Analysis: X-Men (2000)
The comic book genre is something that is all too common nowadays. It seems that every other film being released is on based off of a superhero character. Many of the story lines in these epics are inspired by and reflect real life events and issues. The first X-Men film is no exception to this. X-Men was directed by Bryan Singer and released in 2000. In the movie, a world is depicted in which a small portion of people are mutants. These mutants each possess different superhuman powers which in turn makes them feared and distrusted by normal humans. This film is about the struggle between two groups of mutants, trying to bring about acceptance for their community. The main villain, Magneto, wants to bring about acceptance through violence, while the protagonist of this film wants to do it through a more peaceful route. X-Men is an accurate, smart comic-book adaptation that follows its source material for real relevance and deeper meaning, for example its tie to actual life history, while still delivering all the action a comic book fan could want. Marvel Comics initially released Stan Lee’s first X-Men series in 1963, meaning the cherished characters were around a great time before the film adaptation was made and the effects that were used to make this movie made the stories come alive. As a result, the majority of this movie’s audience grew up reading the comic books that this movie was based off of. This lead to fans having high expectations for this movie and both the knowledgeable fans and those who had never read them were not disappointed. The fact that the movie was able to appeal to all members of the audience is what made it a hit. One critic from the IGN Entertainment says, “While Singer has managed to include a lot of references and characters from the comic series for the fans … he's managed to work most of those scenes in such a way that they actually work for the non-comics literate members of the audience” (KJB, 2000). It was not just the storyline that makes this movie great; the effects, costumes, and makeup for its time did a great job in truly making the film come alive, “…the characters’ individual powers are still quite “out there,” but with the help of CGI, each person’s superpower is rendered believable and effective” (NIX, 2002). This ability to make the film realistic is what made it so popular and helped it to stand out among the so many other comic book based movies before it.
Even though the film was able to rely on its effective ability to adapt from comic books and its believable effects and quality, these weren’t the only key factors that made it great. Additionally, the fact that it incorporated real life history helped make the film relatable to its audience. For example, in September 1941, the Nazi regime sent an order that all Jewish people over the age of six would be forced to sew a yellow Star of David on their clothing (Bruml). One of the first scenes of the movie depicts a senator of that time attempting to pass an act in which all mutants would be forced to register and reveal their identities and their abilities. This "Mutant Registration Act" is quite similar to what the Nazi regime did in order to easily identify the Jews. Mutants are seen as different much like the Jews of the holocaust. Jewish Rabbi Richard Rabkin states in his article, “Although externally [Jews and mutants] may not really look that different from "normal people," beneath the surface, everyone knows that they are different.” (Rabkin, 2000). The senator in this movie is not the only normal human that has a problem with mutants. Many people fear what is different and unknown and the mutants are no exception to this. As a result, many mutants grow up feeling hated, unwanted, and alone. These feelings can lead to hate and a general dislike of humans. Seeing the way mutants felt lonely and like outsiders is something that audience could truly relate to.
When it comes to the audiences connecting to these emotions of feeling unwanted and alone, they can directly relate with the main villain of the film named Eric Lehnsherr, called Magneto. He was actually a victim of the Holocaust. As a child, Lehnsherr was brutally separated from his mother and has not seen her since. During this separation is when he discovered his mutant powers. As a result of the experiences he lived through as a child, he grew up hating humans. For example, critic Roger Ebert points out, “Magneto, having seen the Holocaust, has a deep pessimism about human nature” (Ebert, 2000). Magneto feels that mutants are superior to humans and should be treated as such. Despite the fact that even though he experienced persecution as a child he basically wants to do the same with all the normal humans. His plan is to use a machine he built to change the genetic makeup of a larger group of world leaders in order for them to become mutants, even though, this machine has devastating effects of the human body and eventually leads to death. However, despite Magneto’s power and influence, his disposition towards humans does not represent the entire mutant population. The protagonists of this movie are a group of mutants that call themselves the X-Men. They too do not agree with treatment of mutants. Nevertheless, they do not hate humans; instead they want to and believe that it is possible to coexist peacefully. As a result their role in the movie is to stop Magneto from killing a large group of innocent humans and they do just that. However, many viewers will sympathize with Magneto more so than they do with the protagonists. Even though he is a villain, one can’t helped be feel sorry for Magneto because of all he has gone through. Although he is striving for it in the incorrect way, he still wants equality for mutants. This is what makes him so appealing to the audience; he appeals to the viewers’ emotions because of his struggles and goals. It is this charm that adds a depth to the character and to the movie as a whole.
