REEL CRITICS

Comics turned film is quality summer diversion

A high-powered action thriller, “X-Men” delivers the goods with a

dynamic screenplay, top-notch special effects and well-cast actors who

bring life to impossible characters.

Sure to please the target audience of hip teenagers, this movie

actually offers enough complexity and sheer fun to entertain adults and

children. There is lots of good humor intertwined with the conflict and

competition that drives the story line.

But the violence on screen operates on a comic-book level that is

definitely exciting but not disturbing.

Producer Stan Lee supervises this PG-13 project and avoids bad

language while giving us plenty of action and suspense. Since Lee is the

original creator of the “X-Men” comics, this film remains faithful to his

concept of young adults striving to understand their own strange natures

and be accepted by normal society.

A sure draw for rebellious or alienated youth.

The tight screenplay and editing keep the plot moving at a fast pace

that takes barely 90 minutes. It holds the attention of the audience

throughout every twist and turn.

Each actor successfully imbues life and energy into his or her role.

The excellent screenplay avoids wasted words and lame plot

developments that could create low points. The plot also sets up the

certain possibility of many sequels in the future as several characters

have unfinished business at the movie’s end. This could easily become a

movie comic book franchise that will be with us for several years to

come.

It’s not profound but remains a quality summer diversion that fulfills

its promise to those who like futuristic action adventure.

As movie food, it may be empty calories, but it sure tastes good.

* JOHN DEPKO, 48, is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office.

‘X-Men’ is what’s bad about sci-fi

Many years ago my late husband and I became hooked on science fiction,

avidly reading such greats as Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury,

Robert Heinlein and others. These marvelously imaginative and creative

writers brought original and exciting concepts to a genre introduced by

Jules Verne in the 19th century.

“Batman,” “Superman,” “Green Lantern,” “Captain Marvel” and “X-Men”

comic books stimulated the imaginations of younger readers so that

several generations became -- and still are -- sci-fi fans.

Motion picture makers, reading the writing on the wall, have produced

a plethora of films with gratifying blockbuster box office payoff. Some

have been wonderful (“Star Wars,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Star

Trek,” “2001”).

But many have been derivative, prosaic and forgettable. Such is

“X-Men.”

Despite the No. 1 ranking for its opening weekend, the film has little

new to offer. Although it will hold the interest of even “old fuds” like

me for about two-thirds of the picture, an objective assessment of its

overall quality labels it as mundane. And the innocuous musical score as

it blasts in transition between sequences makes one understand why our

young people are going to be deaf before they are 40.

Some of the characters, including the leading man, have personality

and substance. And the film boasts two real stage and screen luminaries:

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Neither of these excellent actors are

required to stretch their skills in any way, however, nor are other cast

members.

“X-Men” starts with a burst of comets that coalesces into a planet.

Interesting, but it has nothing to do with the subsequent action.

The opening is followed by an episode immediately outside one of

Germany’s death camps. A teenage boy desperately tries to get to his

condemned mother but succeeds, from a distance, only in tearing down the

barbed-wire gate. Aha! He’s a mutant and, as the screen states, “some

years later” he become Magneto, the story’s villain.

Cut to the U.S. Senate, where a senator is pushing a bill that would

require mutants to be registered.

Truthfully, the plot is muddled and only exists so director Brian

Singer can flood the screen with bursts of white light or fiery

explosions or snarling mutants with deadly blades coming out of their

fingers or XCUs (extreme close-ups) of someone’s eyes or, lacking another

mind-boggling image, a long murky shot of the White House or Capitol

Hill.

Singer is the current sci-fi “golden boy” of Hollywood -- and “boy” he

is. With a canny eye to the future, he also offers something for every

moviegoer: mutant teenagers in a special school; beautiful, nubile women

to titillate the raging hormones of the targeted male audience; valiant

good guys. All balanced by the eminence of McKellen and Stewart.

The director has created a film with essentially stock characters,

such as the senator whose name and demeanor is supposed to remind one of

Ted Kennedy while he has a distinct resemblance to Bill Clinton. Solid

stuff!

The whole picture -- plot, characters, setting, politics (shallow, but

what would you expect?), pyrotechnics and earsplitting music -- screams

for a sequel.

Apparently, this is what the young people want.

It’s entertaining enough for the current generation who seemingly has

not experienced the genre by the brilliant, more masterful writers. I’m

still intrigued by science fiction and its potential in film, so I’ll try

again.

But razzle-dazzle doesn’t do it for me.

* ELEANORE HUMPHREY, “over 65,” lives in Costa Mesa and is a political

junkie involved with several city committees.

Plot falls flat in ‘The Kid’

“The Kid” is about a tense businessman named Russ who meets himself as

an 8-year-old named Rusty. Russ only cares about himself and doesn’t

respect anyone. He has to see a psychiatrist because he thinks he’s

delusional.

Bruce Willis and Spencer Breslin do a fantastic job in playing the

roles of Russ and Rusty. Willis takes on the challenge of being a snobby,

selfish, stuck-up businessman; while Spencer plays the loud kid who has

many faults. Both characters are funny and will make you laugh.

Lily Tomlin, who plays Russ’s secretary, Janet, was also very amusing.

She always complained about Russ’s orders and how he handled things.

On the whole, I didn’t think the story was that interesting. The

characters were intriguing, but there was not a lot of action and the

plot was plain. The movie itself was conflicting and had a heavy subject.

There were a lot of problems between Russ and most of the people in

the movie. He never seemed to get along with anyone.

“The Kid” is good for all age groups. It has adult subjects for the

older crowd and is comical for the younger people.

* SARA SALAM, 12, is a sixth-grader at Eastbluff Elementary School in

Newport Beach. She likes soccer, ballet and writing.