Generation X

Compared to most comic-to-TV adaption, Generation X is...adequate. It doesn't rely on campiness (Batman/60's, the Justice League TV show pilot...). The main problem is that the writers don't seem to have much idea what they're doing. They opted for one big-name star (Frewer) and ended up with a bargain-basement Joker impersonation. The whole Dream Dimension plot is just stupid (even the characters acknowledge they're ripping off Freddy Krueger/Elm Street - not a good sign).

When the show sticks to the mutants themselves, it's pretty good. The school seems curiously understaffed, and in that huge mansion, why do six students have to sleep in two fairly small rooms? And the lack of budget shows, since the superheroics are mostly small-scale. Still, the cast is likeable enough, and it probably would have made a decent TV series if the ratings had been there.

A few years ago, the people at FOX produced a little tele-movie based on the newer comic book installment of the famous mutants..."Generation X". I was eagerly awaiting the film. Hoping it to be cool. I recorded it, and watched it. I did enjoy it. But, then again I was 10 years old. I am 14 now. So now I realize how crappy it is. It isn't horrible, the new "Godzilla", and "Psycho" re-make take that award. But, it is a less than average movie. i wish it was more like the comic. But, oh well. Hopefully the X-men movie will be better. But, then again maybe it won't. Maybe Spiderman. Nah. Hey, they are both to be directed by Bryan Singer and David Fincher. That's something good. Chris Columbus should get Fantastic Four.

A few years before the wildly successful and very well made "X-Men" movie, there was a TV version that bombed. "Generation X" was pretty much the same show though the characters they focused on were mostly different from the ones in the movies. In both cases, mutants are distrusted by the masses and unregistered mutants are being rounded up by the authorities. However, there's a mutant academy and many of these folks are being spirited off to this school where they'll learn to channel their skills and use them to fight evil.

So why didn't they green light the series? Well, I don't think it was because the public wasn't ready for such a show. To me, the problem is the very limited appeal of the show based on its style. While made in 1996, it looks right from 1984 with a strong New Wave style. The colors, music, lighting and look of the show look very dated and very 80s. The show also seemed focused towards teens only. Additionally, and this is what bothered me the most, the camera angles were annoying just to be annoying! Askew angles abound...and it jut makes it look cheap and kind of stupid! Add to that some occasionally poor writing and a bizarre character played by Matt Frewer (I think he was channeling Max Headroom a bit too much here) and you'll understand why the show was a flop and didn't get off the ground. After seeing this pilot movie, I am certainly glad they never made more.

As someone who followed Generation X the comic book from its inception, I recall being very excited about the Generation X tv movie during its debut. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. It was a thrill to see what started out as a fantastic comic make it onto the small screen, but the attempts just weren't enough.

Matt Frewer did a fantastic job of chewing the scenery, but it's usually easy to forgive the man his zaniness, particularly if you've ever watched Max Headroom. Beyond that, Generation X was and still remains painful to watch. Just about every canon character that started out in the comic book was not only miscast (i.e., the Chinese-American Jubilee being played by someone who wasn't), but poorly characterized. Mondo, the laid-back Hawaiian had transformed into pure arrogance, while Angelo, the cynical and quick-witted ex-gang member was suddenly on the shy and tentative side.

It was, in a way, what you'd expect from a comic book movie. That is assuming that you don't actually read comics and just have a stereotype in mind, however. Lighting was often overdramatic in a way that any Batman moviegoer could recognize and wince at. Scenery was not especially impressive, excepting the building which stood in for the Massachusetts Academy. Characters did not come across as particularly three dimensional, and it felt as if every prop involved had been drawn rather than created.

Although the movie in and of itself is a whimsical bit, easy to watch if you'd like a brightly colored distraction from the world around you, its script is lacking and its acting on the dull side. I felt for the characters involved not because Generation X the movie was convincing, but instead because I felt loyalty to the characters I'd been reading about for a number of years. The addition of Refrax and Buff, who had potential of their own, was more proof that this was a slapdash movie made in hopes of grabbing a few bucks. After all, these two appears sheerly because the remaining characters from the comic book would go over the budget for filming, as their appearances and powers would require too much in the way of special effects.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience, but I remain fan enough of the comic to keep a taped copy for nostalgia's value.

Though it is in no way as good as the latest X-Men movie, X2: X-MEN UNITED, GENRATION X is still good for being the first to star characters from Marvel's most influential comic line.

To be made in 1996 and only for television, This movie does in no way fall into the same boat as the other attempt to bring Marvel to the small screen,FANTASTIC FOUR(1994?). I have to admit the special effects were cheesy and the acting could have been better, the movie was still good and the action was still compelling. I had the opportunity to read the comic not long after the movie premiered on FOXtv and it goes very well with the story and the characters are cool.

If you have the opportunity to see this film, it will be worth your while. Enjoy.