Review of X-Men: First Class (2011) by Jack F — 04 Oct 2013

I don't know how I missed this one a couple years ago, but I'm really glad I caught up to it. "X-Men: First Class" is not only one of the better comic book movies to come out in the past few years, but it's also arguably the best film in the "X-Men" franchise. (It'd be a close call between this and "X2," but if it really came down to it, I think I have to go with this one.) It's rousing entertainment, sure, but it's also quite clever and has more than a touch of profundity. This is really nothing new for the X-Men, but even considering that, "First Class" is exceptional.

In the original trilogy of films, most of the focus is on Wolverine, the Hugh Jackman character. You can't really fault the filmmakers for this as the character has basically become the face of the X-Men since his creation, which is a bit odd, considering he was not one of the original members. However, despite Jackman's performances (which are all good, by the way), the character has never really been the most interesting mutant on the block. This came to light in the franchise's first attempt at a prequel, 2009's disappointing "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Separate Wolverine from the rest of the pack, and he becomes even less interesting. (Though this may have been rectified in this summer's "The Wolverine," which I have not yet seen. Stay tuned...).

Wolverine may be the center of the franchise's action-based elements, but its heart and soul was always the complex relationship between Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr, aka "Professor X" and "Magneto." These two powerful mutants began as friends, but ultimately became enemies when it became clear that their goals were not the same. Charles has always wanted to peacefully co-exist with "regular" humans, while Eric--sometimes correctly--believes that they will always see the mutants as "freaks." This has led to a kind of civil war between mutants; those who side with Charles are referred to as "X-Men," while those who side with Eric call themselves the Brotherhood of Mutants.

In the trilogy, the two were played wonderfully by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who were quite good at portraying the animosity and also the mutual respect between the duo. In "X-Men: First Class," which takes place mostly in 1962, we see them at a much younger age and discover how they first meet. Charles (James McAvoy) is a brilliant college graduate who wrote his thesis on mutations. Eric (Michael Fassbender) is a bitter Holocaust survivor who is on a single-minded quest to destroy the former Nazis who tormented him as a boy.

Their paths cross thanks to Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a wealthy American businessman who is a target of the U.S. military thanks to his allegiance with the KGB. Charles is recruited to help the U.S. by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), who believes that Shaw is allying himself with dangerous mutants. And seeing as Charles is something of an expert on this (moreso than Moira thinks), who better to assist? Eric is after Shaw because, amongst other things, he killed his mother in a concentration camp. Thus, the two meet and quickly become friends.

This is where things get pretty neat and the movie and real life begin to intersect. Shaw's goal is that of world domination, and while there's nothing too original about that (especially in a comic book movie), I can't say the same for his methods. You see, he's planning on using the Cuban Missile Crisis as the kick-off to his scheme. Hell, it's more than that; he's actually responsible for the Cuban Missile Crisis itself. And after the U.S. and Russia nuke themselves out of existence...well, then it's time for Shaw's New World Order. The way the movie blends fact and fiction here is ingenious. It makes it all the more compelling because we know these events actually occurred. Sure, they didn't actually occur in this way, but that doesn't diminish anything. There's a reason the Cold War is used as the backdrop in so many films: it's effective.

And that's not the only effective element of the film. The "X-Men" franchise has always been about acceptance, specifically of those who are different. The mutants of the series are basically stand-ins for any number of real-life groups of people: homosexuals, minorities, those with diseases such as AIDS, really any types of people who may be viewed as "different." Many, if not most, of the "normal" humans in the world of "X-Men" act prejudiced towards or are afraid of the mutants. Not so much because they're dangerous--though some are--but because they're "different." And people fear what they don't understand.

Nowhere in the series is this more apparent than in "X-Men: First Class." Even the American soldiers and CIA agents are seen mocking Charles and the young team of mutants he recruits to join the fight against Shaw. This is especially apparent with the mutants who have physical abnormalities, like the shape-shifting Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and the animalistic Beast (Nicholas Hoult). It's interesting to note how Mystique originally shares Charles' viewpoint on human/mutant relationships, but throughout the course of the movie, her way of thinking gradually shifts towards Eric's. This isn't a surprise as we know that Mystique becomes Magneto's right-hand woman thanks to the original "X-Men" trilogy, but it's still interesting to see how it came about. Lawrence and Hoult are very talented young actors--Lawrence has since gone on to win an Academy Award--and they do great work with their characters.

As do McAvoy and Fassbender. They had some enormous shoes to fill, and both knocked it out of the park. At no point did I yearn for Stewart or McKellen; instead, I found it fascinating that the younger actors seemed to be successfully channeling their older counterparts. Professor X and Magneto have become two of the best characters in the comic book movie genre, and it's mainly due to the efforts of these four actors. I can't wait to see what they'll do with the upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which will supposedly feature all of them.

I'm not really sure that the movie's continuity is airtight with the trilogy, but that really didn't bother me. After all, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" completely reinvented the character of Sabretooth, who appeared as a henchmutant in the original "X-Men" film, so clearly 100% continuity is not a goal here. And "X-Men: First Class" is a much better movie than that, so truthfully it didn't even cross my mind.

I love that the "X-Men" films have such a profound sense of emotional depth. It's a shame that with all the "Avengers" related hype (and I admit that I'm just as guilty of this as anybody, probably even moreso), the X-Men are kind of shoved off to the side. Some of this is unquestionably due to the fact that, although they're still a Marvel property, the film rights to the X-Men is owned by Fox. Therefore, we will not likely see Professor X and Magneto duking it out with Iron Man, Captain America, and the boys on the big screen any time soon. (The same with Spider-Man, who is owned by Sony.) Even so, I believe the X-Men should get a little more respect. "First Class" is a great film. If you haven't seen it, add it to your Netflix queue pronto.