No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on May 27, 2014

To understand why I liked this film as much as I did X-Men First Class, you need to understand that I am a dyed in the wool X-Man fan and have been most of my life.

I was a bit dubious when I heard the name of the film because those issues of X-Men hold a special place in my heart along with a chunk of Claremont’s run. Then I heard how they were going to rework it and I was not sure if it would work. But Peter pointed out the plot hole that would have existed if they hadn’t so I was willing to wait and see.

Bits and pieces came out of the filming and my concerns came back because of the set up and the number of actors being added to the cast. I was worried it was going to be cameo central and the story would get lost in it.

Well I was wrong to worry. This film did the source material proud and gave us a number of things we didn’t even know we needed.

Casting was top rate and, with a couple of exceptions that I will put being the cut because spoilers, everyone got their moment to shine in the sun.

Top marks go to Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, Sir Patrick, Sir Ian, Fassbender, McAvoy, Dinklage, Hoult, and Jackman. More on that below the cut.

Can someone who has never seen an X-men film and has only a vague idea who these characters are see this film and totally understand it? Mostly, but it does help to have seen X-Men First Class since they skirt about a couple of plot points that came out of that film.

The action is good and doesn’t seem inserted. It is a nice mix of big booms and quiet scenes. The plot does a nice job of weaving between past and future where neither seem to be the total focal point of the film but part of the same film.

Now I was 10 in 1973 so I have some pretty clear memories of the time and the dress so props to the costuming and set people for pretty much revisiting the 70s as I knew it. Some of it seemed a little over the top but based on the TV of the time, that is what everyone wore so I went with the flow on this one. I give the costume designer high marks for the crowd in Paris which was a mix of 50,60, 70 fashion which is exactly what would be floating around at the time.

3-D is not a deal breaker on this one. There are some nice effects but only two scenes really sing more because of the technology and one of them is the teaser for the next film at the end.

More spoiler type review behind the cut and in the comments.

I am grateful that they didn’t screw this one up.

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Favorite scene was Quicksilver to the rescue. That was just brilliant and showed that one could make a speedster interesting in action. And Even Peters stole the show with each frame he was in. I loved him as did Peter because it was Peter’s version of Quicksilver on the screen. He seems a little ADD but he’s not because his brain is moving that fast. Also I will never listen to Time in a Bottle the same way again. Using a slow song for his best scene just made it that much better.

Then there was the scene between McAvoy and Stewart which I knew existed but I didn’t know how they were going to get them to that point. With in the context of the story as it was set up, it worked and the two of them were bloody brilliant playing against each other. Also the contrast between the 70s Charles and Erik and the future versions was played brilliantly by all parties involved.

And then there is junkie Charles which is totally different than any time we have seen the character. He‘s a drunk and a drug addict and McAvoy plays it beautifully but then McAvoy plays broken characters extremely well. It isn’t until he talks to his future self that he manages to get his act together.

Fassbender’s Magneto is still a man on a mission and he can be very short sighted in this mission. It gave us a more subdued version in the future played brilliantly by McKellen because he knows what he did that got them to this place. Magneto reacts to things rather than thinking through the consequences of his actions.

I really enjoyed Jennifer Lawrence as Raven. She did great in First Class but you can tell that she has learned a lot over the intervening years from the other films she has done and she takes her performance to another level. Her character is the linchpin of this film and she does that role proudly.

Peter Dinklage was brilliant as always but I have thought he was brilliant since I saw him in the Station Agent. I like that Trask was a role that just about anyone could have played but he made it his own. Also the subtle contrast between Trask and Raven pretending to be Trask was just exquisite.

I enjoyed the cameos by Len and Chris. Nice nod to both of them however I am a little disappointed that Chris had no credit or a thank you for the source material on which this film is based.

Overall I loved this film and can recommend it highly.

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