First Impression - X-Men

Unashamedly I am an x-geek and boy was I waiting for this one. It didn’t disappoint one bit. Interestingly the episode opens up with a similar premise to the last x-men animation, Wolverine and the X-Men (WATX), Jean Grey is overpowered by the Phoenix force, seemingly sacrifices herself and the x-team breaks up only to regroup a year later. I liked WATX, but already I’m confident I’m going to prefer this rendition. It’s definitely more suited to an older demographic, with ample amounts of action but also offering serious dialogue. Admittedly I was a little dismayed with the inclusion of Wolverine, I figured the point of having his own series was too move the X-Men universe away from become Logan-centric, something the movies had trouble comprehending. Contrary to popular belief X-Men doesn’t begin and end with Wolverine! Having said that, it’s pretty clear that Logan is not the inequitable star of the show and his characterization, short, burly and hairy is spot on! In fact the entire x-team, Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Xavier, Emma Frost, all look the part. Nice and dynamic too. In addition the end credits offered a sneak preview of potential villains – the Juggernaut, Mystique and Magneto, again brilliantly animated. I’m starting to think 12 episodes might be too short to feature all the heroes/villains I’d like to see get this treatment. Despite all of X-Men’s good point, it’s still potentially weighted down by some pretty bleak voice acting. There is very little distinction between characters, tending to be rather generic voices on the whole.

Rating: 8/10