June Movie #3: X-Men: First Class

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Kevin Bacon
Directed By: Matthew Vaughn
Run Time: 2 hours 11 minutes

X-Men: First Class takes a few steps back in time, back before the X-Men were the X-Men. It shows the "mutants" from the beginning, how they came together and why. It also shows how Professor X and Magneto were friends in the beginning and what caused them to become on opposite sides.

The only X-Men movie I've seen is Wolverine and that was more for the actor than for the story. I had little interest in the other X-Men movies. I know little about them. Every time I saw the preview for this movie, I kept getting confused as to which actor (McAvoy or Fassbender) was portraying whom (Professor X and Magneto) and which one was the bad guy in the future. I think part of my confusion stems from the height difference between the old versions and the young versions. My confusion between who was who made the story I saw in the previews much different. Now that I've seen the movie, I am no longer confused about whom is who.

For never having seen any of the other X-Men movies, I was able to enjoy this movie, probably more than those who have seen the others because I have no idea what happens to any of them in the future. Who lives, who dies? I didn't know. I was able to just enjoy what happened. And I must say, I rather liked it.

This movie has fabulous character development. I was absolutely engrossed with Magneto (played by Fassbender). You completely understand with just the one scene they showed why he was bent on revenge, bent on killing Shaw (played by Bacon). And then to find out their relationship goes further... it's really a no wonder why he wanted him dead. And I also loved how honest Magneto was with Mystique (played by Lawrence) about her true identity, about being a mutant.

There were several lines dispersed throughout the movie that I found absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, I was the only one in the theater laughing. This movie had some wit to it and I found that refreshing. I liked that it had a lot of heart and wasn't just a comic book with action.

If this movie was lacking, it was lacking in full team development. Aside from the one scene where the mutants meet one another and reveal the things that make them unique to determine their superhero names, I really didn't see the gang doing things to make themselves a team. They did all have one on one time with Professor X (played by McAvoy) which helped solidify him as the leader or "teacher" but there weren't many moments with other mutants with other mutants.

One of the reasons I liked this movie (other than the character development, funny bits with charm, and general cohesive storyline) was the acting. Michael Fassbender was superb as Magneto. I truly saw him embracing his mutant abilities as well as fully understood his pain and his struggle. Kevin Bacon as evil Shaw was despicable. I truly rooted for Magneto to exact his revenge on Shaw. He was used car salesman swarmy... but with ruthless appetite for killing. The way he killed the first mutant was so sad. I kept thinking that the role must have been fun for him. I am on the fence about January Jones' Emma Frost. She was very robotic, so robotic that she was evil. That was good. But then there were too many moments where I wondered if I was mistaking her robotic performance for intended evilness or if she's just robotic and wooden in every performance (see my review of the Unknown). I absolutely loved  Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone but I thought her take on Mystique was a bit stilted. I understand why she gravitated towards Magneto (because he helped her deal with being a mutant) but I just wasn't seeing her struggle.

Speaking of Mystique, there is one scene where she morphs into another image that made me howl. I loved the cameo (of whom she morphed into). Such a nice touch. And this is coming from someone who has never seen the other X-Men movies.

I was painfully aware of the use of CGI in several key dramatic moments in this movie. I'm pretty sure no submarine was ever harmed in the production of this movie. There was probably never even a submarine in this movie. So CGI. The blatant use of CGI kept pulling me out of the movie.

One small aside: I was so happy to see Michael Ironside! Watch for him towards the end.

I really liked this movie. I wasn't expecting to like it so much, particularly since I've never seen the other X-Men movies (have I mentioned I haven't seen the others?). It was very well done. The acting, the history, the characters, the story. I didn't even feel that the run time is over two hours. And after it was all done, I will never confuse which one is the bad guy. Ah, Michael Fassbender. I want to see him be full evil. I hope there's an X-Men: 202. And if I'm rooting for a sequel, you have to know that this movie was pretty darned good.