X-Men (2000)

Deadpool and Wolverine is slowly approaching and in celebration of that triumphant third entry into the Deadpool franchise were diving into every X-Men film. In todays episode we discussed X-Men (2000).

Roger Ebert X-Men Review
Anya's Letterboxd Review

X-Men Revisited Series:
X-Men (2000)
X2 (2003)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Deadpool (2016)

Monthly Recap Series:
Everything I watched in January
Everything I watched in February
Everything I watched in March

OUR SOCIALS:
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
LETTERBOXD

CONTACT US:
courtofcinema@gmail.com
SPEAKPIPE

Transcript

 I mean, I was told by my film professor, there are films and there are movies and sometimes you've gotta know what you're walking into. Yeah, see. But I come from a time where movies were films. 

Deadpool and Wolverine is almost here. We're growing closer and closer to that fateful release date of July 26th, 2024. And we're gonna be finally seeing Hugh Jack. Don that yellow and blue suit in live action and Wade Wilson finally coming back to the big screen after a very unbearable long wait There's definitely a lot to look forward to with a new x men movie and a new Deadpool film This is going to be the first one that's taking place inside of the mcu And a very fateful movie for not only the x men property, but just marvel as a whole and comic book films as a whole Because it's been definitely a very sharp decline for this sub genre of movies.

I'm somewhat excited for Deadpool and Wolverine, definitely more cautious than actually excited for the movie. Marvel's failed me time and time again, and I'm just really hoping Kevin Feige can go back into his prime era and cook up with these characters once again. But until that fateful day comes of July 26th, 2024, we're diving into all of the X Men movies here on the podcast.

We already dived into Deadpool 1 back on February 14th of 2024, so you can go back and listen to that one. That was technically our pilot episode for this series, but this is going to be our first really series diving into all the X Men centric movies. And today we're going to be talking about X Men from 2000,  this film, Pretty cool.

I hadn't really seen it in a long time, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It's just really cool seeing the context of this film's release. It was just, you know, one of the first comic book films to release this century. And, you know, it didn't really have a lot to pull inspiration from. I mean, you had the Keaton Batman movies, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, all those films kind of released around the 90s, and None of those movies I don't really enjoy too much.

And then you had The Crow, which was fine, I guess. Superman with Christopher Reeves was definitely, I think, the real staple of what superhero films can be at the time. But you gotta think at this time, 2000, X Men didn't really have anything to pull inspiration from. There was no Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy.

There was no MCU yet. And there also was no Raimi Spider Man trilogy quite yet. So this film and these X Men films really did kind of pave the way for a lot of movies we see today. And now granted, I don't think that this whole trilogy of X Men movies is exactly the best thing we've ever gotten. We don't get good X Men films until like, X Men First Class, but in my opinion, this trilogy and these movies should definitely get more credit than what they actually get.

Because, if these early X Men films don't exactly work, then who's to say we get Iron Man 1? Who's to say we get Batman Begins? Who's to say we get Raimi's Spider Man 1? Really, no telling, because this was really one of the first films to really show that, hey, These franchise filmmaking superhero films can be entertaining, they can work, and they can pull in a lot of money.

These still aren't my favorite movies, but hey, they introduced Hugh Jackman, we got Logan down the line. They introduced all these cool characters, then we ended up getting First Class, an absolute banger of a movie, and Days of Future Past, an absolutely incredible comic book film. Now, as for how I felt about this movie going into the film, I wasn't really born yet, so I didn't really see it, or really remember anything about this movie growing up.

I did end up watching it, like, a few years ago, and I actually really enjoyed it, and then I re watched, I re watched it again, and it's not one of my favorites once again, but I do still think it's a solid flick. X Men released in 2000, had a budget of 75 million, and raked in 296. 3 million. And that may sound low, I was looking at that number like, that sounds really low for a comic book film.

That was one of the top 10 highest grossing films of that year, so I can't really complain about it. Movies are just really getting more expensive, a lot of movies are making a lot more money. It's really cool seeing, just back in 2000, What was the number six on the year and coming back to 2024? It's probably like 10 times that or something crazy And I know you're probably curious the highest grossing film from 2000 was actually how the Grinch stole Christmas raked in 345.

