monster: if you listen closely to the music at certain parts you can faintly hear the animated series music in the background, which i thought was a neat touch.
The whole movie was nothing but a lead-in/advertisement for X-Men 2. Granted it was a damn good movie, but it was still a blatant prequel to a potential series of movies.
As far as nightcrawler…
Cough, ahem, kid playing basketball?
-SS 
I liked the fact that there were so many kids there. I always thought it a bit strange that most of “Professor Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters” didn’t seem to have any students.
I collected X-Men since 1981, but quit when they went nuts with the 20 (or so) different titles per month. I definately plan on seeing this movie again.
Kelli, I don’t know if I could condone a child watching X-men. It features
-“rooster fight” rabblery
-abduction
-a great fall
-dozens of uses of unholy powers
-teen screaming at her mother
-rude anatomical references
-eight uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary
-teen boy in a teen girl’s bed together (clothed)
-many scenes of a vulgar outfit
-sexual innuendo
-suggestion of adult nudity before a beach crowd, including children
-a bar scene
-mockery of God, “justification” for doubting Him
-several uses of script denying Creation by promoting evolution
-one use of God’s name in vain without the four letter expletive
-miraculous self healings and healing of another
Giving it a final CapAlert score of 56. If you want your kids to grow up to burn in eternal hellfire, then let 'em see it.
Well at least it once was.
My exceptions to the young Rogue (nice touch having that white streak in her hair appear at the end) and the scrawny Wolverine (he was the best surprise of the film, very much what I had hoped Wolvie would be) were completely overcome in this movie. By far the film did justice to my favorite comic title.
There will of course be a sequel, after all the movie left off perfectly : there were hints of Wolverine and SaberTooth’s past and now with Wolvie headed off to find the experimental base that made him (and Saber) I am sure that will be a major plot of the next film.
I was tickled at the New Mutants having a cameo. I am glad that they kept Magneto around, however I felt they (the film makers) would have gained some credibility by actually killing off Mystique, when she lived . . . well I thought the most cartoonish part of a comic based film. I hope other posters are right about Colossus - he is my fave X-Man by far.
Now what everyone wanted to post when this thread said “NO SPOILERS” but couldn’t, I can post as it does not say that anymore :
Cyclops : “Is that really you ?”
Wolverine : “Yep.”
Cyclops : “Prove it.”
Wolverine : “You’re a dick.”
Cyclops : “O.K.”
Great flic !
- NM
I was so glad they made this movie character driven. I think they’ve really done something different here, an action movie where the relationships and the plot actually dictate the instances of confrontation, instead of inserting gratuitous scenes of violence for their entertainment value. Of course, the “instances of confrontation” rocked.
This movie was much better than I was expecting. I thought they did a good job of introducing a few of the characters, giving lead-ins for others. My most nitpicky criticism is that I would like to have seen it about a half hour longer, with more exploration/background for certain characters.
They did leave out or alter the history of certain characters, but they kept the overall feel of them, and that was probably the best way to go for the film. Trying to fit too much in would have been a mistake. As it was it left you wanting more.
I do think that Rogue’s character should have been played as an adult, but that was clearly a plot device by the screenwriters, easily forgivable, for the same reasons I forgive the other adjustments they made. I just don’t think Anna Paquin made a very good Rogue, although she played the character well as it was defined in this movie.
All in all, I’d love to see it again.
Anyway, looking forward to more Wolverine . . . and when are they going to introduce Gambit???
by the movie. It would have been very easy to lose the emotional core that made X-men a great comic “back-in-the-day” (I stopped reading about 6 years ago). It is always difficult to bring characters who are so firmly established in one medium into another, especially when making the transformation from the freedom of comics to the restrictions of film. I thought they did an admirable job, even when they took liberties such as making Toad more effective and changing the relative ages of several characters.
With one exception.
I thought Halle Bare lacked even a semblance of the dignity and presence that made Orroro such a compelling characer when Claremont and Cockrum first created her. I am already hoping that they manage to recast her before the sequel.
I also felt Anna Pacquin was a little weak as Rogue, but I could forgive that since they had taken her back to the first instance of her powers manifesting, and that actually is not far off from her initial appearance (as a villain).
As for the action, I found it to be well staged except for the very end. The climax was weak and lacked focus. Wolverine and Sabretooth’s fight was not coreographed particualrly well, and the “final shot” was somewhat unsatisfying.
That said, I definitely enjoyed th emovie as a whole.
I enjoyed the movie a lot. I don’t know much about X-Men though. It’s mainly my husband’s and son’s thing. But I went along for fun to see the movie and was also pleasantly surprised.
I regret taking my 4.5 year old daughter though. She’s a sensitive thing and it was a bit violent for her. The previews the theatre showed before the movie started utterly freaked her out too. (Bad mommy moment… she asked to go home, I felt horrible.)
Anyway, overall I thought it was an awesome movie and better yet, my son and his dad loved it and had lots of fun talking about it.
~Tracie
they actually did a good job for the most part of making the characters come to life. I liked the fact that it was not all action and there were good story elements, to make it more realistic. the special effects were great, i loved the model of the city and the statue of liberty when they were planning their rescue.
also, the actors were excellent, especially patrick stewart (of course) and the guy who played magneto , i forget his name. good amount of humor too.
i recommend that you check out this movie if you’re into comics and such even a little bit.
i forgot to ask this:
does anyone know how much it cost to make this movie?
