Comic books being a incredibly visual medium, they seem like almost a easy adaptation for film, but results have been drastic. From the good (Batman, Superman) to the awful (Batman & Robin, The Punisher). X-Men however, may vary well be the best comic book film made yet.

The casting of the characters is nearly perfect. Based on looks alone, Patrick Stewart was born to play the role of Professor Xavier. He's got a great voice and serves as our tour guide into the world of mutants. Hearing that Ian McKellen was going to play Magneto, I really couldn't see it. This frail looking old man playing a super-villain just didn't seem right, but looks are not nearly as important as screen presence. McKellen is a powerful presence as Magneto, he takes the role very seriously. (I'm now dying to see him play Gandalf in Lord of the Rings.)

The star of the film is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Wolverine is the fan favorite and the film-makers play this as their ace. Hugh having no baggage coming into the film, becomes the surly, robust anti-hero Wolverine. He has most of the great moments in the film. The rest of the mutants are decent. Anna Paquin performs it right, as the shy unsure Rogue. Famke Janssen and James Marsden are fine as Jean Grey and Cyclops, mostly they are just nice to look at. My biggest problem was with Halle Berry as Storm, I along with a lot of people thought Angela Basset should have been Storm. Storm is the leader of the group, but she never really comes with enough attitude to pull it off. The main problem is none of the lesser characters are given enough screen time to develop fully.

The bad guys were all good, mainly because of the complicated costumes and make-up. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos suffered through around 8 hours a day worth of make-up to play the scaly Mystique. Professional wrestler Tyler Mane is appropriately large as Sabertooth and given a monstrous roar to fill out his character. Ray Park (Darth Maul) looks like he's having a blast playing the cynical athletic Toad, complete with a wicked CG tongue.

The story is typical of comic book films, it is mainly there to set up the various character and the action scenes they create. The difference here, is that they take the story seriously. You genuinely feel sympathy for these freaks of nature and the horror their powers create in average humans. My only problem with the story is that it's too short. It felt like an opening story in a series, which it is, but it should be able to stand on it's own. There were a few too many loose ends that don't get tied up. Without already knowing that there are probably going to be 2 sequels, I would have been really upset.

One other minor complaint, was the score. It's an ok score by veteran Michael Kamen, but not a great one. The film needs a theme, one that is instantly recognizable, such as John Williams' Superman or Danny Elfman's Batman.

Apparently director Singer was forced to release the film 6 months ahead of schedule. Who knows what he could have done with the extra time, but I think he could have tightened it up into a more well rounded film. Even with all these problems, the film still plays very well. In a year dominated by weak films, X-Men is a bright spot.