Hehe that was Hugh Jackman's first ever performance in Hollywood. He had been a last minute replacement for Dougray Scott and was a generally unknown actor up to that point.
I love Logan's and Rogue's interactions in the first X-Men film. Overall, I'd say my favorite X-Men film is X2 and second is X1. For me, Days of Future Past is third.

I watched X2. For me the second half of the movie was much better than the first half, but as a whole X-Men is still superior.

Wait until you see X2! It's a much superior movie. Last Stand gets a bad rap but I'd still recommend watching it- then give DOFP another go.
It's a great farewell to the original cast that you'll probably appreciate more after watching the old trilogy!