X-Men

Though quite entertaining from start to finish, X-Men ultimately feels as though it exists primarily to lay the groundwork for its subsequent installments – as screenwriter David Hayter spends a far-from-insignificant amount of time establishing the various characters and the off-kilter universe in which they reside. And while this does ensure that the movie isn’t entirely successful as a stand-alone endeavor, there’s little doubt that Bryan Singer’s unusually strong directorial choices and the uniformly compelling performances prove instrumental in elevating the material to a level above and beyond that of Hayter’s exposition-heavy screenplay. The film primarily follows Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine as his solitary existence is thrown for a loop after he learns about (and reluctantly joins) the X-Men, with the remainder of the proceedings detailing the title heroes’ (including Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, and James Marsden’s Cyclops) collective efforts at preventing arch-villain Magneto (Ian McKellen) from successfully executing a predictably diabolical plan. It’s a relatively simple storyline that’s been festooned with a whole host of subplots and periphery characters, which – despite Singer’s best efforts at balancing the screenplay’s various elements – results in a noticeably erratic structure that ultimately impedes the movie’s efforts at consistently sustaining the viewer’s interest (ie some interludes are far more engrossing than others). That being said, X-Men‘s myriad of positive attributes generally compensate for its less-than-enthralling stretches – with Jackman’s stellar work as Wolverine, as well as solid turns from Stewart, Marsden, and McKellen, cementing the film’s place as a solid (if uneven) introduction to the series.

*** out of ****