After a string of dissapointing summer event pics, I thought that X-Men could be the one film to end the pattern, and to an extent I was right. It is a lot better than the other blockbusters doing the rounds this holiday season and doesn't dissapoint as an adaption of the successful comic strip. However, it is still not as amazing as it could have been. It comes across as just a well made sci-fi blockbuster, without adding anything new or extraordinary to the genre as a film like the Matrix did. This is still good stuff though. It contains some healthy perfomances, especially from Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Anna Paquin (Rogue) as well as the always trustworthy Stewart and McKellan as the two leaders of the mutant groups. It is also a very nice looking film, with some wonderful sets and special effects. I think the main things that let it down a bit were that it wasn't quite as action packed and thrilling as it could have been, or as the comic was, mainly because a lot of time is spent introducing and building up all of the characters, which isn't really a bad thing, but wastes valuable action time. Overall, its a good film, with better sequel potential. 7/10
The first X-Men film was something of a dissapointment. It was well made, but a bit short on spectacle and length. This time round Singer had more money though, and promised a much more impressive blockbuster. This has almost happened here, but not quite. The expanded budget shows with plenty more effects used very effectively to demonstrate the super-powers of the many characters. What is lacking however is some really gobsmacking set pieces. The film opens nicely with an exhilirating assasination attempt on the president by Nightcrawler, a scene where the X-Men school is attacked is excellent and a showdown between Wolverine and his female counterpart is suitably brutal, but on the whole its not as action packed as you'd like an X-Men film to be. I really enjoyed the first third of the film, but the finale seemed to be dragged out mostly due to an unneccesarily extended coda. A slightly messy shifting around of bad-guys spoiled this too. All of that said, this, like the first film, is well made, with most of the cast performing admirably (Jackman again is excellent as Wolverine), and apart from the dissapointing ending the piece is well paced and reasonably well written. Although, because of the huge number of characters, we are not given the chance to fully connect with any of them and most don't get the chance to properly develop. All in all this is pretty good, with possibly more entertainment value than the first film, but it still leaves you wanting more from the next one. 7/10
