'X-Men: First Class' Movie Review

According to a fellow critic who's up on all things X-Men, X-Men: First Class takes more liberties with the source material than what should be expected of from a prequel. Characters act out of character and major events in X-Men mythology are drastically altered in this origin tale which sets up the hostile relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr that propelled the three previous X-Men films. All of which means true X-Men fans are likely to receive/review this take on the comic book inspired film in a more negative light than audiences whose only knowledge of these mutant characters comes from what they've learned from X-Men 1, 2, and 3. I'm included in the latter group, having never picked up an X-Men comic. If it weren't for the films, I'd have no idea whatsoever who Professor X or Magneto are, or that Wolverine's anything other than a fearsome furry creature.

So, coming from the point of view of an X-Men novice, how well did X-Men: First Class do at explaining the mutant world and how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr came to hold opposing points of view on how best to deal with humans? Very well in that the film walks the audience through the childhood of both characters, exploring how their upbringing helped to create a Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) who believes humans are worth saving and an Erik Lensherr (played by Michael Fassbender) who despises those who don't have special powers. X-Men: First Class also does a great job of showing how mutants were identified and let in on the secret that they weren't alone, that being a mutant wasn't something they needed to be ashamed about.

X-Men: First Class - The Story

Who would have known the Cuban Missile Crisis was actually perpetrated by mutants and it was mutants, and not the work of US President John F Kennedy and Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, that saved the world from a full-blown nuclear war. X-Men: First Class uses real historic events - including the Holocaust - to explain the emergence of mutants as a potent fighting force to be reckoned with.

X-Men: First Class begins its story in 1944, with a young Erik Lensherr being dragged away from his mother who's being taken to a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. As his mother is led away, Erik's anger fuels his mutant power and the gate closing behind his mother is twisted out of shape. That use of his power leads to a meeting with Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a cruel and powerful mutant who turns out to be bent on destroying the world. Erik witnesses his mother die, but that turns out to be just the first bit of torture he'll suffer at Sebastian's hands. And this horrific treatment sets up Erik's need for revenge, and leads him to assume he can only call upon his powers when he's enraged.

Meanwhile, a young Charles Xavier is growing up in the lap of luxury. When a young Raven Darkholme breaks into his family's mansion looking for food, he welcomes her with open arms. The blue-skinned shapeshifter becomes like a little sister to him, and the twosome grow up together in a nurturing environment. As Charles achieves success at Oxford, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) is always by his side. And Charles, unlike Erik, has grown up to be quite the charming ladies man. He likes humans, women in particular, and is accepting of our flaws. He's also got a full head of hair and the ability to use both of his legs, unlike the older version of Charles Xavier we see in the other X-Men films.

While the adult Charles is hanging out at Oxford, spouting pick up lines that fail more often than not, Erik is devoting his life to exacting revenge on Sebastian Shaw. He's on the hunt and nothing will stop him from seeking out and killing Sebastian. But Sebastian's surrounded by a mutant crew - Emma Frost (January Jones in very revealing costumes), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), and Riptide (Alex Gonzalez) - that makes him nearly untouchable. Sebastian's master plan is to use their mutant powers to force the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons against the US. The United States will then retaliate, the human race will be obliterated, and mutants will take over the planet (because the nuclear blasts won't affect them).

Fortunately for our planet, telepathic Charles Xavier is able to convince Erik Lensherr to team up to help the CIA stop Shaw. Working closely with Dr Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) and another CIA bigwig (Oliver Platt) who fully supports mutants, the two super-powerful mutants assemble a team of young up-and-coming mutants to work for the 'good guys'. Charles and Erik set out to train the group for the ultimate mission: stop the Soviets from crossing a line in the sea that would force the United States' hand and lead to World War III.

If you had to point to the one thing that made X-Men: First Class work as well as it does, finding that single element would be incredibly easy to do. Director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) wisely ignored the fact James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender look nothing at all like the Professor X and Magneto from X-Men 1-3 (played by Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen respectively), and cast them to carry the load in this prequel. McAvoy and Fassbender are spot-on perfect, stepping into these roles based on comic book figures and making them come fully alive on screen (as did Stewart and McKellen). As Charles and Erik, McAvoy and Fassbender have to portray a love-hate relationship and that they do, perfectly capturing the goodness of Charles and the hurt and forever damaged Erik. These two play off each other so well, it's a shame Vaughn couldn't have spent more time exploring their dynamic and a little less with Kevin Bacon's crew, the Hellfire Club. Bacon's decent and obviously having fun getting to play bad, but we get they're the bad guys and we don't really need to see as much of them as we do, given the fact none of the bad guys has much of an arc to play. Other than the fact that would mean January Jones fans would miss out seeing her in various form-fitting, skin-revealing costumes, Vaughn could have cut down their scenes to give us more McAvoy and Fassbender.

