Reviewing The Original X-Men Trilogy
While Raimi’s Spider-Man, Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and the MCU were all critical elements of my cinematic education growing up, the X-Men franchise was one that I completely skipped until I was an adult. I’m not sure how I never got into it, considering that any other superhero flick of the time was sure to earn my ticket. Whatever the reason, I only knew about the X-Men by hearing about them from friends.
My ignorance aside, the X-Men have raked in over six billion dollars across their thirteen films. While the quality has gone up and down over the twenty years of storytelling, there’s always been an emphasis on special effects and talented A-list actors – and as much screen time for Hugh Jackman as possible. Let’s jump into the world of the mutants.
X-Men (***)
In which a professor teaches a young woman to be proud of being able to kill people with a simple touch
While not necessarily a knockout franchise starter, X-Men’s thought-provoking questions are handled with class by leads Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.
One of the chief themes of this film – and thereby the franchise as a whole – is how humans don’t like what they don’t understand. The X-Men can represent any number of minorities, from religious to ethnic to sexual. However you look at it, the film isn’t afraid to challenge humanity’s history of dealing with otherness. In fact, they don’t waste any time at all – the opening scene features Magneto as a child during the Holocaust. It’s a crucial example of intolerance taken to the extreme, and it sets the groundwork for what the rest of the film will be about.
Two characters wrestle with this theme more than any others – Professor X and Magneto, played by Stewart and McKellen respectively. If it weren’t for them, I have no doubt this film would’ve faded into oblivion. Without them, it’s really just superheroes punching each other. But thanks to them, this film is so much more than just a story of good versus evil. Yes, Magneto’s the bad guy – and yes, he’s not just bad – he’s kind of evil. But in a sense, both Magneto and Professor X want the same thing. They want mutants to be safe. The difference is that Magneto feels the only way to get there is by putting the mutants in charge, and Professor X wants the mutants to coexist with humans. As a result, their conversations aren’t the traditional good-guy-bad-guy debates. They’re a bit more nuanced than that, because Magneto can on occasion actually make sense. His perspective at many times seems totally valid, which is what makes him a great antagonist. More than that, I love the element of how these characters are practically friends despite being enemies. It’s clear from the very first movie that they have a complicated history, and also that they have a certain amount of respect for each other even though they disagree on the right course of action. It’s something that I wish the franchise as a whole had leaned into a little bit more.
Now, apart from that, there isn’t too much about this film that I’d say makes it a must-watch. Wolverine is fun, obviously, but I can’t say that I cared too much about many of the other characters. This doesn’t quite have the charm that Raimi’s Spider-Man films have, nor is it as cool as Nolan’s Dark Knight. Maybe my perspective would be different if I had seen it when it came out, but in 2021 I had a host of superhero flicks to compare it to – and apart from Stewart and McKellen, there’s not much else that makes it stand out.
X2: X-Men United (***1/2)
In which a parent asks their son, "Have you tried not being a mutant?"
A definite improvement over its predecessor, X2 gives us more drama, more intrigue, and cooler superhero action.
My favourite part about this film has to do with how the X-Men and Magneto were forced to work together. Uneasy alliances can always lead to great stories because even when they’re working, you can never tell when they’re going to collapse. The same is true here – once the mutants are all on the same side, you know it’s only a matter of time before Magneto starts pursuing his own interests again. And that’s exciting.
We also got more of Wolverine’s backstory, which is great because he was the third-best part of the original film (behind Professor X and Magneto). His journey to find out about his past is intrinsically tied to the present struggle, which keeps the story moving along without ever feeling like we have to slow down. His fatherly role towards Rogue was also nice to watch – he generally treats most everyone else like he doesn’t care about them, so it’s fun seeing the one person he has a soft spot for.
I wrote in my review of the original film that the X-Men can represent any minority, but there definitely seems to be an LGBT awareness in the scene where Iceman ‘comes out’ as mutant to his parents. It’s a moment of vulnerability where the parents aren’t prepared to respond with reassurance, and the line “Have you tried not being a mutant” is funny in a kind of heartbreaking way. It’s unfortunate that Iceman’s relationship with his family collapses in this scene, and Professor X would certainly argue that it doesn’t have to be that way. Either way, it was a fun and thought-provoking scene.