Despite the fact X-Men received great ratings and many positives reviews, there are some that may argue that the movie is rather mediocre and lacking. According to the Rolling Stone, “Since it's Wolverine's movie, any X-Men or women who don't hinge directly on his story get short shrift”(Travers, 2000). However, this movie was just the set up for the movies in this series to follow. As a result, there would be more development in the films to come. Additionally, as previously stated the movie mainly focuses around the character Wolverine and it would add to clutter to give the backstories to the other mutants on the X-Men team. However, there is much development given to other characters such as Magneto, meaning Wolverine is not the only mutant seen in the film. The second reason that is given to support against the movie is that it just was not all that it was expected to be. It is argued that, “beneath its dazzling surface you can still see the dark tour de force that might have been” (Travers, 2000). However, adapting a comic book to the big screen is no easy task. For example, looking back at the comic book adaptations that preceded X-Men can be quite dismal with the exception of the select one or two. The fact of the matter is that taking multiple stories and characters and trying to bring them to life is not something that anyone could have effortlessly done. Singer, however, did an excellent job in doing just this as noted by Jim Rocchi of Common Sense Media, “X-Men is perhaps one of the best super-hero comic book adaptation, in part because it doesn't shy away from the big issues the comic explored, however clumsily, but instead embraces them”(Rocchi, 2003). This method of approaching the adaption is what made the film work.
Whatever minor issues this film may have, it is still a fantastic super-hero film that sticks to its source material and while still having the ability to have its own original story. The film manages to keep its comic book fan base content while still being able to draw and keep the attention of those with no prior knowledge of the concept. In addition to this, the film is able to relate to audience by tying in real life struggles from history. For example, persecution in this film is shown in two different groups of people. The first is some humans that believe that mutants are dangerous and should be controlled and monitored. The second is Magneto and his group of mutants that believe that humans are inferior and should be treated as such. Both these groups mirror the Nazi regime and represent a modern day attempt at the Holocaust, but basically in this film the idea that mutants represent anyone oppressed or pushed to unfathomable limits of tolerance.

References
Bruml, H. (n.d.). USHMM Artifact Gallery: Star of David badge. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/archive/star-david-badge/
This source was found in the United States Holocaust Museum specifically in its artifacts gallery section. It discusses the yellow Star of David in relation to the holocaust. It states when and how the Nazi Regime forced the Jewish people to wear the star. This information is given in an unbiased way and is done by merely stating facts. This source takes most of its information directly from a first person source making this credible. The source was used in the essay to explain how and why the Star of David was used during the holocaust.
Ebert, R. (2000, July 14). X-Men Movie Review & Film Summary (2000). Roger Ebert.com Retrieved from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/x-men-2000
This article was on RogerEbert.com. In it critic Roger Ebert discusses the film X-Men and his opinions on the movie. His overall feelings about the movie basically are that he feels that it was a decent film, but it had room for improvement. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. The source was used to support the claim the character Magneto was negatively affected by the holocaust.
KJB. (2000). X-Men Review. IGN. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/07/13/review-of-x-men
This article was found on IGN.com. In it a movie critic discusses the film X-Men and his opinions on the movie. His overall feelings about the movie basically are that he feels that it was a decent film, but it had room for improvement. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. Additionally, IGN is a San Francisco-based games and entertainment media company meaning the publisher of the article is legitimate. The source was used to support the claim that the film was able to keep the audience that had no prior knowledge about the X-Men comics entertained and interested.
NIX. (2002, March 31). X-Men (2000) Movie Review. BeyondHollywood.com. Retrieved from http://www.beyondhollywood.com/x-men-2000-movie-review/
This article was found on BeyondHollywood.com. In it a movie critic discusses the film X-Men and his opinions on the movie. His overall feelings about the movie basically are that he feels that film was a tad lackluster and overall just muted when it comes to the storyline and characters. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. The source was used to support the claim that the computer generated images and effects from the film were realistic and believable.
Rabkin, R. (2000, July 29). Are Jews X-Men?. Aish.com Retrieved from http://www.aish.com/ci/a/48930152.html
This article was found on Aish.com, which is a website that features different articles and newsletters relating to the Jewish culture. In the article, Rabbi Richard Rabkin discusses the film X-Men, his opinions on the movie, and how it he feel it related to him personally because he is Jewish. His overall feelings about the movie basically are that he feels that X-Men was a good film with many personal ties. He feels that these ties into his personal life as being Jewish is what made film so great. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. The source was used to support the claim that the mutants in the film and the Jewish community have a lot in common.
Rocchi, J. (2003, May 19). X-Men Movie Review. Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/x-men#
This article was found on CommonSenseMedia.org. In it a movie critic James Rocchi discusses the film X-Men and his opinions on the movie. His overall feelings about the movie basically are that film encompasses the comic book idea and feel, however he believes that the movie isn’t perfect. For example, he states that some of the dialogue can be a bit laughable at times. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. The source was used to support the claim that the style and direction the film took helped to counteract the previous problems associated with comic book adaptations.
Travers, P. (2000, July 14). X-Men. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/x-men-20000714
This article was found on the RollingStone.com. In it a critic Peter Travers discusses the film X-Men and his opinions on the movie. He gives key points on the good aspects, the okay aspects, and the bad aspects. Reading the article the overall feeling is that Travers feels the movie could have been much better. This article takes most of its information directly from the movie making it credible. The source was is used to provide the counterargument that the film is not as great as it could have been.