Just finished my last day at the old job. Now its time for a week-long staycation before starting the new one. What did I do to celebrate? Why see X-Men: First Class of course! As a long-time comic book and X-Men fan, I’d gotten soured by the last two lackluster X-Men movies. And at first, this movie seemed like more of the same crap. But the more footage I saw, the more excited I got. And the end result?
I’d give the movie a B-/C+. Was it bad? No. Was it great? Definitely not. But it was entertaining and at times fun.
The Good:
James MacAvoy and Michael Fassbender were both fantastic in their roles as the younger Professor X and Magneto respectively. Fassbender wore the pain and tragedy of Magneto’s horrific past on his sleeve throughout the film, hunting down those responsible for his past all to find one Sebastian Shaw. It was awesome to see the subtle ways he used his magnetism gift as he blazed down the path to vengeance.
Young Charles Xavier, a man of privilege and a young genetics professor, was played perfectly as a bit of a cad who used his psychic abilities to score with the ladies. The twist of Mystique being his adopted sister was unexpected but it worked well within the framework of the story, mainly because of the chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and MacAvoy.
Speaking of chemistry, the burgeoning relationship between Magneto and Xavier was fantastically played. I wish we could have seen more of it. But one of the best scenes was when Xavier unlocked a happy memory of Magneto’s from his childhood to help him gain greater control over his magnetic gifts. Even better, I really dug how Xavier unwittingly helped Magneto become the powerhouse he is today.
In terms of other performances, Jennifer Lawrence continues to shine as an actress, this time as a young Mystique who has to hide in plain sight in order to fit in. Her relationship with Beast was well-played too, both wanting to be normal and not hide who they are anymore. But then as she becomes more comfortable with her true appearance (thanks to Magneto’s growing influence), Hank tries to fix his appearance with a serum, only to make things worse.
I thought Banshee was fun, but could have been give more development. The kid who played Havok was also good, giving off a wrong side of the tracks vibe well (though we never know what he did to get him in such trouble).
The Bad
For a movie that could serve as either a reboot and a prequel to the previous X-Flicks, the plot felt way too rushed and forced, not organic at all. Codenames were given, events just so they fit nicely and neatly by the end of the film. It felt very “Star Wars Prequel Trilogy” to me. Ugh.
For instance, fracturing Xavier and Magneto’s relationship at the end of this flick was a big mistake. They could paced out the eventual rivalry through at least one more film possibly two, making the bromance breakup much more tragic. Especially since we saw an older Xavier with no wheelchair with an older Magneto recruiting a young Jean Grey in X3. PLOTHOLE!
I would have rather seen their differences become more glaring at the end of this movie, but keep them as friends for now given that Magneto not only helped build the modern day Cerebro but also help Charles officially form the Xavier School for Gifted Students.
Plus, while Magneto already saw mutants as the better man and had a less naive view than Charles, him going all ‘Master Race’ after killing Shaw also felt conveniently forced to fit the plot. However, I’ll admit that I liked how Xavier’s paralysis came about.
Not only that, there were many scenes that felt just cut short in the middle and could have been longer and given more depth the the plot.
And how the X-kids all just happened to choose their names during a night of drinking and bonding. Kinda lame. The movie could have had more fun with their codenames.
Speaking of plotholes, the White Queen. I’m sorry, but January Jones was the wrong choice for this role. She does not have the personality or sex appeal to be Emma Frost and it showed in spades. As Lainey Gossip so eloquently put it, “She’s so boring, she probably bores herself.” HA! Plus, how is this Emma Frost older than the one in the Wolverine movie who couldn’t have been older than a teenager? In the later 70s/early 80s!
Also, even though I like Kevin Bacon as an actor, his Sebastian Shaw was far too Evil with a capital E. He had no dimensions and no layers.
And in a minor quibble, I did not like Havok being an X-Men before Scott. I know that the movies are their own universe separate from the comics, but it just feels wrong.
While X-Men: First Class was ambitious and reached its goal somewhat, I still think that the X-Franchise needs to be forcibly removed from FOX’s hands and returned to Marvel where they can give it another go and possibly integrated it with the Shared Movie Universe. How cool would that be???
[…] her to do, which was mediocre. However, I’ve seen worse performances, like January Jones in X-Men: First Class. Ugh. […]