I don’t normally review animated series, but I feel a connection to this one, so the question is, is X-Men 97′ any good? Honestly, I enjoyed the opening two episodes of this rebooted series. As said, I had a connection to this and that’s because X-Men: TAS was one of my favorite cartoons as a young adolescent. Outside of Wolverine, who showed up in other comics, I never used to buy X-Men as a kid. I was always Spidey, Hulk and Fantastic Four. So the 90’s series actually made me an X-Men fan from that point on.
However, looking back now at that old series, I see the limitations of the 90’s and no budget. So, is this any good or just nostalgia? There’s a little of one and some of the other to be honest.
For a start there is some weirdness as an old series fan when certain voices don’t match. Those could be because the actor has aged, or it’s a new actor depending on the character. A few made me sort of react in a negative away for the first few seconds as my brain adjusted. After that, everyone here does a great job. As for the animation style, as always it depends on your own tastes. This does not look as cheap and limited as the old series was, but it does have a retro feel to it also. I like it, but it may not be to everyone’s tastes.
RELATED: X-Men 97′ Showrunner Beau DeMayo Fired Weeks Before Premiere
Action wise, this is where the new series excels for me. Only two episodes in, but the action sequences are more up to date and engaging than the old series by far. There are even a few moments that any budding director of the X-Men live-action reboot should be looking at. I’ll point to Wolverine’s take down of a sentinel using help from Gambit and Morph as a great example. It’s cool to see the X-Men work as a team, not individuals.
Story wise, and I expected this to be as weak as the original, things were okay. Adult drama this is not, it’s a Saturday morning style cartoon with cliffhangers after every episode. Yet there are some decent bit of plot being set up where I can see some good character arcs forming. Perhaps the biggest genius of this show is the decision to use Magneto in the way they have. I won’t spoil all the details, but the premise is both believable at this point of the story and leaves many possibilities for the future.
Honestly the only real gripe I had were some pacing issues and the fact I’d rather be watching the X-Men reboot on film by now.
So, is X-Men 97′ any good? Well, I will be tuning in each week, so that’s a positive. I’ll say what I felt when we get to the season finale. In the meantime, if you have watched it, let us know what you thought below.
GRADE: B+
FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS
Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube!
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