The younger mutants get a substantial amount of screen time although, other than one or two, their backstories are pretty much glossed over. Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique (a character played by Rebecca Romijn in the other X-Men films) does a fine job of playing the conflicted shapeshifter who starts off ashamed of her blue skin. Nicholas Hoult (currently at work on X-Men: First Class producer Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer) plays a nerdy Beast, and the minor love story between Hoult and Lawrence is sweetly endearing. Hoult's gigantic-footed Beast evolves throughout First Class, and as the film nears its end Hoult's required to play a Beast his fellow mutants don't want to tangle with. The fact the final evolution of his costume makes him look like a Teen Wolf dipped in blue dye can't be held against Hoult.

Caleb Landry Jones brings some humor to First Class as Banshee, a mutant who can fly by screaming (don't ask me how that works). And Lucas Till is Alex Summers/Havok, but there's no mention of his brother Scott/Cyclops played by James Marsden in the other films. When we first meet Havok he's locked up in jail, however we never learn why he's being kept under lock and key (it's obviously due to his mutant powers, but what he did with them to get in trouble goes unexplained). Havok's training segments are some of the most amusing of the film, and the 20 year old actor plays him as smug and self-satisfied before he loosens up and accepts his fellow mutants. And then there's Edi Gathegi... We get far too little of Gathegi (best known to Twilight fans as 'Laurent'). Taking a page from the book of horror movie cliches, Gathegi, who plays Darwin (a mutant who adapts to any situation), leaves the story too quickly.

Co-writer/director Vaughn takes his time unspooling the story and allows the pieces of the puzzle to come together at a fairly leisurely pace. At 131 minutes, X-Men: First Class does have some fat that could have been trimmed, but at least there are only a few patches where an impatience to get to the meat of the story sets in. And as for that story, Vaughn and his co-writers seem to have pulled back whenever the story got too dark; Batman Begins demonstrated it's okay to go for the edgier origin story, but Vaughn and company don't fully commit to taking First Class down that same path. In a way that feels like a cheat as these mutants, particularly the crew Charles and Erik recruit, have had to live amongst humans while hiding their true nature. They're troubled, searching for their own identities, but that's mostly glossed over. Also glossed over is the attraction between Charles and Raven which is there but just barely. It's another tease, another side story left mostly unexplored.

What Vaughn definitely gets right is the mix of action and humor. A scene in which the young mutants are left on their own without an adult/babysitter in sight is a perfect example of why Vaughn was the right choice to reinvigorate this franchise. The teen/20ish mutants have their own version of a slumber party, showing off their talents and then awarding each other nicknames based on what they can do. They're not outcasts or social pariahs, they're mutants who are finally embracing and becoming proud of their powers, and it's one my favorite scenes in the film.

X-Men: First Class isn't perfect. With so many characters, there's not enough time to explore each and every one - and doing completely without a couple of them wouldn't have hurt the film one bit. And while the final battle is fairly spectacular, many of the action scenes leading up to it just aren't all that special.

The first X-Men film was fun, and it did its job of introducing X-Men newbies to a bunch of interesting characters with unique talents. X2: X-Men United was, in my book, the best of the lot. In my review I summed up why it worked better than its predecessor: "X2 is a much more fleshed out film than the original, the sets are even more lavish, and the characters are more intriguing this time around, giving this film a more fulfilling arc." But X-Men 3 was simply horrible and my review of that film is one of the few instances when I look back and believe I was way too easy. I gave it a B-/C+ when it deserved nothing higher than a C/C- (if I can indulge in a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking). It nearly put an end to the franchise and all but necessitated a prequel in order to go back and breathe life into the failing series. With X-Men: First Class, the franchise is indeed breathing once again, and although this fourth film (if you don't include the Wolverine spin-off) is not as good as X2, it's absolutely a step in the right direction.

GRADE: B

X-Men: First Class as directed by Matthew Vaughn and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language.

Theatrical Release: June 3, 2011

Also of Interest: Top 10 Action Films of 2011

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