The last thing that I found noteworthy was Rogue’s relationship with Iceman. As far as Professor X and Magneto are concerned, being a mutant is pretty much always a positive thing. It’s something to be proud of, and it’s something that makes you more than human. But for Rogue, we really start to realize how her mutant-ness is much more of a hindrance to her own personal goals than a help. It’s rare that her power helps her or others – it really seems to be not much more than a terrible curse. As a result, I think Rogue struggles with her identity as a mutant much more than many of the other characters – particularly in the next film, but we’ll get there when we get there. For now, I’ll say that it was intriguing watching Rogue try to find love with her unique obstacle.
Overall, this was an exciting follow-up and a great way to keep the franchise moving forward. Check this one out!
X-Men: The Final Stand (***)
In which Wolverine kills a woman because he loves her
I thought this was going to be a third-film-flop like so many others – and it wasn’t fantastic, but it certainly wasn’t the disaster I’d anticipated.
X-Men 3 didn’t have a lot going for it. The director of the first two movies had abandoned ship to work on Superman Returns – and if you remember Batman Forever, Shrek the Third, and Jurassic Park III, you’ll know that this is a bad omen. Jean Grey, who is the most pivotal figure of the film, loses her husband almost immediately just because the actor playing him also left to be in Superman. Worst of all, the timeline for pumping this movie out was tight. In June 2005, they had only just landed the director that was going to handle the movie, which was set to start shooting in a month. The movie was going to be released less than a year after that. That’s a close shave.
I’d heard when I was younger that this film was a disaster, and I guess I subconsciously carried that with me as gospel. But now that I’ve seen the finished product, I don’t think it’s all that bad. Sure, there’s problems. Jean spends way too much time just staring and not talking. She’s been a complicated character from the beginning, particularly with regards to her attraction to Wolverine despite being married. The last film also saw her powers grow further, so this could have definitely leaned into the emotion of her role more than it did.
We also got the death of Professor X – and killing major characters can be a really effective storytelling tool – but his death is more or less wasted. Remember, Magneto is Charles Xavier’s oldest friend. And he’s there when Charles dies; you’d think that would be an emotionally traumatic moment for Magneto. Instead, we hardly get any time spent on Magneto’s processing of his oldest friend’s death. The moment it happens, he actually almost ignores it. It’s like he barely cares. He does the same thing to Mystique, who’s been by his side from the beginning of this series. She gets stuck with a needle that makes her human, and he basically takes one look at her, nods, and then leaves her in the dust. Like, slow down a second. Are you seriously turning your back on her simply because she’s lost the mutant gene? That doesn’t change the fact that she was a mutant five seconds ago, or that she’s been supporting your cause for three movies now! It also doesn’t change the fact that she’s likely still on your side. You’re just going to leave her – naked, I might add – in a truck on the side of the road? What’s your deal?
I definitely think this film could’ve handled the characters of Jean Grey, Charles Xavier, and Magneto much better – and it’s mainly those mishaps that keep me from giving the film anything above three stars. But at the same time, there’s some pretty great parts of this film as well. The idea of a “mutant cure” is one that fans could probably talk about at length. Since the beginning of the franchise, mutants have been fighting to be accepted by humans – and now they have the chance to become human. In terms of real-life minorities, it’s a hypothetical and impossible question. But in the world of mutants, it’s interesting to see characters wrestle with the potential ramifications of this ‘cure’. Rogue is the character who makes the debate as relevant as possible, since she’s the one more than anyone else who is genuinely afflicted by her status as a mutant. Was her decision the right call? Maybe, maybe not. But you can’t say you don’t understand where she’s coming from. So I loved that arc for sure.
The climactic battle between mutants and humans was also exhilarating, and not just because it was full of good old superhero action. It was also the darkest expression of the franchise’s central theme that we’ve seen yet. We see the mutants and humans on very clear sides, going head-to-head in a way that they haven’t before. I loved that.
Like I said earlier, yeah, they kind of botched the Jean Grey stuff. It could’ve been better than it was. But that doesn’t make the movie terrible. I likely would’ve been more disappointed had I seen this in theatres – but with the benefit of distance, I got to appreciate the film for what it was: kind of flawed, but a spirited attempt at concluding the X-Men trilogy.
Last thing – I don’t know how anyone expects me to believe that Xavier survived disintegration, nor do I think it’s the right call narratively for the film. By bringing him back, you’re making his death meaningless. I’m not saying I won’t be happy to see him in a future X-Men film, but bringing back Xavier was a move that cut the legs out from under this story.
Perhaps that was a poor choice of words.