Countdown to X-Men: Days of Future Past, Part 5…
X-Men:
First Class has quite a lot going in its favor: the novelty of being a
period superhero film (something we sadly just don’t see enough of), the fascinating
backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and - perhaps most importantly - a chance
to see how the relationship between franchise stalwarts Xavier and Magneto
began. When it sticks to any of the above, the film is often quite marvelous.
As it stands, it’s still pretty good, albeit marred somewhat by the very same
flaws that plagued its predecessors.
Fortunately, those flaws are tempered
by what the film does right, and when it’s good, X-Men: First Class is rather excellent. By being set in the sixties
and using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a launching point, First Class distinguishes itself immediately by taking a page from
James Bond and becoming a swinging, superhero spy adventure. The Bond influence
is omnipresent, yet not overbearing - the filmmakers are clearly evoking the
best of Ken Adams in production design that includes a high-tech submarine, and
Michael Fassbender’s stunning array of turtlenecks definitely evokes that
classic Our Man Flint vibe - but the
film stands on its own as well, as a unique creation taking inspiration from
the spy films of the sixties and Jack Kirby comics, and combining the two into
something wholly new.
Keeping
the film head-and-shoulders above the last installments are the two leads,
Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, played by James McAvoy and Michael
Fassbender, respectively. Their previous friendship was always alluded to
throughout the series, and finally here we see the beginnings of what will turn
them into lifelong friends/rivals. Being much younger, the characters are
slightly different than we might remember: McAvoy plays Xavier as a cocky young
Oxford student with a way with the ladies and the world at his fingertips
(quite the contrast to Patrick Stewart’s demure and conservative portrayal),
although there is a strong undercurrent of responsibility lurking just beneath
the surface. Xavier is a born leader, as he demonstrates by bringing out the
best in everyone he comes into contact with here and helping them to realize
their full potential.
On
the opposite side of that spectrum is Fassbender’s Lensherr, the man who would
be Magneto. The film’s earliest segments feature Lensherr hunting down ex-Nazis
in search of his old concentration camp superintendent Klaus Schmidt, aka
Sebastion Shaw, who was responsible for the murder of Erik’s mother, and it’s
in these early scenes where the film is at its most engaging. Seriously,
watching Fassbender kill Nazis deserves a movie all its own, and the actor
seems to relish dressing up like the early Connery Bond and using his powers of
magnetism on his former oppressors. But beyond that, the film arrives at its
most touching moments by showing the development of Erick and Xavier’s
relationship - although their first meeting is somewhat clunky, the two quickly
complement each other, with Xavier helping Erik to use his powers in a way that
doesn’t involve reliving the most painful moments of his life.
The
contrast between Charles and Erik is central to X-Men: First Class, and strong eno
ugh on its own to carry the movie.
But, being that this is an X-Men
film, it can’t go throughout the full length of its run-time without packing in
as many mutant characters as it possibly can. I feel like a bit of a broken
record now after having reviewed four of these movies, but the problem
persists: there are too many goddamn characters in this movie; many of them without
more than five lines of dialogue between them. The characters and the actors
portraying them vary wildly in quality, such as the one who probably gets the
most development, Mystique, as played by Jennifer Lawrence. Now, Lawrence is
unquestionably one of the finest actresses of her generation, but here shows a
degree of uncertainty that is unbefitting of the character, who is quite
changed from the previous films. This Mystique is miles away from the icy femme
fatale played by Rebecca Romijn, instead fashioned into a fun-loving young
woman more suited to Lawrence’s talents, and the results are somewhat incongruous.
It does help to further strengthen the conflict between Xavier and Magneto, as
Mystique starts on one side and is slowly seduced to the other.
The
rest of the X-team gets barely a character beat between them all: Nicholas Hoult
gets a rudimentary romantic subplot with Mystique, which also ties into his
character Beast looking for a cure to his mutant condition, which ultimately
backfires and causes him to don furry prosthetics that don’t look all that
great when put into action. Other members such as Lucas Till’s Havok exist
soley to make fun of Hoult’s character (look,
Ma - conflict!), while yet even more switch to the villains’ side for
rather flimsy reasons or are killed off before they can do anything interesting
*. The villains are at least fronted by a wonderful Kevin Bacon as Sebastian
Shaw - an out of left field choice that pays off wonderfully for the film, but
his Hellfire Club of minions barely get an ounce of characterization between
them. Especially bland is January Jones as Emma Frost, a sting made all the
moreso painful considering Alice Eve was originally to play the part and would surely have
made much more of an impact in the role.
Yet
in spite these faults, the film works. Matthew Vaughn didn’t get to make X3, but he more than makes up for it
here - crafting a film that automatically course-corrects the franchise after two
blunders in a row. Vaughn totally recreates the world of the X-universe, a
world where the characters actually get to wear brightly-colored costumes for a
change and yet still keep of a whole with what has come before. The action isn’t
quite as confidently-staged as it should be, and Vaughn overplays his hand by
rushing certain events forward too quickly - we really should have gotten another movie
before Xavier and Magneto have their big split ** - but he does so much right
elsewhere it’s once again easy to forgive the film its faults.
It’s
not perfect, but there is a whole lot of fun to be had with X-Men: First Class.
*
And on that note, you’re really gonna go for the (so overplayed at this point that
its more of a parody of anything else now) trope of having the black guy killed
first? Really?
**
In keeping with the contradictory continuity of the previous films, First Class further muddies the waters
by having Xavier crippled at the end - an event that happens in 1962, although
scenes in X3 and Wolverine that take place in the eighties see him walking around perfectly
normal. And that very same scene in X3
showed Xavier and Magneto working together, despite pretty much parting ways at
the end of the film here. And there’s also the rather important detail of
Xavier and Mystique being raised together as siblings, although prior films
never even hinted at such. And, oh yeah, there's that little matter of Emma Frost being Silverfox's younger sister in the last Wolverine movie, which clearly takes place almost thirty years after her henching for Shaw (and later, Magneto) originally...
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