WOOHOO!!! I am going to hell … YAY!! I am going to hell! La di da di da da …
Dammit … dpr was right … 
I saw this last night and liked it. I was somewhat familiar with the overall story, but never purchased a comic or anything like that.
I also noticed Jubilee in the credits, which made me suspicious that she’d be in the sequel, though I’m not familiar enough to be able to identify the kids by their powers.
I heard a rumor before the movie came out that the cast (well, most of it) all had clauses in their contracts that they would return for the sequel if the movie made over X dollars. I think it was $100 million, but I could be wrong. Did anyone else hear this?
I don’t know about that clause, but, according to IMDB.com, the movie took in $54.4 million in its first weekend, so it’s likely there will be a sequel, IF it does well this weekend.
I wanna see Colossus, Gambit and Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler and Colossus I would definately like to see!
As for Gambit… well, I was excited about him at first (myself being Cajun), but got quickly tired of him. He was a bad copy of Dennis Quaid’s character in “The Big Easy.” Back when I was first getting disenchanted with Marval and The X-Men was when they did the Brood invaded the theive’s clan (or something like that I don’t really remember) and for some reason there were huge underground caves underneath New Orleans. Nope, ain’t gonna happen. The reason that the graves there are above ground is because as soon as you start digging, you hit water. New Orleans is below sea level and not far from the gulf, not to mention on the biggest river in North America and in a sub-tropical climate.
I know I’m nitpicking, but it just irked me.
Wasn’t there a kid in “X-Factor” with pyro-type flame throwing powers? I think his name was Rusty Collins. there was a brief shot of another young mutant who kind of looked like Skids, another X-Factor hanger-on. I think that’s who the fireball making kid is supposed to be. Why would Pyro, a member of Mystique’s team of evil mutants, be at Xavier’s school?
X-Factor, for those of you who aren’t complete comic book geeks, is (or was, i don’t know if it still is published) a spin-off of X-Men where a bunch of members (including Cyclops and Jean Grey) started another school for mutants, like Prof. X’s own. Only their students were for the most part a bunch of annoying geeks, not ultra-cool, trendsetting superheroes.
And I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit let down at the ending; it just seemed to…stop. And yes, a little too obvious sequel foreshadowing was present there at the ending, but honestly the rest of the film was great.
Wolverine was hilarous, and yes, a babe. A furry babe, but a babe no less–and he had all the killer lines. I did not care much for Halle Barry as Storm, however; she gave a very wooden and personality-absent performance. I remember Storm from the cartoon (never read the comics) as being stoic, but Halle was plastic (or wooden, take your choice 
). Anna Paquin did an excellent job protraying the film’s version of Rogue; but I much preferred the tough-talking savvy of the Rogue in the cartoon. But these are all minor problems–the film, as a whole, is excellent. And that’s a pretty difficult feat when it had a high, high potential for sucking (such as, oh, TPM–peeyew!).
And before any of us get too carried away with criticizing the accuracy of the film, read through the first paragraph of a Newsweeks’ article about the film:
Hee hee hee!
oh yes, it was friggin’ great… That WAS an awesome exchange, too. I’m glad they decided not to pass up on the whole Logan/Jean/Scott love triangle thing. I nearly shat myself from laughing when Wolvie said those three words…
I read a quite in a magazine the other day. Pat Stewart (THE perfect casting for Prof. X) was asked if he thought Prof. X could beat up Jean-Luc Picard… His reply was, “No, but he could kick the SHIT out of Capt. Kirk, and you can quote me on that…” Oh my GOD that is so awesome. I want to HEAR him say that in his smooth, Elizabethan accent.
BTW - No, Stan Lee has NOT severed all ties with Marvel, and he was a producer in the movie… That’s the only reason it turned out so good, despite all the plot raping they had to do. That’s just what ya gotta do when you make a comic movie , or else it’ll take many many movies before it makes any sense. This is THE only good Comic Book movie, other than the DC movies. (Batman, Superman…)
Ack, I’m talking too much
Well, I loved the movie too. Even my wife thought it was great. But my favorite line came from Magneto. “I thought you lived at a school.” Snark
Oh my god, I’m an idiot… But wait. Why the hell wasn’t he blue, and why did he look like a dork. Plus, night crawler didn’t join the group until he was older.
That wasn’t Nightcrawler… That was friggin’ Cannonball or something.
-“You’re a Dick…”
I was a good wife and mother. I read the comics and listened to the explanations about character histories and expectations for this film. I really like the comics, myself and was very excited to see it.
No Nightcrawler. I knew this months ago, but still. He is my favorite…ah…what kind of dork has a crush on a comic book character? And a blue one with a tail, at that? Just show to me to the nice padded room.
The movie, though, was a blast. Yeah, it had stuff wrong with it. How could it not? But it was fun. I wanted to be a mutant by the time we left the theatre. My husband was going on about it all the way home. The four-year-old asked me what mutant powers he would have and when he would get them. Sat in the back seat on the ride home whispering in an ominous (well, pretty ominous for a 4 yr old) voice,
“I am Loooogan. Call me Wolverine…”
Yeah, it was a good time.