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Hollywood never got that popular comic books are lapped up because of their simplicity, in terms of characters, conflicts, storyline and text and pictorial depictions. Even the good-versus-evil divide tends to be as bold and clear as the bubbled, monosyllabic wording. But, following in the overproduced steps of the Batman and Superman franchises, comes X-Men , an adaptation of the popular Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic-book characters and stories, transferred to the big screen with a reported $75 million budget and 470 visual-effects shots.

X-Men has a strong attitude. Since the comic book first arrived on shelves in the mid-'60s, it has consistently been one of the best selling titles; most people who have collected comics at one time or another have bought at least one X-Men issue. Yet it remains uncertain how much box office clout these X-Men fans will be able to muster. Every movie studio hopes for the success of a Star Trek or a Batman. But the result could just as easily be akin to an X-Files - a movie thought to have a large, fanatical following but which tanked after a big debut. There is no question that X-Men will finish at the top of the box office chart during the first weekend of its release. The question to be answered is: What then?

X-Men's action takes place in the near future, when the United States Senate is debating a bill that will require all mutants (human beings who possess special powers as a result of DNA mutations) to register with the government. The leader of this movement, Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), is a McCarthy-like personality who has whipped public opinion into frenzy. One of the most powerful of the mutants, Magneto (Ian McKellen), believes that Kelly's words are the first volley of a battle that will turn into a war, and he intends to launch a preemptive strike for mutant kind - something to head off the struggle before it begins. He is opposed by his old friend, the telepath Professor X (Patrick Stewart), and his band of "X-Men": Cyclops (James Marsden), whose eyes emit laser blasts; Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whose skills are in telekinesis; and Storm (Halle Berry), who can control the weather. The professor and those who study at his "School for Gifted Children" believe in the philosophy of peaceful co-existence. But Magento is not alone in his assertion that humans "no longer matter." Three henchmen support him - a blue-skinned shape shifter named Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), the ferocious beast Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), and the ugly-but-agile Toad (Ray Park) - all of whom would die for his cause.

Meanwhile, a pair of newcomers have arrived at Professor X's school. They are Rogue (Anna Paquin), a frightened teenage girl who has recently discovered that she cannot touch another human being without draining that person's life energy, and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), a fast healer with an adamantine skeleton and retractable, razor-sharp claws that spring from the backs of his hands. These two, who have a big brother/little sister type of bond, are deciding whether to join Professor X when a move by Magneto takes matters out of the realm of free choice.

X-Men, helmed by Bryan Singer (whose previous credits include The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil, also with McKellen), does many more things right than it does wrong. Character development is admittedly spotty, with some individuals getting little more than token screen time, but there is enough here for us to care about the core group of mutants. The best realized personalities are Magneto, Wolverine, and Rogue. Professor X and Jean Grey occupy the middle ground. The flattest are Cyclops, Storm, and Magneto's henchmen. The action sequences, especially the climactic one, are choreographed with flair, with a few Matrix influences to be found (slow motion, a camera circling the action). Plus, although Magneto's plan is a little silly, it's nice to find a villain who is not a megalomaniac. Unlike the average James Bond bad guy, Magneto isn't interested in world domination. Instead, he wants to avoid living through a second holocaust. As a boy, he endured the Nazi death camps in Poland. As an adult, he doesn't intend for the human persecution of mutants to reach a similar level of intolerance. Thus, in many ways, the story that unfolds here is an allegory about the difficulties of combating prejudice and bigotry.

Compared to Batman, the most recent comic-turned-movie franchise to capture the public's imagination, X-Men is an improvement. Style, not story, was that series' forte. The world created by Singer and his craftsmen is not as strange and gothic as Gotham City, but it is no less visually interesting. The climax, which involves the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, utilizes flawless, set-based duplications of reality (no significant footage was actually shot in or around New York). The giant spherical room within Professor X's school is impressive, as are chambers in Magneto's abode, and the glass-and-plastic apartment shown later in the film.

X-Men does not, however, top Superman as the most engaging superhero motion picture. The 1978 Richard Donner feature possessed an epic scope that X-Men doesn't approach. (Nor, in all fairness, does it aspire to.) This is a much simpler action/adventure effort, as the relatively short running length of 100 minutes betokens. In terms of its plot structure and intent, X-Men has modest goals, most of which it meets. The prime characters are introduced, thrown into the maelstrom of an adventure that allows each of them a personal highlight, then sent on their way, hopefully into a 2002 sequel.

For the role of Professor X, there couldn't be a better choice than Patrick Stewart, whose bald head alone made him the #1 pick of almost every X-Men fan. Having portrayed Star Trek's Captain Picard for more than a decade, Stewart is used to both appearing in science fiction adventures and playing a cult icon, and appears at ease. It's too bad he isn't accorded additional screen time. Ian McKellen, soon to don the robe of Gandalf in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, brings his considerable talent to bear in the role of Magneto, creating a more complex and conflicted villain than one might normally expect in this sort of movie. As Wolverine, Hugh Jackman (an Australian with little film experience beyond his homeland) is suitably feral and captures some of the mannerisms of his comic book inspiration (smoking a cigar and saying "bub", for instance). Anna Paquin explores the emotional pain and loneliness of the young Rogue, who is forever forbidden intimate human contact. Famke Janssen, James Marsden, and Halle Berry all look and act their parts, at least within the constraints of their limited screen time. They are supporting players with limited duties. (Although I could have done without the pointless, perfunctory "love triangle" that emerges featuring Jean, Cyclops, and Wolverine - it doesn't work on any level. Even the Luke/Han/Leia romantic subplot in Star Wars was more intriguing).

Ultimately, X-Men is a reasonably entertaining movie, but it's one that started to bother me the moment I left the theater. Here's why: The X-Men want to stop a potential war between humans and mutants, and Professor X thinks Magneto is brewing this war up. But Magneto isn't doing anything of the sort. He's cooked up this machine that will give mutations to humans - and therefore a better understanding of mutants, and ergo, no war. Magneto has a great idea! If his machine worked right, everything would have been peachy. The fact that it doesn't, feels inserted by one of the half-dozen unaccredited screenwriters just to make the movie a little less nonsensical

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