Movie Review: X-Men First Class

X-Men: First Class


Basic Premise
Erik Lehnsherr is a survivor of the holocaust. Charles Xavier is a boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Both men are unlikely but share a similar secret. They are both mutants -- humans gifted from birth with incredible powers. Now they must use those powers to stop a made man from sinking the world into a nuclear war.


End of Credits
Nothing there. Feel free to leave when the credits start to roll.





Review
Now this is what I have come to expect of a Marvel movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, so much more so than Thor. James McAvoy and Michael Fasbender brought beautifully to life two very iconic characters with strong personalities. However, they weren't the complete focus of the movie. We got to meet several other characters -- Mystique, Havok, Beast, and Banshee.

I love, love, LOVED the way they did Banshee. Sure he didn't have his accent most of the movie, but I forgive that since they did his powers right. Beast's origin story was mostly right, so I'll give them kudos for that. Havok -- though never part of the original X-Men -- was a fun edition.

The movie is about the characters, not explosions and epic fights that show off how much money the studio can spend on special effects. The special effects presented were amazing, don't get me wrong. They ADDED to the movie. They didn't CARRY the movie. Big difference.

For those who are wondering why Azazel has the same powers as Nightcrawler (X2), it's because Azazel is Nightcrawler's daddy. Mystique is Nightcrawler's mommy. Did I give away something by telling that? Since it's part of comic history, I'll say no. For those who have never read the comics... SURPRISE. It never shows up in this movie (probably later movies), so I'm not giving away plot for this movie. How about that?

The movie had one HUGE surprise that I absolutely loved. Said surprise had the whole theater laughing and clapping.

Parents - there is a lot of killing (though not much in the way of blood) and one f-bomb. Proceed accordingly.

I do have two bones to pick. If this movie and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are supposed to be connected/related then how can Emma Frost appear in both? Stay with me here. In First Class, it's the 60's and Emma is a a grown woman. In Wolverine Origins, a teenage girl named Emma with the same diamond powers and telepathy is saved when Xavier (bald and in a wheelchair) shows up to escort everyone to the school. Did Marvel just mess up their own movie continuity (not surprised if they did) or are they going to say that the girl is a different Emma who just happens to have the same powers.

AND if that's not enough, Havok is a teenager when you meet him in First Class in the 60's. Wolverine Origins is supposed to take place AFTER First Class and that's when we meet Cyclops as a teenager. This is only an issue because Cyclops is the eldest of his siblings. Does Marvel plan to rearrange the Summers kids to fix this or simply say the movies have nothing to do with one another?

I will be interested to see what Marvel does with both little dangling threads in future movies.



Previews
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Soon. Very, very soon I will get to see what new awesomeness Michael Bay has cooked up for us this time.

- Green Lantern - I'm looking forward to this as well.

- Mr. Popper's Penguins - I'll wait for this to come on TV.

- Warrior - Teacher turned UFC fighter. The big climax of the movie is him squaring off with his brother. Even if he wins, he still loses. I'll wait for it to come on TV.

- The Change Plan - The more times I see this preview, the more I don't want to see the movie.

- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I should have known this would happen. Obviously the Denmark version of this movie wasn't good enough, so the US made one more palatable for American audiences. In other words, they probably added more explosions and mood music. Not interested either way.

- Rise of the Planet of the Apes - This looks very well done but I'm not sure I want to see it. I would be rooting for the apes through the whole movie and I know that's not what the writers would want. :P