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Review

Welcome to Mutant High! Or at least, that’s what part of this action-packed comic book romp resembles. Having the whodunit The Usual Suspects and the terse psychological thriller Apt Pupil to his credits, director Singer prove he’s able to leap across large genres with this fun-loving and snappily produced live-action cartoon based on the Marvel Comics series. Stewart and McKellen star as, respectively, Professor X and Magneto, arch enemies in the world of the Mutants. While Professor X runs a school for mutants where he trains these young evolutionary misfits, Magneto lurks in dark caves and plots to lay waste to the non-mutant world (thanks to a trauma suffered as a young man and alluded to in the film’s marvelous grainy opening set in a Nazi concentration camp). Into the fray comes Paquin, a young woman who has no idea what’s wrong with her (anyone she touches goes into a coma) and who has latched onto the irascible Wolverine (Jackman). Together, they find themselves at Professor X’s private academy where the X-Men attempt to convert them to good. Will they join in time to stop Magneto’s dastardly plot, or will Magneto win their allegiance and put an end to the X-Men forever? It’s all good, old-fashioned fun with the two titans of British acting (Stewart and McKellen) nicely paired off. The standout performances belong to Paquin and Jackman, the latter's brooding demeanor reminiscent of a young Clint Eastwood.