8 million dollars worldwide Once again, that's the highest grossing film. I don't really know about the economy or whatever, but adjusting for inflation, that may go up or down, who knows? But, just living in a world where Barbie is like 1 billion dollars at number 1, Oppenheimer was like 900 million at number 3 or something like that.

Seeing this at number one, it's just kind of weird, kind of cool. It makes me want to study a little bit of civics and the economy and the government for some weird reason. What was this film's overall perception from critics and audiences? Did they love it? Did they hate it? What do they really think about it?

Over on Rotten Tomatoes, this film has an 82 percent critic score and an 83 percent audience score, a little bit high in my opinion. I may be a hater. I really am a hater. I'm not gonna try to lie about it, but 83%, 82%, little bit too high for me.  Roger Eber, really one of the best critics to ever do it, gave this film a 2.5 out of four stars.

He wrote. I started out liking this movie while waiting for something really interesting to happen when nothing did, I didn't dislike it. I assumed the XPLAN will further develop their personalities if there is a sequel, and maybe find time to get involved in a story. No doubt fans of comics will understand subtle allusions and fine points of behavior.

They should linger in the lobby after each screening to answer questions. That's from Andre Iber, definitely a very good critic. I'll link that full review down in the show notes down below, if you want to read his full review of X Men 2000. And over on Letterboxd, this film has a 3. 3 out of 5. Average over there definitely what I would expect for this movie And we have a one little quick review from Anya a user on letterboxd who gave this film five stars and watched it four times This year.

This is why I love letterboxd because not everyone's a critic Not everyone can really go to school for about five years getting a journalism degree then go out to a random Newspaper station and write reviews all day, but on Letterboxd you can do it for free with no experience whatsoever and Anya on Letterboxd wrote Rewatching this film drunk.

This might be the best movie my eyes have ever watched. This is perfection Is that something I agree with? Absolutely not But at the same time I watched over the hedge five times last year and a lot of people think I'm really crazy for it And I am really crazy for it. Is Anya crazy for watching this film four times this year and giving it five stars?

Maybe, but we're all a little bit crazy at the end of the day. I'll leave her full review down below in the show notes. Anya, thank you for this. This really made my day, made my year, made my month, made my everything. Knowing that I'm not the only one who watches a film like five or six times a year, even though everyone hates it.

With all that insane yat time out of the way, let's go ahead and dive into our feature presentation on X Men 2000. What I loved about this movie, what I didn't really love about it, what could have been done great, and what really Just kind of holds it back from being incredible.  I'm professor Charles Xavier.

I built this school where mutants could learn to focus their powers in a positive way. And also learn that mankind was not evil, just uninformed. All right, so starting off with what I loved about X Men. Really, at the very beginning, the opening of this movie, is really cool. I think it's a very smart decision, just from a writing standpoint, and also just for this being the first film in your franchise, having Professor X, our main character, really explaining what X Men are to the audience.

For people who don't read comics, or aren't really too familiar with this, it's really cool, I think it's a really smart decision, very well done. Now, I gave them some flowers, rightfully so. I'm gonna take them right back away because the CGI, just right after that, is incredibly just horrendous. I don't know why the CGI is that terrible.

It really just hurts me, hurts my head. I don't like looking at that. It's painfully just excruciating for me to experience. But still, overall, the opening's really cool. It's the same as just kind of like, you know, Spider Man, that opening. Having just that very just flamboyant and just horrendous CGI opening.

That may have just been a common theme throughout a lot of movies in 2000s, I guess. Right after that I love Wolverine's introduction. That was definitely like a highlight of the film for me. It's just so well done It's just so genius having Wolverine be introduced fighting in like a cage fight in a bar.

That's just so cool You know seeing that take place also in Canada as well. It's just really smart. I think to introduce him like that I don't know how accurate that is to the comics But I think in terms of how you introduce this character There's really no better way that could have done it and also just like one of the coolest scenes in the entire film Hugh Jackman also does look a little bit smaller in this movie.

I mean, in like, The Wolverine, and like, Logan, he's just like, massive. But, in this film, he's like, a little bit leaner, younger Wolverine. But, as we get into Days of Future Past, and also Logan, like I said, Wolverine, he's gonna be just looking absolutely swole. The next thing that I also kind of enjoyed, but also just for the most part disappointed by, was the X Men roster in this film.

