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More classic comic book characters come to life in this cinematic adaptation
of Stan Lee’s X-Men.
In the movie, mutants have become a source of fear, and normal humans have decided to require that mutants reveal themselves and register at a mutant registration. One mutant, Magneto (Ian McKellan) is opposed to the registration, and he plans to transform all of the world’s leaders into mutants at a United Nations summit. The X-Men disrupt the plan and fight to capture Magneto. The overall concept of X-Men is the struggle between mutants who think that they cannot coexist with humans, lead by Magneto, and those who believe that humans must coexist and cooperate with mutants, lead by Dr. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart).
But almost no one who went to see this movie cared a whit about the plot. X-Men has always been about the special powers of the mutants. The writers of the movie must have known that because they only brought the most popular X-Men to the screen for this first movie. They also did a good job of highlighting each of the mutants’ special abilities. The movie also has a stellar cast, all of whom portray their characters well.
Here is a list of mutants and their characters and a list of the powers in the movie:
Dr. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), ability to read and control minds
Magneto (Ian McKellan), ability to control all kinds of magnetic fields
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), adamantium claws and super fast healing ability
Rogue (Anna Paquin), ability to take another person’s life force or mutant ability
Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), ability to move objects with mind, some telepathy
Cyclops (James Marsden), ability to harness solar power through eyes, dangerous without visor
Storm (Halle Berry), ability to control the weather
Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), very strong
Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), ability to shape shift into anyone
Toad (Ray Park), long tongue that he uses to grab things, can climb walls.
One other character of note is Bruce Davison, who plays a very anti-mutant politician Senator Kelly.
It’s hard to handle so many characters and so many different special effects, but the director, Bryan Singer, did a good job of showcasing each of the abilities during the course of the film. My favorite mutant has always been Wolverine, and it was nice to see his character in one of the main plotlines of the movie.
Just one piece of trivia from this movie: Ray Park, who plays Toad, also played the character of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
I hope to see all of these characters and more in the upcoming sequel, X2.
