In a world where mutations give random people bizarre superpowers, a gouvernment program to round up mutants for testing has been put into effect, a program that sounds a lot like putting them into concentration camps. But there's Emma Frost (Finola Hughes) and Sean Cassidy (Jeremy Ratchford) of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, where select mutants are trained to be superheroes. And thanks to them, youngsters Jubilee (Heather McComb) and Angelo (Agustin Rodriguez) are snatched from the clutches of the authorities and thrown into the school where they meet co-eds Kurt (Randall Slavin), Mondo (Bumper Robinson), Arlee (Suzanne Davis) and Monet (Amarilis), all kids with some superpowers (though it's sometimes unclear which), and even though at first everybody's at odds with one another, they eventually bond, go out together - and get into a scruff that gets them arrested, and after Emma Frost gets them released via hypnosis, they're grounded for a month.

At the same time, mad scientist Russell Tresh (Matt Frewer) has developed a machine to enter the "dream dimension" and this way infiltrate the dreams of other people to influence them in any way he wants. But during a demonstration of his machine, it has been turned off, leaving the Russell Tresh of this world a vedgetable, but that of the dream dimension still very active and longing to come back, which he cannot unless someone attaches the real world him to the machine again. As fate has it, Tresh has developed the machine with Emma Frost before they had a fall-out, and Emma has a similar machine at the intsitute - which Angelo stumbles upon, and thinks he's madly in love with Kayla (Lalainia Lindbjerg), a non-mutant he cannot see while being grounded, he decides to use the machine to enter her dreams - where he somehow bumps into Tresh, who forces him into connecting him to the dream machine again. Back in the real world, Tresh takes Angelo captive, as for some reason he needs DNA from a mutant brain, and Angelo is of course the closest human. But it's Emma Frost, Sean Cassidy and their mutant students to the rescue, and after a short standoff, it's a freed Angelo who wraps his skin around Tresh (that's his superpower) and throws him back into the dream dimension while being able to save himself from the same fate.

The finale of this film probably best sums up what's wrong with Generation X: It's underwhelming. Basically, there are 8 characters with superpowers and they hardly manage to take one man without any down - also because each character is only given a very basic and unimpressive demonstration of their powers rather than at least choreograph a fight scene. However, this finale is only a logical continuation of what had happened before - but maybe this needs to be re-hashed another way: In 1994, in an effort to create an X-Men comics that especially speaks to the then current "generation X", Marvel started to release the rather clumsily titled Generation X series - and at first, that worked beautifully as the comic sold well (something that wouldn't last too long though as the book was already cancelled in 2001). So, four years before the first X-Men movie became a hit and basis for a long-running series, Marvel tested adapting the Generation X comicbook into a TV series, which though never went past this here pilot, and watching it it's rather easy to see why: While one would expect something edgy, gritty and fresh from a series targeted at the contemporary youth, this film just plays old teenage movie clichés by the number, is populated by overused cut-out characters and is deeply rooted in traditions from the 1950s rather than 90s. And in that light, it doesn't even matter anymore that the film also lacks the budget to pull off the effects needed to tell its story.

That said though, not all is bad in this movie, at least the villain is a hoot as Matt Frewer hams it up and channels of all cartoon characters early Bugs Bunny to great effect.

On a side note, of course the whole dream dimension aspect of the story is reminiscent of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, so much so that Freddy Krueger gets name-checked. And interesting detail here, director Jack Sholder also directed a film from that series, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.

A second side note, the mansion used for the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Hatley Castle in British Columbia, Canada, is later also used in the X-Men movies as just that.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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