I think that the X Men roster should have been better. I know that, like, they have Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, and Cyclops. That's kind of all you need, I guess, but I think at the end of the day, they have just so much more characters they can tap into. There's no beasts in the first film or the second film.

He doesn't show up until last stand, which is really weird. No Gambit either, I would've liked to see that. I know Iceman's in this movie, I love him. He's like my favorite character throughout this entire trilogy. But, I wish he was on the team. I know he's younger, so he can't be, but I wish. Rogue is in this movie, but she's kind of like, you know, uh, you know, plot device, doesn't do a lot in this film.

And, also just mainly the suits, I would've wanted to see them. I know that It's understandable. They thought the suits were a little bit corny and you know, the big yellow and blue suits on the screen, maybe a little bit too much and a little bit too goofy. I understand that, but just transitioning to that, to a black leather, just straight black with a little X logo.

That's just not the approach I would have taken. I think you can do the suits in a more modern way without it being just, you know, too goofy, but going for a just pure black motorcycle design isn't really whatsoever the right way to do it. It looks like it's a blade movie. Instead of an X Men film. I'm not really a fan of that.

And besides that, it could have been better. That's just a little bit of a gripe for me. I do enjoy the vibe of this movie. This is the only original X Men film to ever come out. All the other X Men movies are adapted from something, some kind of X Men comic book. This first X Men movie is the only original idea, original movie.

That being said, this film isn't doing too much. It's not like it's a massive idea. Feels like just more of a Sunday cartoon X Men introduction pilot episode, which I'm really all here for. It's a more modern, more raw and real take on the X Men, not so much that, you know, corny yellow and blue comic book suits, cracking jokes every 24 seconds.

There's no beasts in this movie. I think that could have been partly the budget and also just they don't want it to have that kind of look and feel to it. I don't know why, when it's an X Men movie, it should definitely have that kind of aspect to it. But I do enjoy, though, even though they didn't really get the X Men group right, I do enjoy Wolverine and Cyclops bickering at each other.

That's just so fun, it's so perfect, I really enjoy that. And also, that being said, Cyclops should have been done more, they should have had more of Cyclops in these movies. It's really upsetting, that's all. It just really makes me upset because I love Wolverine and he is great, but I don't think he should get all of the credit, all of the characterization, all of the themes, and the storytelling, all of the build up in these movies.

It's definitely understandable why they did that. Hugh Jackman is great and Wolverine is just a very cool character to tap into, but not giving Storm anything when you have Halle Berry there, not doing anything with Cyclops or Jean Grey, it's just definitely hurting the film as a whole. The only characters who really get any kind of love and attention is Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto.

Is it like that in the comics? I don't know, but I know that the X Men characters have a lot more story and growth to be tapped into that this film doesn't do whatsoever. I think regardless of who has the best character development, who deserve more screen time, whatever the case may be, The politics and the themes of this film are definitely still really well done.

That's really just a testament to how the comics are laid out and really sets up a great film, regardless of the director, regardless of how good or bad the writing is. An X Men movie will always have just really strong themes, really great characters, no matter how good or bad it is. I mean, in this first X Men film, I think it's potentially the strongest one out of this entire opening trilogy.

Because it's an original X Men movie, it's not like it's building towards Apocalypse or massive Jean Grey Dark Phoenix epic finale. This is a original X Men film that's focusing on being an X Men film first instead of setting up an entire massive franchise feature. I think that definitely warrants for massive success, and its themes, and its characters, and its story is definitely just very much so the foundation and the pillars for what makes this film so good.

I mean, I really enjoy these movies and these characters being a reflection of the world that we live in, just like how Stanley really envisioned a lot of his work. The X Men being characters who are very different from humans, but definitely still want to be seen as equal in the world we live in. Does that sound any bit familiar?

Yes, it should. Absolutely. Which is what makes it that much better. Absolutely. And definitely in our current state of Hollywood, you can see a lot of different kind of movies taking this approach of just trying to tell stories that are also just going to be political narratives to whatever side you believe in.

But in this film, it feels earned, it feels more respectable, it feels like it has its place, it doesn't feel too forced. And I think the biggest highlight of this film is Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart being the main two figures of this film. Really the backbone of this entire first X Men film. is these two characters because they're both really fighting for both sides of this war, wanting the same goal, but doing it in different ways.

