I saw this movie four times in theatres: July 17, 20 and 21st**. I know, I obsess. Those were during my last summer at home, before leaving for my first year in Halifax. I also saw it at the Oxford in Hali, when it played once as their Friday Midnight movie.
It's safe to say that I liked this movie. It's also safe to say that I liked Wolverine. Honestly, I don't think there is a single person in the world who could make a better Wolverine than Hugh Jackman. He had it all, down to the hair, cigar and the "Bub."
Patrick Stewart was wonderful as Prof X. Probably because he just looks like Prof X naturally. All he had to do was sit in a wheelchair and *poof*.
The rest of the cast... tried their best, I'm sure. They just weren't as interesting as Wolverine or Prof X.
I never really followed the comic books, but I watched the cartoon a whole lot. I wasn't as bothered by the liberties they took with the movie, the things they chose to ignore and the like. I just liked it because it was a good action pic that was easy to watch and occupied my mind for at least 90 minutes.
Can't wait for the sequel. (Originally written 8 May 2003, but the movie came out in the summer of 2000; **At the time I wrote this, I still had the movie stubs, it's not that I have an awesome memory. And, also, this was in Cobourg when the theatre only cost $4.25, so I didn't, like, spend >$30 seeing XMen that summer).
X Men II 
So far I've only seen this once. I will probably see it again**, if history has taught us anything about me.
This was good. It was fun. There were new characters, and they made some great improvements with the old ones: Cyclops was barely in it, Storm didn't have the here-now-gone-later accent, the costumes were a bit better, and there was more story. In the first one they had to set it up and explain all the characters. Now, finally, they could get to the action.
There was some good fight scenes. Except, there was one between Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, baby!) and this chick (I don't know her name) who has basically the same powers as he does, but who totally kicked his ass. Anyway, I found that fight hard to follow. They were both in black and both had silver claws. I wasn't sure who was slicing whom.
They ended it well. It set up the third installment perfectly. I can't wait for the next one.
P.S. Give Hugh Jackman the Oscar, already. (Originally written 8 May 2003; **I think I only saw this one once in theatres. I don't remember).
X Men III
If I had the power to do so, I would decree that Hugh Jackman must take off his shirt and cry in every movie that he makes. I think it adds a little something extra.
I can’t say why he’s crying in XMen III: that would reveal too much. I can’t say much about anything that happened in this movie without giving very cool, surprising plot points away. I can’t say why he cries (and, now that I think about it, he cries more than once), and I can’t say why I almost cried, and I can’t say why Cricket said, ”Oh my God,” at more than one point. This is really difficult; I don’t know what to talk about.**
I should say that this was markedly different than the first two, and it wasn’t just the different director, or the comings and goings in the cast. The action was different, the plot was more simple (in a good way) than the last two. This is frustrating; I don’t know what to say. Um, it was less funny than the first two, perhaps more violent, but very entertaining. Hugh Jackman was hot-tastic, even though Wolverine was less….feral… than he has been in the past. Rogue was barely there, Storm had a large role but Halle Berry’s performance was on par with the last two. There were new characters, like Juggernaut and Beast (!), and Ben Foster totally didn’t get enough screen time as Archangel. Maybe if there’s a fourth movie (X Men IV: The Other Last Stand) he’ll get more screen time. It was a fairly short movie, less than two hours which makes me wonder what was cut…. I suppose I’ll have to wait for the DVD.
In closing, if you liked the first two, you’ll like this. If you didn’t like the first two, see it for Hugh Jackman. He alone is worth the cost of the ticket. If you do that, but still find the movie boring, you can make a game of counting how many times Wolverine grunts. He grunts a lot. And, if you do go to see this, stay until the end. The very end: don’t leave until after the credits are done rolling….trust me. (Originally written 13 June 2006; **It's been so long since I saw this movie that even I don't know what I'm refering to here!)
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