My Review of X-Men: Evolution · 12:05am Aug 27th, 2023
My TV Show Rating Score:
5/5: It is an awesome show!
4.5/5: it is a great show albeit not perfect
4/5: It’s a good show with minor flaws
3/5: It’s overall okay/guilty pleasure
2/5: It’s bad but not awful
1/5: Look, up in the sky! It’s super bad!
0/5: MY EYEEEESSS!!!
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another TV show review for tonight! This evening, I will be reviewing an animated series entitled “X-Men: Evolution” which ran from 2000-2003. Now, keep in mind that I was never a fan of the X-Men franchise at any point although I do remember watching at least one X-Men movie and an animated crossover film between Wolverine and the Hulk a long time ago. But I was curious about this show, so I decided to check it out—watching it from start to finish. And I gotta say…it was an amazing experience.
This show is about a selected group of young people who are struggling to control their own mutated powers while also trying to keep their powers a secret from the outside world. Therefore, they are trained under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier to control their powers and to use them for good. Meanwhile, other mutants are out there seeking harm under the leadership of the ruthless Magneto.
First off, I enjoyed the way they wrote these characters. As a newcomer to the franchise, I appreciate this show for introducing these characters in a way that makes them fun, interesting, and three-dimensional to keep me invested in the storyline. The X-Men are some of the most underrated superheroes I’ve ever seen in the Marvel universe, in my opinion.
They have complex backstories and flaws that not only make them unique but also human—relatable. I think some of my favorite X-Men are Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. They stand out more to me because of the way they are written and how they interact with other people.
Plus, the voice acting is top-notch in this show; David Kaye, Christopher Judge, Scott McNeil, Micheal Dobson, the late Kirby Morrow, Brad Swaile, and multiple other VAs have done terrific performances for their respective characters.
The animation is also nicely done. It may not be my favorite style, but it’s still fairly cool to look at.
As far as the storyline is concerned, it’s pretty much consistent from season 1 all the way to season 4. It shows us the daily struggles each of the X-Men go through—that it isn’t easy to blend into the crowd, be confident of your self-worth, and living a normal life like everyone else. The show even takes a darker turn once their secret is out.
The way this show tackles the theme of racism against mutants was well-done yet really sad to watch. It made me root for the main characters to emerge victorious against all odds despite the fact that nearly everyone was afraid of them. It raised the stakes, and it surprisingly remained that way towards the end of the series.
Honestly, I’m glad it didn’t pull off some bullshit happy ending where everyone is now happy with the mutants living amongst them. It just shows the realism of how deep-rooted hatred can blind people and hurt others. Gosh, I love the writing in this series.
But if there’s one flaw this show has: it would be the pacing of the series finale. It was incredibly rushed and horribly paced, and the fact that Apocalypse was involved didn’t make it better. He was a wasted villain at best, and I feel like he wasn’t used at his full potential. The way he was defeated was just dumb, and he barely had any substantial screen time in the final season to be taken seriously as the final boss.
But overall, I really enjoyed this show; I highly recommend this series for newcomers to the franchise like myself. Wherefore, I will be rating this a solid 4.5/5: Evolved to Greatness!
Peace!
Ah, a classic. I remember watching the episodes when they were new. A perfect rating.