Wednesday, June 8, 2011

X-Men: First Class

The world of the X-Men contains more characters than any other story I can think of. Multiple titles and different teams, plus villains make the comic book series a haven for writers looking for specific personality types. So, I can’t say I’m surprised that out of the five major X-Men films, none have even attempted to stay true to a comic story arch. X-Men: First Class follows a young Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto, (Michael Fassbender) the events around their meeting, and the formation of the first team of X-Men. The film is split with new characters and others who the audience has met in the other X-Men films.

It takes some getting used to for McAvoy to work as the young professor, but Fassbender is perfect as Magneto, even coming across as a believable precursor to Sir Ian Mckellan’s rendition in the first three films. It says something that Kevin Bacon’s first appearance on screen as the evil mastermind Sebastian Shaw was greeted with laughs in the theater I viewed the film. Possibly it’s because he’s been missing from mainstream films for a while, but by the halfway point he commands the screen as an undeniably evil character. No one is laughing at his ascot by the end of things. Other actors like Jason Flemyng and Jennifer Lawrence have their moments, but the three aforementioned stars dominate the film with great success.

The main problems with First Class look as if they could be fixed with an extra take or a few more dollars in the production budget. But as is the case with all the X-Men films, this one is mostly character driven. The scenes where characters sit talking with each other are frequently more important than the action scenes, and as expected, they are better executed. This storyline has the makings of a strong franchise, but if that is the case, there should be less focus on showcasing similarities to the other X-Men movies and more focus on branding itself as a stand-alone series. (8.0 out of 10)

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