Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class has been a controversial film ever since it was first announced. Comic book purists said that the filmmakers were straying too far from the source material with their interpretation. Film purists said that the production was being rushed and the movie would suffer – while fans of summer blockbusters remained unaware (or unmoved) by all the missteps in the movie’s flawed marketing campaign.
Well, whether you’re a fan of the comics, the movies, or just summer blockbusters, X-Men: First Class has something to offer you. After two poor entries (X-Men: The Last Stand and Wolverine) this franchise is getting a much-needed injection of life from director Matthew Vaughn and all the talent surrounding him.
…But that doesn’t make the film perfect.
The story is pretty simple at its core, but slightly convoluted in its execution: We start with the childhood years of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, the men who will become Professor X and Magneto, respectively. Charles is raised in a world of wealth and privilege; Erik, on the other hand, has a horrific childhood in the Nazi death camps (a scene that pays homage to Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie), where his control over magnetic forces attracts the eye of a Nazi scientist/evil mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who pushes Erik to develop his power by way of trauma and pain.
Flash-forward to 1963 (an homage to the year the first X-Men comic book was released) and Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender) are two young men on very different paths. Charles is now a prominent academic, while Erik is a haunted man, touring the world on a quest for revenge against Nazi war criminals and the mysterious Shaw. Meanwhile, the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union is intensifying, threatening to annihilate humanity in a nuclear holocaust – which is exactly what Sebastian Shaw and his cabal of evil mutants want. When CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) catches wind of Shaw’s plan, the CIA tasks Xavier to gather a team of mutants to battle Shaw and his henchmen, setting in motion a chain of events that will inevitably create the X-Men, as well as the lifelong rivalry between Charles and Erik.
Fassbender and McAvoy as Magneto and Prof. X in 'X-Men: First Class'
Matthew Vaughn moves this multifaceted story at a brisk, controlled pace. With a runtime of more than two hours there’s a lot that happens, but thankfully the time passes quickly. Most of the attention is focused on developing the characters of Charles and Erik, their friendship and eventual falling out, and this is the glue that holds the film together. McAvoy and Fassbender are excellent in their respective roles and have awesome chemistry together; the most moving and interesting scenes in the film belong to them alone. Despite complaints from comic book purists about the liberties this film takes with the source material, it manages to present both Xavier and Magneto as fresh and rich characters who are both worth exploring.
This reinterpretation not only makes First Class interesting as a movie, but in my opinion (as a longtime fan of the comics) improves upon these characters’ backstories in ways the comics never have. Seeing Xavier as a naive man – who has not yet learned the tact and ethics that go along with mind reading – makes for some interesting themes and humorous moments. Seeing Erik as a sort of twisted super-powered James Bond is thrilling, and Fassbender brings an intensity that makes this another breakout role for the quickly rising star. The two leading men don’t try to mimic the performances of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen from Singer’s films – instead they make the roles their own.
However, while the Charles/Erik storyline is the main focus (and is worth the price of admission in and of itself), the title of this film would imply a story about a larger team coming together. This aspect of the film (the actual X-Men team) is not as developed or interesting, and some fans will have a major problem with that. We do meet a group of mutants in the film, but with the exception of the pivotal role of Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), the rest of the mutants (good and bad) are mostly just there to fill out the action scenes – or in the case of Emma Frost (January Jones), fill out some ridiculous outfits (which the film does manage to justify… sort of).
Kevin Bacon and January Jones in 'X-Men: First Class'
For her part, Lawrence is great as Mystique, adding subtlety and depth to a character that was mostly eye candy in previous films. As with Charles and Erik, Vaughn manages to explore Mystique’s character in a way that is more interesting than either the films or comics have really presented her – even though we know where her arc will inevitably lead. The other performance of note is by Kevin Bacon, who makes Sebastian Shaw a charmingly menacing supervillain, without crossing over into campy or hammy territory.
Some people will be disappointed that the actual X-Men team members are little more than stunt actors in this film, but the battle scenes with the mutants are impressive. As with Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn proves that he is a fantastic director when it comes to action sequences, and First Class arguably has the best high-flying superhero action this side of X2 or Spider-Man 2. Whereas Singer’s films tended to fetishize every moment of mutant power use, Vaughn implements the powers (and the special effects to create them) into the film so matter-of-factly that it makes suspension of disbelief almost effortless (though seeing a blue-furred Beast still doesn’t feel quite right).
The ’60s aesthetic and historical footage are also blended into the film well, at once honoring that era, while still feeling modern enough as not to seem like a period piece. There are some wonderful stylistic tricks Vaughn employs at different points (first-person POV, split-screen montages); however, now and again the film feels a little unbalanced or unpolished in its editing (likely due to the rushed production schedule), though average movie fans are not likely to notice these seams sticking out.
A more familiar and iconic Magneto in 'X-Men: First Class'
Like most origin or prequel films, the nature of the story inevitably results in a truncated ending. The climax of First Class must fit all the players into their predetermined places, and the speed with which these transitions occurred felt rushed, even though Vaughn does capture some powerful moments in the dissolving of Charles and Erik’s relationship. The rest of the characters (literally) stand aside and then take sides, which again shortchanges them in terms of development or interest.
Thankfully, the rich Xavier/Magneto dynamic, fantastic action, and a handful of fun Easter eggs are enough to keep comic fans, movie fans, and summer blockbuster enthusiasts all sufficiently entertained by the majority of what this film gets right. Matthew Vaughn and Co. have definitely given the X-Men franchise a bright new future, and hopefully in the next film the actual team dynamic will be the nexus, rather than a distant secondary focus.
