X-Men First Class

Score: 8/10

Recommendation: Matinee

Summary:

X-Men First Class is a strong film that almost helps us forget about X-Men Orgins: Wolverine and X-Men 3: The Last Stand... Almost

Review:

Alright! First review of a movie! That’s not the only first tonight either. Tonight was the first time I’ve seen a movie by myself, and the first time I’ve taken notes of what I liked and didn’t like throughout. Yes, I saw a movie by myself. I was bored, alone, and didn

’t want to make the effort to invite people. So, I went by myself, something I’ve actually planned on doing many times but just never got around to it. My initial review of seeing a movie all by myself: pretty much the same as with other people. After all, asking other people to join you sitting silently in a dark room would be awkward in any other circumstance.

Now for my review of the film, overall I was impressed. I got there around 9:30 and stumbled out around midnight wishing there was more. So let’s talk about the things in this movie that I liked. First up is the murder of Magneto’s mother. That’s not the part I like… The scene begins innocent enough but becomes slowly more twisted. The revealing of the lab next to the office offers a villainous aura that helps the audience, who are well aware of Magneto’s (or at the time Erik’s) destiny as the antagonist throughout most of the series, to connect with the character. The film’s ability to portray Magneto as a protagonist is effective as I, myself, began hoping for revenge for Erik’s losses. I’ll touch on Magneto more a little later.

Another outstanding aspect to this addition to the franchise is the use of each mutants powers. An issue with all the X-Men films has been that with so many “superheroes” parading about the audience becomes more excited for more new colorful powers than developed familiar ones. X-Men 3 The Last Stand delivered this special effects mess, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine attempted to develop Wolverine’s powers, but looked so unprofessional (aka crappy) that I remember hoping for the movie to be swapped out for like The Importance of Being Earnest… This film, however, keeps the numbers rather low, shows training and growth in most of their powers, and left me wanting more, especially from the big 2 (Charles Xavier and Magneto).

The film’s pacing is well done. Mixing the action throughout the drama and staying true to the expectations of a super hero film. The Special effects look great (Come on Wolverine!). The characters are, in general, likable and well cast. Especially Charles Xavier, who seems to be a push over personality but continues to be unshakable when it comes to doing the right thing. Quick note: I love the Wolverine camio! Anyways, the story is entertaining without making major changes in history, despite best efforts and a whole lot of close calls, allowing the sense of reality the film attempted to capture to be realized (Ooo… word play).

Now it is time to point out why this film was not absolutely perfect. Remember, I did like this film in general but there were a few issues that came up. For starters, although Magneto is a protagonist, and slightly good, I would have liked to see him fall further from grace. Of course the audience isn’t fooled by his eventual outcome, but he is portrayed as a murderous, violent, loose cannon from scene 1 (well… really early anyways). Sure he was alongside the incorruptible Professor Xavier, but there’s no real suspense as to how he will turn out. One good thing that the Star Wars prequels are able to do is to portray Anakin as a good person, about to become a great person, who loses everything he had the potential to become. Magneto doesn’t ever become a convincing hero, and even without knowing his role in the rest of the series, it is painfully obvious how he will turn out.

Finally, I quickly became frustrated with the abundance of villains. Let’s see who I can remember: The Russians (America’s enemy), the human race (The mutants enemy), A bunch of random indistinguishable Nazi people (Magneto’s enemy), The Bad Mutants (the good Mutants enemy), and then of course the soon to be enemy Magneto. It was too much for a single story; especially a story where you hope that Magneto will retake his rightful spot as the super main bad-guy guy.

In conclusion, X-Men First Class offers excellent special effects, fun characters, and an engaging story that sets a strong foundation for the rest of the franchise. I give it 8 little glass mutant figurines out of 10.

Questions I need some answers to:

Will the day ever come that College professors won’t be the ones saving the world? Please? I mean Indiana Jones, X-Men, Angels and Demons, National Treasure (well, his mom anyways), etc.

Why does Xavier (who was raised in New York) have a British accent? <- Seriously, why?

Was one of the bad guys Satan?

Why did Russia decide to hit Denver with 2 nukes during the animation? Or was that Denver and Salt Lake? If so, how did Salt Lake earn one of those like 8 missiles?

One week of Training and they all have their powers in check and are ready to save the world in Spandex? What, is this Eragon’s training all over again?

Did Xavier look like JD from Scrubs to anyone else?