X-Men (12)

X-Men - In the wake of the God-awful Batman and Robin, it seems that good comic book adaptations were hard to make. When Blade arrived with a dark, menacing look and featured a character not a lot of people remember, our minds were changed. When you thought no-one could do X Men justice, Bryan

Singer, the man who made the brilliant crime thriller The Usual Suspects, avoided making the film look camp and gave us a dark, almost real fantasy that people will like, even if they haven`t read the comics.

It`s essentially a good vs. evil story, which is what the original comics (and cartoon series) were about. Fans will wonder why some characters didn`t make it (Beast, Gambit) but the ones who did make it were excellently portrayed so fans won`t be disappointed.

First the good guys. Patrick Stuart plays the father-figure who runs a school for gifted people (aka mutants). He is a psychic, so he can read people`s minds and control others. He forms the X Men - there`s Cyclops (James Mardsen) who can fire a laser from his eyes; Storm (Halle Berry) who can control the weather; Jean Gray (Famke Janseen) who is telekenetic; and teen runaway Rogue (Anna Paquin) who can kill you by touching you. Most importantly, there`s Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the result of an inhuman experiment (wait `till X2 for more details) which left him with a metal skeleton and retractable claws. Admit it, he was the coolest of the lot and Jackman is brilliant, making him a loner who is searching for his past.

Now the bad guys. They are led by Magneto (Ian McKellen) who can control metal. He believes that mutants are soon to be at war with mankind. He is a nasty piece of work and McKellen is the opposite of Gandalf, but his henchmen are sadly underused. There`s Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), a strong, hairy stooge and Wolverine`s archenemy; Mystique (Rebecca Romijn Stamos), a shapeshifter; and Toad (Ray Park) who has, er, toad powers.

Overall, X-Men is the best comic book adaptation since Blade. It boasts stunning special effects, great characters and of course, Wolverine is the hardest dude on earth.