X-Men DVD > Reviews > Anne Robinson with no hair

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Unbelievable special effects, good acting, good value, popular with kids, great extra features on the DVD
Disadvantages:	Too unrealistic, predictable, mutants, appaling ending

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

One of the most critically acclaimed films of 2000 has finally made it onto Region 2 DVD, taking thousands in sales within the first few weeks of its release, and storming the charts - making the Number 1 spot in the majority of stores. Despite the child-like reputation of the X-men comic-books, on which the movie is based, the 100 minute thriller has been a huge success, both at the cinema and on home release on both sides of the Atlantic, proving that it's got what it takes to become one of the biggest selling discs of 2001.

And yet, I don't quite get it. Although I am an avid action-film moviegoer (I love anything with a few special effects and a plot that confuses the very soul out of me), I really don't find anything either original or clever about this movie. The plot may appear to be interesting at first, but it soon dies as the film becomes more predictable scene by scene, leaving only the special-effects to take centre stage. And, although the acting is extremely good, the fact that the whole movie is based around the word 'mutant' has to bring a grimace to the face of some people.

So is it the whole sense of 'mutant-cy' that I hate about this movie, or is it just that I am making a stand against the Gold Rush of American 'blockbusters' that are so frequently released these days? Neither. I think that the detail in X-men is great; so much effort has been injected into the whole project that there is no way this movie could ever be considered as rushed - you only need to watch the first few scenes to see that much. What I don't like about the movie is the anti-climax that is the plot.

The first 90 minutes of this film are a text-book example of how a climax in a film should be portrayed. The characters grow closer to each other, a major event is brewing in the background and all of the plots and sub-plots are beginning to come together very nicely. However, it seems as though, if this were a text-book, the last few pages were missing. 'Cut- short', in fact, is the only way I can describe this movie. The plot that would simply be considered as the event before the major event; the sub-plot to the average viewer, is, in fact, the end.

Which is a shame. All the way through, it seems as though the movie is going to become one to remember; a modern classic, even comparable to the likes of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy (ok, well maybe I am getting *slightly* carried away), and yet, you can't help but consider the weak ending as a let-down after the magnificent foundations laid down by the start. It's a green-house without a roof. Ciao with no modem. Anne Robinson without any hair.

However, in amongst the gloom and doom, there is a brighter, more amiable side to this over-rated excuse for a national phenomenon. The effects, although not quite as spectacularly original as the Matrix, are still flabbergastingly hi-tech. Some of the more difficult sequences were filmed over a number of days and cost thousands to make, and, although only a few seconds long, leave pictures implanted in your memory - the aim of this sort of film in some respects.

As for the DVD itself - I was very impressed. Although only £16.99 (even for the Special Edition), the film contained a comprehensive number of extra features including deleted scenes, interviews, and some of the more rare features such as storyboards and galleries, all of exceptional quality. The packaging is semi-metallic, meaning light shines off it in certain places, making it attractive, and a bargain for DVD hunters.

Not only this, but it's luck for those 0.00000001% of us out there who speak 11 languages - you can watch this DVD in Swedish, Icelandic, *and* Hebrew! Thank God. And there was I thinking I'd never find a Hebrew translation of a DVD ever again. Well, I was sure proved wrong.

Overall, I feel kind-of mixed in my opinion about this film. Certain people (not least youngsters) will undoubtedly love this action-packed thriller, although I think that more cynical 'Not-another-rip-off-of-a-comic-book-movie' type people had better steer clear of this one. A definite shame to end the movie in the way that it has done too. Great if you're one of the people who fall off to sleep about 10 minutes before the end of a film, never to see the ending. Not so great if you're not.