The X-Men effect

I have been a superhero fan for many years. The all time favorite was, has been, and will be Batman. But, my super hero diet was generally satiated with Centurions (Cartoon Network), Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League and very importantly, X-Men. And the movie versions of Spiderman did catch my eye as well!

All the Batman movies were really good but I still prefer the cartoon as it captured the real essence of the character in my humble opinion (yes, over the Christopher Nolan- Christian Bale except maybe, for Heath Ledger). In the case of X-Men, the movies have been in a different league altogether.

X-Men 1 was fantastic. X-Men 2 between good and very good, X-Men 3 was exceptional (and I doubt it will ever be matched), X-Men Origins-Wolverine was good and then came X-Men First Class which I think was again very very good, if not First Class. It brought with it the typical X-Men flavor of a big disaster that is averted by the good guys, lots of cool graphics, cooler super powers etc etc. I also thought the cast was well chosen, for the most part. The main protagonists (i.e. Charles Xavier and Magneto) were great. Magneto’s performance was chilling..

All the animation fluff aside, the story was about two very powerful leaders who inspired followings with different styles. One was a more ‘by-the-books’ idealistic visionary who wouldn’t stray on the journey to his objective and who took upon a very mentor/coach role and even ended up bringing the best out of his soon-to-be adversary.

The other was a charismatic maverick, a Machiavellian character, who took the role of a friend/big brother to all those he lead. We are used to these 2 characters in the latter movies but we only see 2 very powerful leaders with great mutual respect for each other. Here, we have the back story.

We see the two of them as friends and how the eventual split occurs thanks to their independent ideals and beliefs. The essence of the movie i.e. this backbone was very captivating.

And that’s what I love about super hero movies. The difference between the ‘bad side’ and the ‘good side’ is generally thin. If anything, the ‘good’ side is often even weaker. But, it always distinguishes itself by making great choices.. (I understand ‘great’ is subjective but I guess, ‘principled’ would be more accurate. That is open to debate as always).

And I guess the biggest thing I have learnt from super hero movies is the line ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. And I think all ‘good’ guys tend to exemplify that sense of responsibility.

Anyway, the weekend unfolded with me catching up on X-Men 1 and X-Men 3 again. And once again, being the sucker for super heroes and inspiration that I am, I ended up replaying the scene where Wolverine inspires what remains of the X-men team to go and fight by saying

Such scenes always get me clapping. :) And it’s a pity I’m not able to find a YouTube video of the scene for the ones who haven’t seen it/cannot recollect it.

All in all, inspired this week – all thanks to the X-Men. A fantastic series – long may they continue. And until the next X-Men/Batman/Spiderman movie arrives, I hope Hollywood reconsiders the shelving of the Justice League movie..

To Superhero movies! Have a great week all!

—

Update: I have watched this movie 3 times. And it has only turned from a ‘like’ to an ‘obsession’