X-Men: First Class: Review By Dan

Jun 4th, 2011 by Dan
Mutant and Proud
  • OVERALL
    4.5
    SUPERB
  • Story
  • Acting
  • Directing
  • Visuals
Release Date: June 3rd, 2011

The Mutants: James McAvoy, James Bo- I mean Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne (CIA agent, but mutant supporter), January Jones, Jennifer Baby Face Lawrence (kinda makes for a cool mafia name), Oliver Platt (wait, he's not a mutant. F*ck it), The Bacon.

Directed by: Mr. Vaughn. That's 3/3, sir.

(Before reading this review, please note, I only briefly skimmed other people's reviews, so if you find similarities, well, you know the drill)

So this Saturday evening was almost perfect. I just witnessed the best X-Men movie in Marv- I mean Fox's series of our favorite mutants, I then dined a friend of mine and his wife at a lovely Greek restuarant, and I'm feeling high on life, and then guess what? I come home, and my brother and our new neighbors slash old friends of his are watching the Justin Bieber movie. Wow... way to almost f*ck up my day, fate, but no, I'm not even gonna let that stop me from what was a pretty good night out. Scratch that, GREAT night out.

Where did we last leave off with these silly mutant people? Oh yeah, that Wolverine origins movie from 2009 that featured a blasphemous version of Deadpool (good Christ...), and uninspired and lackluster acting/story. I dunno who was worse and did more damage to the franchise, Brett Ratner or Gavin Hood. Prob still Ratner, he totally blew chunks with X3. Dumb ass. Anyways, fear not fellow mutants, for another helpful Brit by the name of Matthew Vaughn has come along and joined the ranks with Chris Nolan in reviving another franchise that desperately needed it. This was exactly the kind of X-Men movie I was hoping for, besides a few characters not getting more screen time than I had hoped.

And as others have been saying, I too agree that Michael Fassbender has the potential to be Daniel Craig's replacement in the 007 series. There is a scene early on in the film, where our Magneto/Erik Lensherr is busy globe trotting, and casually strolls into a bar in Argentina to confront some ex-Nazi's in hiding, and I honestly felt like I was watching one of the 1960's Sean Connery Bond flicks. Even the dialogue between Erik and the Nazi's seemed Bond-ish. Far as I'm concerned, all he needs to do now is but ask, and the role should be his. And you know what the wonderful thing is about that, as well? Though Fassbender channels a natural Bond, he totally sinks into the Magneto role, and his interactions with McAvoy's Xavier feel completely natural and on point. Truly the highlight between them for me was when Xavier taps into Magneto's memories, bringing up a cheerful one with Erik's mother. It's not too frequently that we experience raw emotion in the comic book genre like this, so I cherished this moment quite a bit.

The other relationship that managed to surprise me was between Xavier and Raven/Mystique. I had seen the trailers and clips, I knew they were going to run into each other early on as children, but I thoroughly enjoyed the brother/sister dynamic McAvoy and Lawrence sold to us. I am convinced now that Jennifer Lawrence has a bright Hollywood future ahead of her, and I look forward to her returning as Mystique in the future installments. Though she still didn't sell "sexy" to me, what I got instead was a character unsure of herself, and one with a conflicted heart on where she stood with her flamboyant physical appearance. Which is a damn sight better than whatever superficial desire I had for her going in.

Then of course there is The Bacon, as in Kevin Bacon. I remember when he was initially cast, I literally laughed aloud at the idea. I've always felt he was/is an underappreciated actor, and thankfully I never found myself laughing at his portrayal of Sebastian Shaw, our film's main antagonist. Like the feeling I got from Fassbender, Bacon felt both like a villain from a classic Bond movie (even the same kinds of designs as one, wanting world domination/destruction), and a comic book villain who is larger than life.

But sadly, this is where some of my complaints (small) come in. We needed more Emma Frost and Azazel. I mean, Azazel certainly got to show off his powers a few times (with a sweet fight with Beast near the end), but Frost was given hardly any character development besides looking pretty. I suppose that's fine if they plan on expanding the character as this new series progresses, but I was not impressed by her in this first film. My other main complaint had to be the obviously super fast pace of the film. We all know how this film was rushed through production, and you can certainly feel it at times, as scenes come at you like dominoes falling at times. I wanted to see more back and forth between Xavier and Mystique and their brother/sister relationship, or more background given on Angel, Banshee, Havok. These characters were definitely shortchanged in the final product.

Concerning the script and story, though some inconsistencies exist (Havok, Emma Frost, to name a few) if you try to fit First Class in with the previous movies and the comics, you'll certainly run into issues. But as it's own animal and probable series, I couldn't be more satisfied. Even though Vaughn runs with the complexity the first two Singer movies possessed just as flawlessly, he also brings more heart and a lighter tone than Singer did. While the younger mutants enjoy showing off their powers to each other, and we see glimpses of familiar things (Magneto's helmet, Cerebro), there is a sense of enjoyment by all players at different points, unlike the dire tone in Singer's movies (let us not even discuss the Ratner and Hood movies). And even when the film does take on a darker tone by it's conclusion, it's played out with such maturity and finesse by all players that you don't feel dread, but a longing to see this new beginning continue on. I did find myself falling in love with all these characters near the end, even the fur ball Beast who has taken some flack for make up (whatever, he looks perfectly fine to me. Whiners).

