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I went into X-Men: First Class with a certain sense of trepidation. Ever since the epic disaster that was the first (last?) three Star Wars movies I've had a certain sense of dread where prequels were concerned. The third X-Men movie was pretty bad and Wolverine could best be described as a disaster of Titanic proportions. Further, I worried that the movie would even further mangle comic-book continuity. (Yes, I can be a bit of a continuity snob--even when I say each version should be judged on their own individual merits.) Based on a cool-looking trailer (and Robyn's desire to see the movie) I agreed to go--and boy was I pleasantly surprised!
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WARNING: this review contains (at least minor) plot spoilers. If you don't want to get critical details READ NO FURTHER!!!
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Yes, X-Men: First Class gleefuly shreds Marvel continuity for it's own ends. Still, if you can get past that you have a pretty darn good movie. We get glimpses of Charles Xavier and Mystique as children as well as what started Erik Lenscher (Magneto) on the road to super villainy. Then we flash forward to the swinging 60s where Xavier has just graduated from Oxford (with a doctorate in genetics--specializing in mutation of course). We get to see him assemble his "first" team of X-Men (Mystique, Magneto, Beast, Havok, Banshee and "new mutants" (at least new to me) Angel and Darwin. They end up battling Sebastian Shaw (played with delicious vileness by Kevin Bacon) and his minion, Emma Frost, Azazel and Riptide. In this world Shaw is responsible for igniting the Cuban Missile Crisis in the hopes of accelerating the process of human mutation.
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James McAvoy brings a sense of fun and "hipness" that I've never seen before and Michael Fassbender is a succession to Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto. (His character arc is completely believable.) Moira McTaggert (as played by super-hottie Rose Byrne) gets made over from a Scottish scientist to an American C.I.A. Agent (whom the script doesn't serve well). January Jones gets reduced to evil "Girl Friday" in her role but she is so hot, Hot, HOT I'd watch her read the phone book (preferably in those fab, lingerie-inspired outfits). Nicholas Hoult nails the character of Beast but I found his "mutant makeover" (if I dare call it that) to look like a bad character costume from a Cats roadshow. Zoe Kravitz is a real stunner and looks cool (and with a different name I might not have hated her character so much). The addition of Azazel (Jason Flemyng) was at least semi-cool. I could have seriously done without Riptide though. I also felt the character of Darwin was a complete waste: his power was kind of stupid--and why is it that the black supporting character always seems to die in major motion pictures? Hugh Jackman's two-word cameo was a real moment of cool. (He also gets the movie's one "F-Bomb".)
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It wouldn't be a comic book movie without a few minor quibbles though. For example--it disturbed me how quickly Angel was willing to turn on her allies and why Darwin's "adaptation" ability didn't save him from Sebastian Shaw. I also found it mind-boggling that those around Shaw didn't point out how stupid and dangerous his plan was. (Yeah, the war might have made more mutants but the world they were born into wouldn't be a very nice place.) I also found it a bit disheartening at how quickly the humans on both sides were so quick to go after the mutants AFTER they had clearly averted a nuclear holocaust. (But, then again, it wouldn't be an X-Men movie if the humans didn't hate and fear mutants beyond reason.)
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Will there be a fifth X-Men movie? Considering how much money this movie stands to make worldwide I wouldn't be at all surprised. It'll be interesting to see if they keep with the current class (likely) and, if so, what story they tell. There's already been an epic (and, frankly, definitive) battle with Magneto so they'll probably have to come up with a new angle (even though I hope they don't lose Michael Fassbender). Guess I'll just have to wait a couple of years to find out.
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X-Men: First Class has all the action any summer blockbuster could wish for. The FX are first rate and the acting is clearly a cut above average for a movie of this sort. Yeah, there are plot points that it doesn't pay to spend too much time thinking about but the action never slows down enough to give you time to pick the movie apart. Yes, you can see it on the small screen but this flick looks great in a theater. Go in and have some fun for a couple of hours. You know you want to...
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FINAL GRADE: A-
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