Film 9 - X Men (2000)

Two mutants who have extraordinary powers go to a special academy with people who are similar to them. Yet they have to work together to face a terrorist organisation who have similar powers to them.

Superhero conventions found in this film are:

• Having extraordinary powers - each person aka mutant, has their own power such as shooting lasers out of their eyes.
• A moral code - The good group of mutants, lead by Charles Xavier, strive to be accepted into society as normal human beings, as well as learning to use their powers responsibly.
• A secret identity - The mutants use different names in public to avoid being shunned by other people.
• Motif - their motif is a circle with an big X touching each of the sides.
• Headquarters - the mutants currently reside in a mansion together as well as being trained in using their powers responsibly.
• Backstory - each mutant has their own backstory, such as Wolverine, who was found not having any memories of what had happened to him.
• Rogues gallery - the x-men have to fight a band of other mutants who work for Magneto.

The film is suitable enough for young teenagers as there is a lack of sex and nudity as the only time we see something close to this is a man shirtless in a window. However there is a bit more  violence and gore as a man physically dissipates into water, as well as a girl stabbed in the back and several fight scenes between the mutants. There are also several uses of profanity and some intense emotions scenes with Rogue.

The binary opposition present in this film is the humans/mutants. The humans see the mutants as a threat as they can do things that the humans cannot do. The humans think the mutants will over throw them so they want them kicked out.

The film does challenge gender stereotypes as one of the main characters is a girl and she gets into the heart of the fighting! Although there are more boys than girls, the girls are still in the thick of the action. However, one of the two main characters is a girl, and it is seen that she is lead away from the group, as the others have to try and 'rescue' her, so in a sense she is the damsel in distress.

To conclude, X Men entertains it's audience by using intense fight scenes which raises tension and makes the film more thrilling to watch. You can also watch each character go through emotional developments and see each mutants superpower, how they differ from each other. You also get to see how they react with other mutants, as they all live in a mansion together rather than the film just focusing on a sole superhero.