Review of X-Men: First Class (2011) by Turner E — 14 Jun 2014

After how bad the last two films were, I and most other people were sick to death of X-Men. And seeing how this next movie was another prequel, with another ensemble cast of mostly minor mutants, with an entirely new cast; I'd say it was obviously that this was gonna bomb. But somehow, it really worked. Is it perfect? No. And I know some of you (Diego) hate the film. I do understand. It very campy and sometimes disjointed like many of the older Bond films. But as an X-Men fan, I really enjoyed the story and especially the characters.

The story follows the origins of Xavier (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), and Mystique. In the 1960s, Eric is on the hunt for the Nazi who experimented on him and murdered his mother. He eventually finds Sebastian Shaw and discovers that not only is he a powerful mutant, but he is also planning to exterminate all humans by inciting a nuclear war. He teams up with a young Charles Xavier and Raven and form a small team to combat Shaw and save the world.

The biggest strength of the movie is it's two main leads. While Lawrence is fine in her role, she doesn't stand out as well as Fassbender or McAvoy. I've always enjoyed Wolverine, but the two most interesting characters to me were Magneto and Xavier. I was always interested in their relationship and backstory. They were like the MLK and Malcolm X of the mutants worlds. One side arguing for peace while the other for aggression. Though you saw both sides of their beliefs. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan both did a great job in the original trilogy, and I'm so glad these two actors were able to match them. You see everything from the birth of their friendship, their debates about humans, and their eventually schism. There are two scenes that stand out for me. The first being when Charles helps Eric focus by bring a happy memory into his mind. It's an incredibly touching scene that illustrates the friendship these two have perfectly. The other scene is near the end where Eric accidentally deflects a bullet into Charles spin, paralyzing him. In the comics, Xavier loses his legs by an alien crashing his ship on him or something similar. I've always disliked this explanation and I was so glad they did it this way. It makes the entire affair more personal and more tragic. I loved these characters and these actors.

The biggest problem with most of the X-Men films is how they don't seem to know what to do with their large cast of colorful characters. In this film, while they aren't as iconic as the original set, they are used much better. Beast, Havok, and Banshee are all given enough motivation and cool powers to be interesting. You get to see them interact and work together as a team for once. In the original trilogy, the barely ever worked together as one unite. Here we finally got to see them fight together and use their powers effective. Even the minor villains are at least cool to look at eve if some of them go by the wayside. Kevin Bacon is just having a ball as the main villains. He seems like a classic Bond villain with a great set of cool powers. He is over the top for sure, but he also has class, style and even an emotional connection to the main characters. He is by far the best villain in the series thus far (besides maybe Magneto himself).

But undo have to remember that there are some flaws with the movie. The dialog is pretty weak at moments, especially the whole "Mutant and proud" speech. The pacing is sometimes off, especially in the middle where it basically dissolves into a montage to introduce its characters. Darwin, the only black character, who literally has the power to NOT get killed....gets killed (seriously this was like a bad horror film) for no logical reason. And I do admit that the plot is...a little out their. Unlike say Captain America where it actually seemed to make sense that the main hero influence World War 2, here it seems a little odd. After all the climax takes place during the Cuban missile crisis. It just seems like a very odd choice. But by that point, I was invested enough to care and the final fight actually was very well done and intense. While the Cgi isn't mindblowing, it's defiantly a step up from the last movie and just a ton of fun. And that's the movie.

But that's the biggest strength of the film. It's fun. I noticed that all of the other X-Men films, even X2, were notably lacking in the entertainment value. They were mostly dark or brooding like the first three or campy like Origins. The Last Stand tried to balance this but just couldn't. Here, while it is campy, it was the first one that felt like a real summer blockbuster. Some may hate it, and I understand. But I really enjoyed this movie. I believe it's the best of the series...up to that point. Join me next time for the sure to be long review of Days of Future Past.

****(out of 5).