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X-Men, the summer's latest blockbuster, would have you believe it's a movie about minorities, prejudice, and tolerance. In this view, the X-Men, a group of humans who have each mutated in one drastic way, stand in for minorities everywhere. Forced to congregate together by the virulent "racism" thrust upon them, they not only turn the other cheek but actively try to save the world that doesn't understand them.

Actually, not all of the mutants are trying to rescue the planet, and therein lies our story. A group of mutants, led by Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters) and frustrated by humanity's inherent prejudice, has devised a plan to create a whole new set of mutants. The X-Men, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart, Star Trek: Next Generation), are out to thwart Magneto's crew.

Before we can get to the final showdown, though, we have to meet our contestants. First up is Rogue (Anna Paquin, The Piano), whose power is to drain the energy out of anyone she touches. Sort of a Midas touch gone bad. Running away from any civilization, she hooks up with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman in his first major role) in northern Canada. He has the ability to regenerate himself; he's called Wolverine because of his attractive facial hair.

In the snowy woods of Alberta, our two heroes are attacked by Sabretooth (Tyler Mane in his film debut), one of Magneto's men. Sabretooth doesn't seem to have any power except the ability to impersonate a professional wrestler, a task for which Mane is especially suited. To Rogue and Wolverine's rescue come Cyclops (James Marsden, Gossip) and Storm (Halle Berry, Bulworth). Cyclops has a powerful eye, while Storm can . . . well, I think you can handle it from here.

Rogue and Wolverine, who always thought they were just freaks, are taken to Professor X, who runs a school/haven for adolescent mutants. There he shows them (and us) how they're not alone and what they need to do to defeat Magneto. This exposition is handled remarkably well. Never forgetting the legion of fans who've grown up with the original comics, the movie also does  a fantastic job of initiating those of us who couldn't tell Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Toad (Ray Park, Phantom Menace) apart. While the movie sometimes slows down under the weight of this story-framing, as well as the need to introduce eleven distinct characters, there are enough battles and action sequences interspersed throughout to keep most audiences engaged.

The movie is helped enormously by the casting of Stewart and McKellen. While the rest of the cast is made up of B-list actors and folk making their film debut, Stewart and McKellen bring gravity and acting chops to their roles. Their scenes together, when they argue about the best course for mutants to take, are fabulous; and even the most transparent plot devices seem realistic in their hands. Paquin, who since her Oscar-winning role in The Piano, has been forced to play moody teenagers or alluring jailbait, handles the former category as if she's been doing it all her life. On the alluring end are Berry in leather, Romijn-Stamos in bodypaint, and Famke Janssen (House on Haunted Hill) in the best-looking red outfit since Sophie Marceau in last year's Bond movie. The film's other male characters don't have much to do but strut around or, as in Toad's case, jump.

Along with the costumes (by Louise Mingenbach and Bob Ringwood), X-Men has a nice shiny look that echoes its comic-book origins. Production designer John Myhre should be congratulated for creating a vibrant feel on what was a relatively small budget. The screenplay, credited to David Hayter but apparently shared by several anonymous writers, does its job. There are a number of witty one-liners that have the added benefit of bursting the pretentiousness that sometimes threatens to drag the movie down.

The film's climax takes place on the Statue of Liberty. This has the unfortunate effect of echoing Alfred Hitchcock's classic North by Northwest, which reaches its famous crescendo on Mount Rushmore. Not that X-Men is bad. In fact, it's quite enjoyable and has the distinction of being one of the better comic-book movies ever made (not that there's a lot of competition in that category). But Hitchcock knew how to make a blockbuster--he knew how to integrate the action sequences into the fabric of the film, he knew how to create suspense in the dialogue, he knew how to fashion characters that we cared about. Director Bryan Singer, who made the vastly over-rated Usual Suspects, isn't terribly good at any of those things. X-Men works, in part, because its competition isn't any better. When Gone in 60 Seconds is one of the biggest movies of the summer, X-Men is welcome relief, even if its ending is a shameless lead-in to the inevitable sequel.

But back to this notion of minorities and prejudice, themes the movie tries to beat into our skull. As my friend Garth put it, X-Men isn't so much about those big ideas as it is about the pain and angst of adolescence--when your body starts changing and you actually think you're a mutant, when nobody understands you and you'd rather run away into the woods, when your only salvation is finding someone who's as freaky as you are. X-Men: a movie for the teenager in all of us. It's summertime, baby.

J. Robert Parks 7/17/2000