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Way back, in the long gone year of 1995, I heard some
great news. Slated to hit theaters that Christmas was a movie
adaptation of one of my favourite comics: The X-Men.
Suffice to say, Christmas of 95 came and went with no X-
Men movie. As did the entirety of the next few years. It
became kind of a running gag. Whenever someone online asked
when Marvel was going to get off their butts and give us an X-
Movie, I would reply, "Christmas, 1995".
In 99, I finally heard there was an actual script! A director!
They were even doing *gasp* casting! Could it finally be
happening? Could the X-Movie finally be made? Nah. I saw
what happened to the Fantastic Four movie a few years back.
Then I remembered Marvels track record for movies. Let
me direct your attention to Captain America, either the early
90s or late 70s version (The latter of which I am watching as I
write this.). Or shall I point you towards a number of Spider-
Man TV movies that were made? Howard the Duck? Or the
aforementioned Fantastic Four bomb which was so bad they
wouldnt even release it?
Still, I had some hope. Blade had come out recently, and
was a pretty good movie. It wasnt 100% accurate to the
comics, but I dont expect them to be. If Marvel did it once,
was it just a fluke, or the start of something good?
I decided it as going to be a fluke. No way could anyone
portray the X-characters accurately enough to please the fans,
and have thinks make sense to the viewers. Nor could they pick
a small enough cast that would make everyone happy.
Then I saw the first trailer. It looked rather cool. I heard
many people complaining about the costumes, but it didnt
bother me one bit. I was glad they werent using the actual
costumes from the comic books. That would look incredibly
silly. Could you picture Hugh Jackman wandering around in
blue and yellow spandex? With those big shoulder pads, and
Wolverines funky boots?
Still, I remained skeptical. Ive seen good trailers for bad
movies before. Then came a few more trailers, and clues to
what the story was about. I found myself actually becoming
excited. I made plans to see the movie after a few weeks it had
been out, with some old friends. As the day came closer for the
premiere, I said to hell with it, and went opening day. My
expectations were so high now, the movie was in danger of
never meeting them.
And then, the movie started. Rogues origin was more or
less right. The characterization was spot on. Jean Grey in tight
leather. Cool effects, and excellent acting almost all across the
board. I have to say, I was grinning like a damn fool for nearly
the entire movie. At one point, Logan sits down to order a beer,
and starts smoking his good old cigars. I wanted to leap out of
my seat, point at the scream, cackle madly, and shout, "They got
it right! At long last!!"
I managed to restrain myself though. Good thing too, since I
would have certainly been thrown out of the theater.
But yes, it is about time. Marvel finally gave us the X-Men
movie we had been waiting for. And its about time that Marvel
finally has got it right again. See what happens when you have
someone who knows what theyre doing, respects the source
material, and knows how to make a movie? Yes, Marvel, hire
actual talent, and you CAN make a good movie!
I will say, however, that there is one bad side effect from the
movie. Theyve gone and changed the logo on Uncanny X-Men
and X-Men from the classic logo theyve been using for the past
30 or so years, and started using the logo from the movie.
Now, dont get me wrong, the logo was fine for the movie,
set against a black background, but it is ill-suited for a comic
cover. The movie logo lacks any real design or imagination.
Someone typed in "X-Men" in their computer, in some simple,
straightforward font, and italicized it. They then popped it into
Photoshop or something similar, and gave it a metallic sheen. It
just doesnt stand out anymore. Its plain and unimaginative,
and I didnt even recognize the books as X-Men at first, until I
looked closer. Check out this scan of one of the issues to see
the travesty of it all:
I do however understand the thinking behind changing the
logo, since it will hopefully catch the attention of fans of the
movie, who want to try the comics out. But damnit, I want my
old logo back! If it aint broke, dont fix it!
Now, go see the X-Men movie, you will be pleasantly
surprised. And we have to continue to make sure it beats out
Pokemon 2000. Which it has for the past two weekends, much
to my surprise.
Oh yes, Liefeld sucks.
See you next month folks! Mmmm, Jean in tight black
leather...
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