miss Marvel's powers cause of rights issues but they could have still made her a fighter. She didn't get to become a fighter in the movies. The only time she is a fighter in a movie is in the extended cut of Days of Future Past. I really hope Marvel makes her more like her comic book self in their reboot of X-Men.

Then again Cyclops wasn't done well either and Gambit didn't even get to be in the movies cause Brian Singer hated him. Gambit only got to be in that crappy Wolverine Origins movie for like 10 minutes.

[–] PaladinNJ (21784) 2 years ago

Much better than the Apocalypse film.

[–] pjl69 (2647) 2 years ago

"the film is bland, slow, uneventful, poorly paced, flatly directed, and all-around just kinda boring."

Probably the same reasons, why it was interesting to me. You're probably more comfortable with the present Marvel crap which has cartoon characters fighting each other all the time.

[–] Magicdave (1015) a year ago

To the OP - Your opinion, not mine. To me, having grown up in the 50s and 60s and having nothing on television or in the movies concerning superheroes, (other than the primitive Superman in the 50s and the campy Batman in the 60s) I was so happy when Christopher Reece flew as Superman.
But, I was ecstatic when I discovered that this film was coming out.
So, I will never be picky about this and ALL other superhero films, because they take me back to my childhood reading DC AND MARVEL comics.