And also a fun fact, both these characters, Ian McKellen's character as Magneto and also Patrick Seward as Professor X, both of them were inspired by political figures Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. And you can definitely see reflections of that, both of them fighting for one goal, but in different ways.

That is truly, I think, very special and just a testament to just being aware of how to tell this story and these characters and adding so much more nuance and depth to them without feeling dumb or feeling stupid in any way. It kind of flows really naturally and kind of just weaves into the story very well.

There is a very different level of meaning and care and compassion with this film that I can't really find in a lot of other places. Specifically, the opening of this film, our villain's origin story of Magneto, taking place in Auschwitz, showing us that he's not just a mustached, twirling villain of the week.

He has a lot of depth and a lot of just character with him that is just so much. And I love that we're gonna see a lot of him more in first class, but with this first film, I think it really just shows That there is right and wrong with this world, but it's a lot much more than that.  And there isn't a ton of fight scenes in this film, mainly because of the budget, but also just because in this film, and in this first movie, and just I think X Men as a whole, a lot of the time it's not exactly a physical confrontation of fighting, but more of a philosophical confrontation.

One of the best sequences being  Magneto and Professor X really talking to each other about this conflict. They have a couple of those scenes in this film Those are the scenes that really show That this has a lot more to it than just meaningless action, meaningless characters, very bland CGI. There is a lot more to this world and to these characters, and it made me realize just how special the X Men really are. 

You know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? 

The same thing that happens to everything else. Alright, with our feature presentation out of the way, it's time to go into our superlatives and other just little fun stuff we have on X Men 2000. So starting us off, what was the best scene in the movie? What was our scene stealer for X Men 2000? And in my opinion, Logan's introduction, that first sequence of him fighting in that bar, is I think the best scene in the entire film.

The most entertaining, the most engaging, the one I can rewatch for hours on end. That's just, in my opinion, the best scene in the film. What was the best quote in the entire movie? I think you already know what the best quote in this film is. Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?

The same thing that happens to everything else. What's the joke? What's the punchline? No one knows. That's, I think, genuinely one of the worst written pieces of dialogue in a movie in film history. Over a hundred years of film and nothing leaves me so jaw dropped like that one. In a bad way, not a good way.

One small change for this movie. What could I do? What would I do with this movie if I could do anything at all? If I was the director for a day, what would I do? I want more X Men, I want more suits, I want this movie to be just more comic accurate in terms of just the aesthetic, the vibe of it, I want just a better overall X Men movie, that's what's really lacking here.

This film is more rooted in reality, which can be a good thing at times, but other times, not so much. And also, this X Men roster is a little bit weak, yeah, it's really the classic core group, but it needs more, it needs just more chemistry, I want more chemistry, I want it just to be, A more fun environment, and also, they need to be better.

This whole X Men roster really is just absolutely dog. If you're having trouble fighting Toad in this movie, if Toad is really giving you a problem, then we have to talk very extensively, because there's no way Toad is putting hands on you. There's no way Toad is giving you a run for your money. If you're having a problem fighting Toad in this film, then there's no saying that I can't just put the Condiment King in front of you, and he's your Thanos of this universe.

If I put the PAW Patrol in front of this X Men roster, they would be absolutely destroyed. I mean, the PAW Patrol would really put hands on this X Men roster and just expose their entire career because this X Men roster is just not good. They would get dogged by anyone in the world. Now as for what would be a good double feature for this film, I think a great double feature would be diving into this, then diving into Superman Returns.

Why? I don't know. I just want to see you struggle, see you suffer. I'm a number one hater, number one instigator, I want to see you absolutely suffer through Superman Returns. I don't know why. I would just find a little bit of pleasure in you watching that very horrendous Superman film. And plus, I couldn't really find anything else.

There was nothing else that really stood out to me as a good double feature idea. So, this is all you got. If this movie was a song, what would it be? Hire by Creed. I don't know exactly why. Hire by Creed was really just the first thing that came to mind, and really the most accurate thing, because Hire by Creed really does take me higher.

This is really my theme song. The thing I play every single day, the thing that plays in the back of my head, when I walk down the street, Hire by Creed starts playing. So, if this film was a song, it would be Hire by Creed. I have no idea why, it just is. A couple more things to dive into before we're done with this episode.