If you want to see more of the film, check out the X-Men: First Class trailer below, and be sure to hop over to our X-Men: First Class Spoilers Discussion to talk about the film once you’ve seen it.
Loading ...Our Rating:
3.5 out of 5
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For the sequel, I’d like to see Cyclops and Jean Grey and maybe Dazzler and Angel, although the latter would only be there is they completely ignored the fact that Warren Worthington appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand. Anyway, then the X-Men would be Havok, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Banshee and Beast and maybe Dazzler which wouldn’t be too far off from the comics. Maybe they could bring in Lorna Dane as a love interest for Havok. Magneto’s brotherhood would be Azrael, Angel Salvador, Riptide, Emma Frost and Mystique and maybe Toad and Sabretooth because they were in the original X-Men movie. Liev Schreiber could reprise his role as Sabretooth and maybe we’ll have another Wolverine cameo. It’s important to remember that this movie would be set around the same time (at least the same decade) as X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I think the premise should be that we already know that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not canon because Professor X wasn’t walking in the seventies so the question is what really happened? How did Professor X recruit Cyclops? And did Cyclops meet Wolverine when he was a teenager and then not recognize him decades later or what? Oh and the title should be X-Men: First Class Part 2 because Scott and Jean were part of the first class. Oh and maybe they could save Dazzler, Storm and the Toad for X-Men First Class Part 3 which would focus on Emma Frost and the Hellions. That could be set in the eighties and now Scott and Jean are older and Xavier’s School now has younger students who look up to them but at this point in time not all young mutants go to join Xavier’s school: some go to Massachusetts Academy and get trained by Emma. So the plot could have Charles and Emma both trying to recruit Dazzler the way they each tried to recruit Kitty Pride in the comics.
No Dazzler. Period. There are far too many not-core X characters or downright made-up characters being put into the movies. Also, none of these movies are canon. 20th Century Fox has no respect for the source material at all.
With a name like “X-Men First Class” and an X-Men movie set in 1963, this movie should have been straight-up Xavier, Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren, and Bobby vs Magneto. Done.
The movie was set in 1962 and Xavier had not recruited Scott at this point. In fact, in X-Men #1 Jean was his latest recruit. Scott even said “Who’s Magneto?” when Xavier mentioned him in X-Men #1. I expect Havok, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Banshee and Beast for the sequel. That sequel needs to be made or the whiny fanboys will never shut up.
I loved the movie, but I’m also confused about the coin not being absorbed by Kevin Bacon.
I absolutely did not like the movie at all. I thought the acting was awful, and someone mentioned to me that “lockheed” was supposed to be a purple dragon in the comic books and not a balding chubby man. I was so annoyed with this movie, and again the acting was awful. I have never heard of any of these actors before… now I can see why. and wasn’t “Angel” in the comics a little girls? and not an adult stripper (this was again told to me buy my comic book friend)? annoying 1 star for me.
I just saw thid movie today. It was great. Way better than Thor or Green lantern, and I’m a massive Thor fan.
One thing that has barely been mentioned in any reviews, either positive or negative, is that the plot point driving the last half of the movie makes absolutely no sense.
Shaw supposedly wants to start a nuclear war so that mutants can take over…except…nuclear war would kill tons of mutants as well. He has some weird theory about nuclear radiation making mutants stronger, even though this has no background in any comic book or movie, and even if true somehow, doesn’t account for the mutants that would be killed in the initial blasts.
Lazy movie making in many respects, although I do respect the Magneto, Professor X and Mystique characters that were so well developed. It should just have been about them.
I really like this one, its so unlike the typical super hero flick. There’s good substance and the actors were amazing esp fassbender. . .
There a minor setbacks but all in all its really good. . .
This is in my top 2 of this year’s releases (super 8 being my no.1). Mcavoy and Fassbender put in great perfomances along with Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Lawrence. The other mutants making up the team both for Xavier/Erik and Shaw were there to fill the spots and you sometimes forget Rose Byrne is even in the film even though she makes quite the entrance near the start. Still the action was sweet and delivered in a way that other summer films didn’t. Azazel,Erik and Shaw definitely got the choicest action to themselves. Its a shame though that Erik turned at Xavier since they could’ve been on the same team for a max 2-3 films and that wouldve given more weight to their falling out. But as long as they don’t have Magneto as the big bad in future sequels (Wolverine being the only film he didn’t show up in) then its all good.
the movie was descent however the director should have made the story flow better. It seemed that there were a lot of moments where the movie just stopped to take a breath.
This movie was actually pretty decent. The script was good and characters were multi-layered for the most part.
I think a sequel should stick with the core characters and maybe add one or two new ones.
I enjoyed this movie very much. Much better than any of the other X-Men movies including Origins:Wolverine. The acting was okay and the story was very good. 5 stars for me.
I love this movie. It’s my second favorite comic book movie (the first being The Dark Knight.) The characters were interesting, I was engaged to the plot, and each actor and actress played their part well. In fact I ended up skipping my cousin’s first birthday party to see it, when it was in theaters. I regret nothing, it was totally worth it.
Pathetic excuse for a movie. From the beginning it lacks common sense. The mutant with incredible power kills all observers at his mother’s execution except for the nazi trigger man. Completely stupid!!!. Then at the end, when the humans try to kill all mutants, the most powerful mutant destroys all missles as they are turned against the humans trying to kill them. Retarded!!!!! Absolutley assumes the movie watcher is an imbasile. I felt like the writers take me for an f’ing idiot with such nonsense. The SR71 scenes with 6 passengers is so unbelivable that it took all I could muster to watch the last 15 minutes of the film. This picture counts on its audience to be so dumb that they’ll pay $9 to see this garbage.