"X-Men Editorial Pt.1"
From the time I can remember. X-Men was probably the first comic book that affected me in my childhood. The comic and the animated series were staples in my life. Playing in the backyard of my cousins house, we were always acting as if we were the x-men going on missions and battling bad guys. So in this editorial I would like to analyze all of the movies from X-Men to Wolverine and give my opinions and feelings about all of them including talking about continuity and changes from comic to movie. I hope you enjoy and that it actually comes across as if I know what I am talking about. Ha!
In 2000, Bryan Singer changed movie history by creating his adaptation of X-Men. Now there had been comic book/superhero movies prior to this. With the 90's helming movies such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies, The Phantom, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Blade. These movies didn't really give the comic book movie genre the push that it needed. The catalyst, if you trace all of this back, was the success of X-Men. It was actually Bryan Singer's serious approach to the genre, that arguably kick-started how we see and love comic book movies that continue to be made right to this day. It took a few years for the impact of X-Men to really be felt, but it gave Marvel the boost it needed to realize what greatness would come from making these movies the way they were meant to be made and it began a process that changed the industry.
In the first X-Men we have the whole slew of characters that we loved from the comic books such as Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X, etc... Now in comparison to the rest of the series this movie seems a bit closed in. The movie is ambitious but feels small. We start the movie during WW2 and we see young Eric Lensherr, (Where in the comic he had a couple of persona's such as his birth name of Max Eisenhardt, who then became Magnus and then after became Erik Lehnsherr as a cover.), trapped in a German prison camp. Which starts his insatiable hatred toward none gifted humans. Then flash forward a couple of decades and we meet a young girl by the name of "Marie" in which we find out that this is the character of Rogue. Which prior to that point had never been disclosed. However, in her first appearance she was actually used as a villain due to her being adopted by Mystique in her youth and she called her "Raven". Years later it was revealed that her real name was "Anne Marie" although her surname still has yet to be revealed.
"Marie" or Rogue does exactly as the character did in the books, she accidentally almost kills her boyfriend with a first kiss. After this we move to the debate between Jean Grey and Senator Kelly about whether mutants are dangerous or not with Kelly being a great naysayer to the mutant population. This has always been the focal point of the entire title. Humans and Mutants working to either eradicate each other or to find a way to co-exist. Great stuff so far. Next we see that Rogue runs away and ends up at a bar in the middle of no where and in this bar we see "The Wolverine" or "Logan" for the first time in cinematic history.
Wolverine is played by, Hugh Jackman, a no name actor from Australia whom had only been known for his great acting on Broadway. No one knew what to expect from this guy. The only thing that I personally remember thinking was "Thank goodness they found someone that at least could look the part.". Now I know the man is a bit tall but he looked just like The Wolverine. During his first scene in the movie I got to see exactly what I had been waiting for for so many years prior. His angry demeanor to the shinny adamantium claws he looked perfect. Now I say that the movies made forth to put a depth to the character that had never really been explored. However, I will talk more about this in the next part of this editorial.
That's all I've got for now! Thank you for reading another "Jakes Thoughts!"
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