I thought this film was rather good for a comic book remake; especially coming off the heels of Batman, which hopefully has been put out if its misery for good.
The F/X is top notch, as well as the fight scenes which rivals that the of The Matrix. However, the plot is a virtual Connect The Dots: very easy to predict the next scene ten minutes in advance. Given that this IS a COMIC BOOK adaptation, I'm willing to cut Singer some slack, seeing that I'm not exactly expecting Citizen Kane material here. plus there's A LOT of set-up so to speak, so maybe Singer will do better in X-Men II.
Same goes for characterizations, or lack thereof. With the exceptions of Prof. X (Stewart), Wolverine (Jackson), Magneto (McKellen), and Rogue (Paquin) everyone else comes off as movie set extras, with their one-dimensional demeanors (especially Toad, Sabretooth, Cyclops, and Storm) coupled with flavorless one-liners. Speaking of which... Storm's (Berry) "Do you know what happens to a toad..." line fell flatter than a mat dropped from a ten story building. I was sitting there thinking, "Is THAT the best she can do?".
Overall, a good project for Singer & Co., but it can't touch Superman I & II.
The F/X is top notch, as well as the fight scenes which rivals that the of The Matrix. However, the plot is a virtual Connect The Dots: very easy to predict the next scene ten minutes in advance. Given that this IS a COMIC BOOK adaptation, I'm willing to cut Singer some slack, seeing that I'm not exactly expecting Citizen Kane material here. plus there's A LOT of set-up so to speak, so maybe Singer will do better in X-Men II.
Same goes for characterizations, or lack thereof. With the exceptions of Prof. X (Stewart), Wolverine (Jackson), Magneto (McKellen), and Rogue (Paquin) everyone else comes off as movie set extras, with their one-dimensional demeanors (especially Toad, Sabretooth, Cyclops, and Storm) coupled with flavorless one-liners. Speaking of which... Storm's (Berry) "Do you know what happens to a toad..." line fell flatter than a mat dropped from a ten story building. I was sitting there thinking, "Is THAT the best she can do?".
Overall, a good project for Singer & Co., but it can't touch Superman I & II.