Of course, much can be said of the SFX in this current incarnation of our X-Men. Powers by the mutants have never looked better (minus Banshee, he looked a bit hokey to me when flying around and doing his screaming. I guess the same could be said of Angel. Flying characters are a harder sell for me), especially Azazel. While he didn't top Nightcrawler's assassination attempt at the beginning of X2, he probably got the most action out of all the mutants. I suppose that makes up somewhat for the lack of character background development.

There were times where you could hear composer Henry Jackman's score coming eerily close to the Singer film's, particularly scenes involving Xavier's mansion. While I'm of the mind that this pre-boot (I guess we can call it that) should actively distance itself from the previous movies and be it's own thing, it did bring a small dose of nostalgia.

All in all, I am impressed. The only reason I don't give this a perfect score (and some of you may find it unfair, but oh well, this is my review and opinion) like I did with Thor is it is all Earth-bound. That might sound like a lame reasoning, but I'm really tiring of the genre being bound to Earth, and am more than ready for more cosmicness. I suppose Thor spoiled me a little, expecting multiple worlds to be explored. But to be entirely honest, First Class has Thor beat in the humanity and heart department. I felt for all of these characters, and totally look forward to this entire cast returning.

Final Grade: A-

Do you like this review?

Comments (43)

  1. Bane. Ferguson

    good review ahahahaahahaha

    11 months agoby @Zak-FFlag

  2. Josh

    @jptheredskull I think that was more just the motivation for her to join Magneto's side, because she felt like he understood her while Charles didn't. Anything can happen in the next 10 years to cause her and Azazel to grow closer. I mean, they would have to try pretty hard to retcon Azazel as NOT the father if they touch on Nightcrawler at all in the prequels, considering the two look almost identical.

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  3. J.P.

    @dan1 Well, the film pretty much showed that Mystique is Mag's girl now so unless Azazel gets in that mix some how, possibly due to their possible inabilty to procreate, I think it gonna be that way or possibly Nightcrawler will have no relation at all.

    12 months agoby @jptheredskullFlag

  4. Diaigma

    Nice review, sir! :)

    12 months agoby @diaigmaFlag

  5. Dan

    @jptheredskull I hope not. I hope that was just sex and no pregnancy.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  6. J.P.

    @shuabert The way they rushed Mystique and Magneto's relationship in First Class, I think it may be retconned that Magneto is the father rather than Azazel. I mean, Magneto and Mystque did get it on in the film.

    12 months agoby @jptheredskullFlag

  7. Josh

    @jptheredskull Oh yeah! I forgot about that. It was a nice touch. I like that it's set up for Azazel and Mystique to potentially start a romance in a sequel. He was a really bad ass character and I'd like to see more of him. Could we see a baby Kurt somewhere down the line?

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  8. J.P.

    @shuabert The Rebecca Romijn one was clever too; I didn't realize it was her at first.

    12 months agoby @jptheredskullFlag

  9. Josh

    @jptheredskull And how he turns to ask for another drink and looks RIGHT AT THE CAMERA! So awesome.

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  10. J.P.

    @shuabert "Go F*ck Yourselves." LOL Instant Classic.

    12 months agoby @jptheredskullFlag

  11. Josh

    @dan1 Someone mentioned somewhere that First Class was only respecting the continuity of the first two films (because Singer was involved with those) and NOT Last Stand or Wolverine. While this would be confusing because it's clearly intended to all be the same cast/continuity between those initial four films, it would solve a few of the big problems such as Charles and Erik (as Stewart & McKellan, even) recruiting young Jean in X3, and the teenage Emma Frost in Wolverine. I'll even grant them that Xavier could have regained the use of his legs and then lost it again sometime between 1962 and 1990 (or whenever the first X-Men film is set), because this has happened in the comics many times). But even that still doesn't solve the fact that X-Men says Magneto helped CHARLES build Cerebro, and that's why he was able to design his own helmet to withstand it, something First Class completely contradicts (admittedly in an awesome way).

    Still, I'm not too bent out of shape about this, because this isn't what I consider the true Marvel film universe anyway. Fox will never have the type of internal continuity that Marvel/Paramount/Disney is trying to establish. It's a really enjoyable film in its own right. As I said, I just would have preferred a pure reboot. Though the Wolverine cameo was amazing.

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  12. Dan

    @shuabert Those were my thoughts. The more Vaughn and co. distance themselves from Singer's movies, the better. Of course, the problem there is Singer will prob remain as a producer, and then there is Fox, who wants to push Wolverine down our throats. They probably only reluctantly agreed to First Class as long as Wolverine had a cameo in it. Just my supposition, but it wouldn't surprise me.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  13. Josh

    @dan1 I like the idea of them doing a prequel trilogy, each one set a decade apart. Although, the continuity is already so messed up that it would be nice if they didn't have to tie it into the other films at all.

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  14. Dan

    @shuabert I've only seen parts of Layer Cake, so it doesn't count for me.