Time for a buzz from the back lot segment. What exactly is buzz from the back lot? Let's say you're at a dinner party or at school or at work, and you need to impress everyone, you know, with impressive film knowledge, that's all people care about, about you, not your actual skill, just film knowledge.

That's exactly what buzz from the back lot does for you. We give you some fun facts. You can use it throughout your daily life. Kicking us off here with Buzz from the Backlot, actor Kiki Kwan worked on stunts for this movie as an uncredited stunt rigger. You can actually find footage online of him on set helping out with the stunts.

Really cool. I really loved seeing him go from the where he was with Goonies all the way to winning an Oscar. It makes his journey just that much more special knowing that he worked on this film with no credit. Shortly after accepting the role of Magneto, Sir Ian McKellen was offered the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, which originally he had to decline.

He spoke to director Bryan Singer about his interest in making Lord of the Rings. And Singer agreed to rearrange this movie's shooting schedule so that Ian McKellen would finish the scenes by the end of 1999, freeing him up to travel to New Zealand in January 2000, where Lord of the Rings had been in production since October 1999.

Brian Singer, thank you so much. You really deserve so much credit for freeing up his schedule to play one of the best characters in film. I don't really see Lord of the Rings working without Ian McKellen. It just means so much. That really just made my entire year. And for our last piece of buzz from the backlot, Hugh Jackman took ice cold showers every morning of filming in order to help him get into character.

This tradition started when jumping into the shower at 5 a. m. before realizing there was no hot water. Shocked awake, but not wanting to wake his sleeping wife, he gritted his teeth and bored before realizing that this mindset, wanting to scream and lash out at something, but having to hold it in, was a mentality that Wolverine is in constantly.

He then made cold showers his Wolverine preparation routine for each movie featuring the character. With a very fun Bustin the Backlot out of the way, it's time for now our MVP award, the last award of the night, but also the biggest award of the night. Who was the best in this movie? Who was really the backbone of this film?

Does this film work without this one actor or actress? Absolutely not. And finally, for our MVP for X Men 2000, it goes to Patrick Stewart. Sir Patrick Stewart is, I think, just absolutely perfect for this role. I don't see it going into the hands of anyone else. Maybe John McAvoy later on into X Men First Class, but for this movie, I don't see it actually working or being as good as it is without him.

I He just has this natural aura of giving off this leadership role, such a massive role in this movie, that without him or in anyone else's hands, it just wouldn't be the same. And just as a bonus fun fact, Sir Patrick Stewart was actually the first actor to be cast as a mutant in this movie. I think especially also, it has to be after Star Trek, seeing him just be incredible in those movies and that show.

I haven't seen Star Trek ever, but I know that he's just incredible in  and I think that definitely translated really well into this movie. So Patrick Stewart, congrats on the MVP. He sadly couldn't make it into the studio today, but we're gonna mail it out to him. Patrick Stewart, thank you. We love you. 

Our final score for X Men 2000 is a strong D It's a D a little bit of a low score, but I still love this movie. Not as good as I want it to be, strong potential, definitely paved the way for a lot of movies, but it's just not quite there for me. But let me know what you think about it, my opinion doesn't really matter at all.

If you love it, that's incredible. Be like Anya back in the beginning of the episode, watch this movie like 4 or 5 times, give it 5 stars every time. If that makes you happy, so be it. Before we get out of here, our big question that I have to you, Is Patrick Stewart the best comic book portrayal we've ever seen?

I think he's close up there. Definitely top 10 comic book portrayal. Hugh Jackman, probably like number 2 or number 1. But he's definitely within the top 5. Patrick Stewart doesn't get the credit he deserves, especially for this movie. Well, that wraps up this episode of the Quarterstimate Podcast. The next episode we do in this series will be X2.

X2, a very interesting film. We'll talk about it when we get there. Make sure you follow us on all of our socials down below in the show notes. Leave a review on the show, share the show, turn on notifications so you know when we upload next, and the biggest thing of all, really, just watch more movies.

Watch a film a day. It's a path that many few can follow, but it's a path that's definitely worth following. Until next time, stay swagged out, stay cool, watch more movies, and I'm your host Logan, and I'll see you guys in the movies.