X-Men (2000)

  Apparently I'm revisiting movies from a decade ago this weekend.  I remember when this one first came out and how excited I was to see it.  Nervous, too, because like any good fangirl I was worried they'd fuck up the casting or the plot and ruin characters I'd loved since childhood.

I haven't seen it in a few years now, since the last time I got to the X's in my collection (around 2006, for those keeping score).  Of course, that was way before First Class came and kicked the entire series in the ass.  Seeing it now, I've realized that I'm really not a fan of Anna Paquin as Rogue.  I know they were trying to make her seem younger and they didn't want to go into the whole Carol Danvers storyline but she just comes off as whiny and annoying.  Plus, I kept expecting Stephen Moyer to show up and go "Sookieeeeee" like he does in TrueBlood.  Nearly everyone else was spot-on, though.

A young girl named Marie (Anna Paquin) runs away from home after discovering her mutant powers suck the life out of people.  She hitches across Canada under the name Rogue and runs into Logan (Hugh Jackman), a brawler with a few nifty special abilities of his own.  Let's just say he never has to look far for a can-opener.  Unfortunately, the pair are targeted by Sabertooth (Tyler Mane) who is working for Magneto (Ian McKellen).  Magneto believes that humans and mutants cannot peacefully co-exist and is working on evening the playing field.  Fortunately, Logan and Rogue are rescued and taken to Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted.  Despite his initial reluctance to join a team, Logan lends his claws to the Professor's cause after Rogue is kidnapped.

It's so hard to go back and enjoy this movie knowing how much better the prequel is.  Still, it's not a terrible waste of time.  For people who had never read the comics or only had a passing interest in the old animated TV show, it was a good introduction to the universe.