By Tanya Wragg
Democrat and Chronicle

(July 14, 2000) -- Our film critic may not be ecstatic about the X-Men, but longtime fans of the Marvel comic series -- who caught a sneak preview -- found the movie exhilarating.

"I've waited 20 years to see the movie," says Rich Conti, 30. "You can only go so far (being true to the comic), but (Marvel producers) were close. This is the best movie Marvel has come up with."

Conti, an X-men fan for 23 years, noted slight differences but said the characters remained pretty much the same.

"It's the classic good-versus-bad situation," he says. "Wolverine's origin was always shaded. Guys who are 100 percent comic-oriented are going to pick out costume differences, but I think it's going to be a big hit. This is only going to boost sales."

He wasn't the only X-phile initially worried about alterations to the characters. But those at the preview seemed satisfied.

"Cyclops is a lot younger in the movie than he is in the comics," said Canandaigua resident Lori Monagan. "In the comics, he's dead." Marvel Comics recently killed off his character.

"I was afraid the movie was going to be so full of special effects that you wouldn't catch the essence of the characters. But you do," Monagan says. Still, "sometimes the scenes went so fast you couldn't absorb what was going on."

Nevertheless, Monagan says the movie has "action, adventure and a plot."

"I loved it."

Friend Katrina Critchlow found the preview phenomenal.

"That was so cool," she says. "Think you can get them to play it again?"