This covers not only teenaged boys, getting a thrill by watching a fire take hold and spread, but those motivated by the "hero factor" - people who want to be involved and to take the credit for fighting the blaze.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | Inside the mind of the fire starter

The plotting seems dangerously self-interested, being concerned almost exclusively with the survival of the mutants themselves, and, behind the succulent effects, the tone is oddly hectoring, instructing us to behave liberally toward these nice boys and girls whose only quirk is the ability to create thunderstorms or hurl fire.

NEWYORKER: X2