X-Men
I find X-Men to be a very interesting film. What it chooses to and not to adapt is genuinely bizarre to me, and the 2000’s CGI makes it even more peculiar. (Seriously, when the Senator gets mutated I was disgusted)
It’s good for what it is though, and what it is is a very 2000 X-men adaptation, that’s for sure. People often cite this film as being ‘embarrassed’ of its comic book roots. And whilst I can definitely see the reasoning for such (saying this I mainly refer to the hideous Military-esque uniforms the team wears, and that STUPID yellow spandex line) I think I might disagree. It understands what the X-men is, and the fine line between it being a kind of daft, action packed superhero soap opera, and a critique on modern day society, discrimination, and how hate spreads like contagion. You have genuinely breath-taking scenes that say a lot about humanity as a whole, such as the Holocaust scene showing us Magneto’s tragic origin, and entertaining action set pieces on the Statue of Liberty. It’s a jack of all trades, and I think that’s the reason this specific superhero universe has became so beloved. GOD it isn’t perfect, but it’s a really fun movie and whilst it doesn’t give you a fully-satisfying X-men story, I think it has a decent idea of what the X-men are as a team.