Mutants in the 60s

(Click image for trailer.)

X-Men: First Class (2011), by Matthew Vaughn                     7/10

     Greetings to all! First of all, I’ve been quite busy with, you know, life, but I’m excited to be back on game. There is a whole bunch of new ideas floating around in my head to make this blog as awesome as possible for me and and for you guys, all of it coming soon over the summer.  So you should stay tuned for those. I still want to know what you think about my reviews, or the movies I’ve been reviewing so feel free to speak your mind in the comments!

      Now, let’s get to business.

     Last night I was finally able to geek out and went and saw X-Men: First Class. For a long time since this film was in the making, I was very skeptical about it. It was mostly because the past two X-Men films were such disappointments, especially to comics fanboys like myself. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was entertaining, yet somehow did not deliver as well as was expected in many aspects that I do not want to get into now.

“Fail…?”

And of course the biggest tragedy of the X-men trilogy was the inconclusive, confusing, disappointing, terribly misleading X-Men 3: The Last Stand. This one was definitely entertaining, but the story was terribly developed and played little relation to the original X-Men story; it also did not make justice to pretty much ANY of the mutants at all. I understand that movies that are adaptations are almost never completely faithful to the books, or in this case to the comics. However, to consciously change it as much as they did into the crappy film that it is in a time where comic book film adaptations are changing film in several ways is not smart. Comics fanboys or people who keep melancholic memories of the X-Men cartoons want to see at least SOME similarities in the movies. Compare for example other comic book movies that were much more successful that these two X-Men movies.

     While X-Men: First Class does not base the story on the original comic or cartoon, he took great inspiration in them and was successful in 1) making an X-Men movie that is better and more entertaining than any X-Men movie we’ve seen so far and 2) in using some plot concepts of the original comics to create a new origins story that both fits as a prequel to the latest X-Men movies, and also annuls them. The movie is set in the 60s, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) is attempting to cause a Third World War against the humans, CIA agent Moira (Rose Byrne) contacts Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), recently graduated as a professor, to help her stop Shaw from causing Nuclear War. With his knowledge in genetics and mutations such as the one he possessed and government’s secret advanced technology they recruit the first X-Men to represent humanity and put a stop to Shaw’s plan. Meanwhile, a very detailed origin story for both Professor X and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) develops with flashbacks that turn out to be relevant with Sebastian Shaw and his master plan.

     In his second comic book adaptation, Kick-Ass being his first one, director Matthew Vaughn delivers an action-packed film filled with the X-Men adventures that the comics and cartoons were recognized by. Effects and CGI were exquisitely realistic, which is always good in these types of film; we as an audience love to be fooled by film into believing magic, fantasy and the impossible. The script was good for the most part; there are some pretty surprising scenes that will make your jaw drop, but some of the dialogue seemed too recycled and cheesy. Actors did a good job for the most part, especially the main characters, James McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr (Magneto). Jennifer Lawrence played a very good, more sympathetic Mystique, but her character lacked presence on-screen and little importance to the plot. Kevin Bacon did a very good job playing a comic book villain, believable and scary; an evil Nazi scientist with the terrifying mutation that allowed him to absorb any form of energy and and reflect it and who wanted to trigger a Third World War against the humans.

“You can take away the cool mutants, but you can’t take away my cuteness.”

    Yes, we do not see most of the mutants we’ve already come to love like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, or Wolverine (*cough* Cameo! *cough cough*) and it may still be very different than what us fanboys might or might not expect, but it still manages to give a good time at the movies. And besides, the mutants we get to meet here are pretty awesome too, Beast turned out to be a great character in this movie, and Banshee and Havoc deliver quite well in the midst of the action, Azazel sort of looked like a teenage Satan, but Emma Frost does know how to look sexy when she’s all diamond-coated… and otherwise. And while X-Men: First Class still seems like something’s missing, some underdeveloped characters and plots, unwritten like a lost scene in the screenplay, this one’s a great time at the movies, don’t miss it! ‘Cause Summer is not looking good for movies this year, again.  7/10.

     Thanks for sharing and feel free to speak your mind! Let me know your opinion in the comments!

     Until next time, This is Freddy Lizardz with Words on Film. Peace.