Comic books have been around for hundreds of years in some form or another, but only a few have achieved the greatness and
respect of The X-Men. Superman and Batman have had franchises and have now run their course, but Marvel Comics has not been able to break into the mainstream medium... until now.
X-Men comes to life on the big screen with the characters, the stories, and the politics that have kept this comic going for so long. It accomplishes what several comic book movies have not - to present a story without delving into the cheesiness that some directors feel are important (Batman and Robin and Steel, for example). In fact, X-Men is a pretty serious movie from beginning to end, although it does throw in some good lines from here to there.
The main characters - Charles Xavier, Storm, Rogue, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine - are all here, and their stories have been left pretty much intact. The movie follows Wolverine especially into the lives of the X-Men, but also hints at the government testing that was experimented on his body (do I see a sequel in the future?). Rogue starts out as an innocent girl who realizes that she has the most horrible gift of all. Cyclops and Jean Grey are married but Wolverine is in love with Jean Grey. Storm is... Storm. The only character left really undeveloped is Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). His relationship to Magneto (Ian McKellen) is made pretty clear but his political presence is nothing compared to what he is in the comic book.