What Made the First 'X-Men' Movie So Great? 

What Made the First 'X-Men' Movie So Great?

Fifteen years and ten thousand superhero films later, a look back at the movie that started it all.

 isn’t the best film of the last fifteen years, or even the best in its category, but a strong case can be made that it’s by far the most influential. Since its 2000 release, there have been 78 major American superhero films; that’s more than double the amount of superhero movies from the fifteen years previous. The superhero category has, for better or worse, defined the last decade-and-a-half of American cinema, and

On the fifteen year anniversary of its release, let’s look back at what made one of the most impactful films of the millennium so great.

captain Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen to Academy Award-winner Halle Berry, the cast is really what made this film. Everyone looked the part. Campy line deliveries added to the perfection. Nowadays, most mainstream superhero films need a huge, established star just to compete, and a big part of that is the result of well-respected actors like Stewart and McKellen taking roles in what was once considered a niche genre.

On paper, literally, a yellow spandex costume looks pretty normal. On camera? Maybe not. The choice to incur the wrath of nerds everywhere, and make some much-needed wardrobe changes, was an important one. The more realistic looking costumes grounded the film in reality, and made the film accessible for people who weren’t comic book obsessives. The Nolan

films built on this concept heavily, essentially moving an entire superhero story into the real world.

Sometimes it pays to be silly. You don’t make nearly $300 million at the box office without being memorable, and

has some of the most memorable and ridiculous lines in superhero history, including my personal favorite, in which Wolverine says to Cyclops, "Keep your eye open" (get it? \'Cause his name is Cyclops?). The first run of

films really ran with this combination of absurd dialogue, and real-world grounding, and

movie spawned more than just a trilogy, and a prequel, and two Wolverine spinoffs, and a weird half-prequel/half-reboot hybrid. Six more

movies will be released before 2020 (seriously? Six?). Even if you hate superhero movies, you have to respect one that\'s been so defining. 

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