    I liked her as eye candy, they can keep her around, just for the sequel let's go like a decade further in time, and get some better outfits lol.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  15. Josh

    I thought it needed less Emma Frost for no other reason than Jones is a really bland actress. Definitely the weakest part of this film.

    Also, not to nitpick, but Vaughn has done four films: Layer Cake, Stardust, KickAss, and First Class.

    Nice review.

    12 months agoby @shuabertFlag

  16. slysnide

    Wow, this movie's getting far more positive reviews than I thought.

    12 months agoby @slysnideFlag

  17. Worth5Bucks

    @corey i thought it was paced just right as well
    @dan1 i gotta say, this was a great movie, but there was just too much bugging me about it to rate it this high, nice review man

    12 months agoby @mattbierwagenFlag

  18. Dan

    @thedude-abides And yet, somehow, we get along famously even with our distinct differences in film taste. Damn that maturity thing, eh? :P

    @wichitagalzl Well, the keyword there being "possibly", since we haven't seen Green Lantern or Captain America yet, but it's certainly up there. You should see it in theaters, it's worth your time :)

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  19. Wichy

    @dan1 Awesome review friend. I am so glad that it is getting the praise it is. I was worried that it would become just another terrible superhero movie, but it looks like it is set to be possibly the best of the year. Have yet to see it, but plan on it as soon as possible.

    12 months agoby @wichitagalzlFlag

  20. thedude-abides

    @dan1 Sorry. I was watching something. Yeah, I agree. I think it's definitely picking up. It's kinda like you said, they're just sort of the antithesis as far as the kinda movies I like are concerned. But, if they're good, I'll shut up and give 'em a watch, lol. But I draw the line at Green Lantern :P

    12 months agoby @thedude-abidesFlag

  21. Dan

    I guess what I'm getting at is I don't mind that the movies are becoming more frequent, as long as the quality continues to rise. I'm not of the breed that constantly compares every single CBM to The Dark Knight (I don't think that's fair to do, to begin with, since Nolan is running with his own thing there. It's superb, sure, but it's his own world).

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  22. Dan

    @thedude-abides I, too, desire quality over quantity. But I think it's fair to say that the genre is picking up respectability. Just look at the cast in Thor for instance, quite a few veterans put that film together and made it what it was, and the familial problems in it were well played. First Class featured performances with unusual depth by a talented roster of fresh faces, and I'm hoping Green Lantern (the movie you can't wait to see :P) manages to capture Hal Jordan's arrogance and the craziness that is the comics (though I'll admit, that one is designed for a more specific audience in mind, I just happen to fit that audience). And of course Captain America, which should be interesting being a period picture.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  23. thedude-abides

    @dan1 Oh, of course. I love all those movies. I'm not against superhero movies in the least bit. But much like video game adaptations, I just don't think the majority have been done well. And I think they've gone to the well WAY too many times in the last decade as far as the superhero genre is concerned. My wish is that they would just do a movie and do it right and leave it alone for 10 years.

    12 months agoby @thedude-abidesFlag

  24. Dan

    @thedude-abides F*ck Jason Statham. He's not a tough guy, he's a cliche action actor with no substance to him. I mean pretty much any Scorsese, Tarantino, Eastwood movie you can think of, those type of movies. Those seem more your type. That, and the classics of course :)

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  25. thedude-abides

    @dan1 Whadda you mean by tough guy flick? Not Jason Statham I hope, lol.

    12 months agoby @thedude-abidesFlag

  26. Dan

    @corey For what we were given, it was VERY good. Look at it from this perspective: I just wanted to see more of what I was seeing, because I was enjoying it that much.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  27. Corey

    @dan1 lol. Very true. But actually, I normally hate full-blown action flicks that don't settle down enough for dialog only scenes. I just thought this had nice scenes (thought cut too short sometimes) between some of the characters and then some great, fast-moving action sequences too.

    12 months agoby @coreyFlag

  28. Dan

    @corey Yeah, but you're also younger than I am. You younger guys n gals prefer your movies fast paced. Us older folks don't :P

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag

  29. Corey

    Great review sir. Still working on mine. But I disagree with the pace thing everyone is complaining about, I thought it was paced perfectly.

    12 months agoby @coreyFlag

  30. Dan

    @thedude-abides Let me put it to you this way... I know you're not nearly as big on the comic book genre and films of that nature. You're the kinda guy who'd watch a tough guy flick probably over a lot of kind of movies. Am I right? That's the sense I get from you, anyways.

    First Class does a damn good job of presenting itself as a good movie, period. Not just as a comic book movie. Yes, the basics of a comic book film are there (such as superpowers, megalomaniac villains, etc), but there really is some worthy dialogue and acting in this one that I think you'd find pleasant and worth your time, and it does a great job of showcasing all these newer faces in Hollywood and the potential they have. I totally respect First Class in that it wasn't "The Wolverine Show" and kissing the general public's ass. It was more concerned about the rest of the X-gang (or at least the ones present here), and not allowing any one particular one to hog the lime light (though every scene Fassbender is in, is gold). It felt more authentic, I guess you could say.

    12 months agoby @dan1Flag