X-Men is a 2000 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer, based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name. The ensemble film starred Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Ray Park, as mutants in a world prejudiced against them, divided in allegiance between the idealistic Professor Xavier and the brutal Magneto.
Plot[]
In 1944 Nazi-occupied Poland, 13-year-old Erik Lehnsherr is separated from his parents upon entering the Auschwitz concentration camp. While attempting to reach them, he causes a set of metal gates to bend toward him because of his mutant ability to generate magnetic fields, but is knocked out by the guards. In the not-too-distant future, U.S. Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act" in Congress, which would force mutants to reveal their identities and abilities. Present are Lehnsherr, now going by the name "Magneto", and his telepathic colleague Professor Charles Xavier. Xavier sees Lehnsherr in attendance and is concerned with how he will respond to the Registration Act.
In Meridian, Mississippi, 17-year-old Marie accidentally puts her boyfriend into a coma after she kisses him, because of her mutant ability to absorb the power and life force of others. Adopting the name "Rogue", she runs away to Alberta, where she meets Logan, also known as "Wolverine", a mutant who possesses superhuman healing abilities and metal claws that protrude from between his knuckles. They are attacked on the road by Sabretooth, a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, but two members of Xavier's X-Men, Cyclops and Storm, arrive and save them. Wolverine and Rogue are brought to Xavier's school for mutants in Westchester County, New York, where Xavier tells Logan that Magneto appears to have taken an interest in him and asks him to stay while he investigates the matter. Rogue enrolls in the school.
Senator Kelly is abducted by Brotherhood members Toad and Mystique and brought to their hideout on the uncharted island of Genosha. Magneto uses Kelly as a test subject for a machine powered by his magnetic abilities that generates a field of radiation, which induces mutations in normal humans. Kelly later escapes by taking advantage of his newfound mutation. Rogue visits Wolverine during the night while he is having a nightmare. Startled, he accidentally stabs her, but she is able to absorb his healing ability to recover. This is observed by fellow students who arrived to help. She is later convinced by Mystique, disguised as Rogue's crush Bobby Drake, that Xavier is angry with her and she should leave the school. Xavier uses his mutant-locating machine Cerebro to find Rogue at a train station, and the X-Men go to retrieve her. Meanwhile, Mystique enters Cerebro and sabotages it.
Having left ahead of Storm and Cyclops, Wolverine finds Rogue on a train and convinces her to return to the school. Before they can leave, Magneto arrives, knocks out Wolverine and subdues Rogue, revealing it was her who he wants rather than Wolverine. Although Xavier attempts to stop him by mentally controlling Sabretooth, he is forced to release his hold when Magneto threatens the police who have converged on the train station, allowing the Brotherhood to escape with Rogue. Kelly arrives at the school, and Xavier reads his mind to learn about Magneto's machine. Realizing the strain of powering it nearly killed him, the X-Men deduce he intends to transfer his powers to Rogue and use her to power it at the cost of her life. Kelly's body rejects his mutation, and his body dissolves into liquid. Xavier attempts to locate Rogue using Cerebro, but Mystique's sabotage incapacitates him, and he falls into a coma. Fellow telekinetic and telepath Jean Grey fixes Cerebro and uses it, learning that the Brotherhood plans to place their mutation-inducing machine on Liberty Island and use it to "mutate" the world leaders meeting at a summit on nearby Ellis Island. The X-Men scale the Statue of Liberty, battling and overpowering the Brotherhood while Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue and activates the mutation machine. As Wolverine confronts and distracts Magneto, Cyclops blasts him away, allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine. He transfers his powers to Rogue, rejuvenating her while incapacitating himself.
Professor Xavier and Wolverine recover from their comas. The group also learns that Mystique escaped the island battle and is impersonating Senator Kelly, despite being seriously injured by Wolverine. Xavier gives Wolverine a lead to his past at an abandoned military installation in Canada. Magneto is imprisoned in a complex constructed of plastic and is visited by Xavier, and Magneto warns him that he intends to escape one day and continue the fight; Xavier replies that he will always be there to stop him.
Cast[]
- Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier
- Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
- Ian McKellan as Erik Lensherr / Magneto
- Brett Morris as thirteen-year-old Erik Lehnsherr
- Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm
- Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey
- James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops
- Bruce Davison as Senator Robert Kelly
- Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
- Ray Park as Toad
- Tyler Mane as Sabretooth
- Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue