X-Men First Class

 

As a self-confessed geek and huge X-Men fan, I have wasted many an hour or two reading through countless Wikipedia pages on all the characters from my favourites to the lesser known ones, so I was extremely excited about the up coming prequel. Having been disappointed both by ‘X3-The Last Stand’ and embarrassed by ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ I was optimistic when I saw the names Matthew Vaughn (who directed ‘Kick Ass’), Jane Goldman (who helped adapt ‘Kick Ass’) and Bryan Singer (the director of the first two X-Men films). Needless to say, my expectations were met and, in some areas, surpassed.

Set in the 1960s, ‘X-Men: First Class’ has gone back to basics to create an origin of one of the most fascinating relationships in the franchise – the one between Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). As well as their relationship, the film focuses on how Xavier becomes Professor X, the world’s most powerful telepath, and Lehnsherr becomes Magneto, a man who can control magnetic fields and thus manipulate metal. Set during the real-life event of the Cuban missile crisis, the story concentrates on the first coming-out of mutants to the not only the rest of the world, but also to each other. Lehnsherr’s is the first power we see manifest and audiences are given an insight into his anger and drive; how he survived a Nazi concentration camp as a young boy (fan boys will notice how Singer’s original opening to ‘X-Men’ was used) and his powers stem from the emotional hardship he suffered. Seeing Lehnsherr’s origins allows us to understand how his later philosophy of mutants above humans does not come from being innately evil, but from his own negative experiences of the world, many of them cruel and unbending. As the film goes on Lehnsherr transforms from a volatile loner to a calm, magnetic (excuse the pun) leader that we recognize as the Magneto immortalized by Sir Ian McKellen. Fassbender plays a brilliant young Magneto, who is stylish, ruthless and takes no prisoners. It would not come as a surprise if Fassbender became the next James Bond as he skillfully manages to give feeling and depth to what some might describe as an unrepentant character. He also manages to make turtle necks look suave and menacing, which is no mean feat by any means.

Xavier’s transformation to the serene mentor played by Sir Patrick Stewart is a little more obvious, and slightly poorly handled. At the start Xavier is a confident arrogant DPhil student (well what DPhil students aren’t?) studying genetics at Oxford University and using his powers for his own personal pleasure, such as reading the mind of a girl to find out her favourite drink. However, upon finding the existence of other mutants besides himself, and realizing that they need to be looked after, he grows up and willingly accepts his responsibility as a mutant mentor. This transformation doesn’t feel fully believable, most likely because McAvoy lacks the gravitas to pull off the serious act. He is much better playing the annoying playboy than serious grown up.

As well as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, ‘X-Men: First Class’ includes a list of characters that fans of the original comic books will enjoy. The strongest, most interesting and best written one is easily Raven, who will come to be known as the blue shape-shifter, Mystique. In the original movies Mystique was many people’s favourite due to her refusal to hide her difference, even though she easily could, in this prequel we see how this determination develops. Originally she hides her mutant ability and assumes the look of the normal, albeit beautiful, Jennifer Lawrence, but as the film progresses she is shown to question whether she should have to hide. What makes her part in the film even more interesting is how she creates a kind of love triangle with Xavier and Lehnsherr. She starts off following Xavier, but audiences all know she will change her allegiance if she is to be on Magneto’s side at the start of the first X-Men.  Watching the two men battle for her support adds extra tension to a relationship that already has two strong egos believing they are right.

The second supporting character to add to the characterization and depth of the film is another blue fan favourite, Hank McCoy, later known as Beast. Although in his blue bestial form when played by Kelsey Grammer in ‘X3: The Last Stand’ in this prequel he still has his human form and is played by Nicholas Hoult. What is interesting about McCoy’s character is he is not as selfless as the rest of the team and desperately wants to make his monkey-like feet normal again. For once, it is nice to see a superhero that reacts in a normal, slightly superficial, way to his situation in a way that reflects how audiences might also react. It would be great to say that the rest of the X team are as well developed and as well written as Mystique and Beast, however, this is sadly not the case. Whether it is the fault of the script for not giving them more depth or the fault of the original source material for not providing enough to work with, the rest of the students from Mutant High feel like add-ons. It seems that they are only there to fill up the fight scenes. It could be argued that out of the hundreds of characters that could have been picked, Jane Goldman and her team should have chosen more filled out ones.

If some of the characters in the X-team let the side down, Kevin Bacon’s Sebastian Shaw – a mutant who can absorb energy – and January Jones’ Emma Frost – a telepath who can also turn her skin into diamonds – are certainly enemies who bring it back up. Both actors ooze the natural sophistication and glamour that is associated with wealth in the 60s. Because of this they are a delight to watch and part of you will want them to succeed in their plot because they just look so good doing it.

Unlike many comic book films released at the moment (Green Lantern comes to mind…) ‘X-Men: Fist Class’ is character and plot driven over the special effects. Truth be told, some of the CGI is not up to scratch with most summer blockbusters; maybe blue is a difficult colour to use, but both Mystique and Beast have looked better in previous incarnations and Emma Frost’s diamond skin looked a little cheap. But if these faults have come because more time was spent neatening up the script, then they are a worthy price to pay so that the film breaks away from being a normal comic book adaption. Saying this, there are still enough little bits of comic trivia for fans. From jokes about Xavier’s hair to the appearance of two stars from the original three films, these little in jokes will keep fans happy. However, the studio did take a few artistic licenses that some fans may not be happy with.  For example, likely due to American audiences being unable to understand British accents (commiserations Ms Cole) both Banshee and Moira McTagart have lost their heavily accented heritage to become clean spoken Americans. Although this may seem a little petty to complain about, this is just the sort of things that fans will pick up on and get annoyed about.

Although some aspects of the film have been changed for better or for worse, the premise is still very much pride of the underdog. ‘Mutant Pride’ is constantly and unsubtly mentioned, but really the word ‘mutant’ could be replaced by any minority or down trodden group – gay pride, female pride, geek pride. This is the very essence of what X-Men is about: who the fan base is. And that is what has made it become so successful. People enjoy X-Men because it shows that being born different doesn’t mean you are born unequal, and it is fantastic that this mantra shines though out the entire film.

Degree- 2:1

Finally the franchise has gone back to the basics that made

it so successful to begin with. This is a film that even those who

don’t like the comics may enjoy as it focuses more on plot than CGI.

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X-Men: First Class

I am such a geek that I am so excited about this! It isn’t a re-boot of yet another franchise, but another one of Marvel’s origin projects that gives you more detail of the central characters from the original three. This time the origin story is of Magneto and Xavier, played by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. It appears from the trailer that it looks at how the two friends become enemies due to their different philosophies. The cast will also include a list of other mutants, some we have seen before with new faces ( Mystique is now played by Jennifer Laurence, Emma Frost by January Jones and Beast by Nicholas Holt), while other new mutants are introduced (Havok played by Lucas Till and Banshee playted by Caleb Landry). From the trailer and the fact that Matthew Vaughn is directing it certainly looks like it could help rejuvinate the franchise after the last two flops.