X-MEN '97 REVIEW

Forgive my lack of a more formal opening here, but it's good. REALLY good. X-MEN '97 seemingly picks up right where our favorite Saturday morning cartoon left off, featuring tons of nostalgia right out of the gate. 

​

The beginning credits are masterful as a tribute to the old intro scenes with a few new additions, (Bishop for one) and a slight remix to the iconic theme song. The shot for shot animations are incredible and really take you back to a time of eating a bowl of cereal, while sitting on the floor watching cartoons.

​

The pacing and serious subject matter of the show are perfect. Even the cadence of the voice actors is on point. According to my research, Cal Dodd returns as Wolverine, Alison Sealy-Smith is back as Storm, . Lenore Zann is back as Rogue, and George Buza is back as Beast.  The voice actors for Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Gambit (A.J. LoCasio) nearly had me fooled as original cast members as well. 

​

SPOILERS AHEAD:

​

Episode one starts out pretty heavy as we learn that Professor Xavier has passed away, leaving the team trying to find new balance in a world that sill fears and hates mutants. There are a ton of easter eggs and callbacks to the classic "Night of The Sentinels" pilot episode from the original X-MEN animated series. The action is epic with some cool team-ups and combo attacks from our favorite heroes. 

​

Classic subplots that we shamelessly love like Wolverine's affection for Jean Grey, who is now pregnant with Cyclops' child, or the complicated Gambit and Rogue relationship are still very prominent. I also enjoy the scenes where our favorite heroes are just hanging out at the mansion, or playing basketball, before a bit of a surprising ending, featuring an all-timer villain. 

​

Simply put, this was everything we ever wanted in a revamp, and quite honestly one of the best reboots of all time. Disney+ has released two episodes with more on deck in the coming weeks. Expectations are incredibly high moving forward, as the bar has been set. 

​

RATING: 9.3 out of 10 

SIMPLY AMAZING