X-Men First Class IS A First Class Film
Posted By Kathleen David on June 10, 2011
I am an X-Men fan from way back. I started with the Lee and Kirby comics and read my way through them and then the New X-Men. My three favorite characters in the Marvel Universe are Dr. Strange, Professor X, and Magento. So I got two out of three with this film.
My general review will be before the cut. Any spoilers will be after the cut and in the comments.
Wow. That was really good. Understand I enjoyed Thor and Pirates but this one had me at the edge of my seat at time and not just to read the subtitles. I am glad that it is not in 3-D. It didn’t need it.
The casting was spot on all the way through. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender do an incredible job as Charles and Erik. They have to carry the movie and they do so very well and smartly dressed too. You get to watch both the construction and destruction of their friendship in the same film. Also you could see mannerism used in this film which were used in the other X-men films by Mr. Stewart and Mr. McKellen.
I heard that Kevin Bacon was going to be playing Sebastian Shaw and I thought it’s he a little small to play Shaw? Nope. He does an excellent job with this meaty villain. They did play around with the continuity a little but considering what a morass the Marvel continuity is, I’ll give them many points for keeping it as close as they did.
The rest of the cast does a really good job too. The other mutants are some interesting choices. Mystic by Jennifer Lawrence was very well done. She did a lot with not very much and made her part very believable. Nicholas Hoult is very good as Hank McCoy/Beast. His arc was right out of the comic book. There are a couple of cameos that I’ll talk about in the spoiler section but I have to say best use of the “f” word in a PG-13 film probably ever.
It looked right, it felt right, and I enjoy it. Not an intellectual film but that really doesn’t matter. It is an Epic Superhero movie done right. I do feel it needs to be seen on a large screen because there are some scenes that have a lot going on in them.
I am grateful that the film got made.
What a bromance. The interactions between Erik and Charles were just so much fun to watch. And they do present two men with very different points of view that find some common ground that they can agree on but that common ground is rather shaky. I almost came out cheering for Magento since the humans were being so mean.
Then there were the little touches. A lot of them were just throw away bits but if you know your X-Men you were giggling a lot at things that you recognized that went right over the audiences head.
Also if you have seen the previous movies or read the comic books, you know where this is going. You just want to see how they are going to get there. Charles going from man about the town trying to pick girls up with the same lines and having some success to the Charles that we see later who is almost monastic. Erik going from Erik the Nazi Hunter to Magneto. His heart is in the right place but his methods are seriously in question.
Then there was how Charles landed in the chair. There have been a couple of version of this including Lucifer (Marvel Villain) but I had to say having it be a combination of Mageto and Moira just kicked it to a new level. And, I hate to say this, I didn’t see it coming until it happened and then it was very well played. Erik takes the bullet out but the damage is already done.
Fassbender’s Erik is a very focused man who has one goal in life and he will use whatever he needs including his friends to get it. The scene in Argentina was intense and gripping. I could believe him as a revenge killer that would then sit down with the corpses and have another beer. In this version it is Charles that gives Erik the key that give him the power that makes him Magento and I am Ok with that since it was implied in the comic book.
Sets, Music, and Costumes all work with rather than against the script. Even the yellow and blue costumes make sense in context which is not easy to do.
It was a great film and it gave me a sense of satisfaction seeing the characters I knew up there on the screen acting like the characters I had come to know and love through the comics.
So far best film of the summer.
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