Flick Flak: X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class
Directed by: Matthew Vaughan
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon
12A, 132mins
First of all I’d like to point out that I am something of an X-Men fan, so my opinions of First Class may well differ from those of somebody who doesn’t know or care about the characters.
X-Men: First Class tells the story of the beginnings of the ‘X-Men’; how Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Fassbender) met, became friends, and recruited a number of young mutants (at this stage to work for a secret CIA division), all in the 1960s, in order to combat a mutant supremacist (Bacon) who is trying to provoke the Cold War to turn nuclear in order to destroy the ‘lesser evolved’ humans.
So, the first point to be made is that this is not ‘just another X-Men film’, but a story that has not been told before on the big screen. The gravity of the film is that Charles and Erik eventually become ‘Professor X’ and ‘Magneto’, the two greatest enemies of the X-Men comics, and to see how they come to trust each other and eventually to be friends is actually quite moving, knowing where their relationship will end.
Part of the film’s success is the casting, for the two main characters especially. James McAvoy is great as a slightly more roguish and charming version of Xavier than we’ve seen before, and Michael Fassbender is brilliant as Erik. He has a lot of charisma and a magnetic presence (sorry, had to go there). Elsewhere, Jennifer Lawrence (star of Winter’s Bone, a film which despite getting a few Oscar nods most people haven’t seen - it’s brilliant) gives a good performance as Raven/Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult, largely famous for Skins over here, is surprisingly good as Hank McCoy/Beast.
One of the strengths of this film is that the character development is not made secondary to the action - the film is more about the relationships that the characters form than the explosions, and it is so well done that we feel for the characters when they feel betrayed or angry. One of the things that make Magneto such an excellent villain in the books is that we can absolutely understand his reasons, and this film builds on that idea brilliantly.
That said, the action sequences are still awesome, with Erik in particular showing just how badass he can be with his ability to control metals. I got a strong ‘Bond’ vibe from parts of the film, especially from Michael Fassbender and the Cold War setting, and the end credits must be a reference to the Bond films.
If I had to make criticisms I would say that some of the make-up effects felt a bit jarring when they first arrived - Mystique looks brilliant, but when he eventually fuzzes up and goes blue, Beast is a bit odd, and whenever Emma Frost turned into diamond she looked a bit like a chandelier. I feel if they could have just made her skin go shiny and solid it might have looked better, but then I thought: one of the issues this film raises is whether it is better to fit in or be proud of who you are and stand out.
I respect First Class, for being a great film, but also for being a real ‘comic-book film’ – for a long time now comic-book movies have been about looking realistic, and often dark. First Class is not ashamed to resemble its source material and stand out as a less realistic, but still excellent, comic-book movie. I think this adherence to the original books can be seen in the setting and costumes (the traditional blue and yellow suits are back!).
I was excited to see this film, and I am really pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint. The action scenes have a real ‘wow’ factor, but the film benefits from being much deeper than an action film: the focus on friendships and how they can be stretched due to beliefs makes this a really interesting watch. It will be interesting to see if they follow it up with another story set early in the X-Men timeline.
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12 Comments – Post a comment
Sambow
Commented 60 months ago - 10th June 2011 - 21:07pm
Thank you for this review! I'm in love with just about *everything* X-Men so I've been looking forward to this film for weeks. I've yet to see it but I'm glad you've given it a good review, Flick Flak always raises very good points. I'm also glad you've said they've stuck a lot to the comic books which I can only assume will make the film slightly better for us X-Men fans. The characters in this film are most of my favorites (Mystique, Magneto) and It's great they've cast them well.
Great review as always :), I need to go watch this!!
SamuelPatterson
Commented 60 months ago - 11th June 2011 - 00:13am
I've never interacted with any X-men before this film. But I loved this film. It was epic! Awesome review.
Dan (Sub-Editor)
Commented 60 months ago - 12th June 2011 - 17:35pm
This film was soooooo good. I was really pleased to see Bryan Singer returning to add his magic to the X-Men franchise - his lack of involvement with 'The Last Stand' is why I think it was such an anticlimax compared with the first two.
As someone who's seen the films but doesn't know anything about the comics, I loved thinking "What the hell is Nicholas Hoult's character going to do? Hang off things? That's a pretty rubbish superpower" and then later on going "OOOOOOOOOOH, I GET IT NOW" and my comic-book-loving friend laughing at me for not working it out sooner.
Question: did anything happen after the credits? I left before checking.
Pasternak
Commented 60 months ago - 12th June 2011 - 17:35pm
You know that somebody actually *got paid* to spend 8 hours a day painting Jennifer Lawrence's almost-naked body in order to create that Mystique effect?
Jealous doesn't even describe it.
Dan (Sub-Editor)
Commented 60 months ago - 12th June 2011 - 17:39pm
Btw - favourite scene without doubt: the Hugh Jackman cameo. ;)
neilramsden
Commented 59 months ago - 13th June 2011 - 13:53pm
Dan, I wasn't going to mention that in case people read this before seeing it! :p I do have a bit of a crush on Jennifer Lawrence, she is beautiful and an amazing actress, especially in Winter's Bone.
I saw the film a second time at the weekend and noticed a few clever links to the older films/ comics. Also the person beside me muttered loudly 'Isn't he meant to be blue and furry?' several times before he eventually changed. Also, no- nothing after the credits.
acatris
Commented 59 months ago - 15th June 2011 - 01:15am
I am proud to be the "comic-book-loving friend" :D
I really enjoyed this film. It was a wonderful homage to 60s action and espionage films/television like the classic Bond series. Magneto is unbelievably charismatic and I loved the fun, young take on Professor X. The in-jokes for X-Men fans were rampant but the character development was solid enough that newcomers could feel connected.
RoLouG
Commented 59 months ago - 25th June 2011 - 09:36am
I have to admit I have only ever seen bits of the other films, but I saw this yesterday and now I really want to see the rest! The music was amazing, in some of the more dramatic moments I still couldn't help noticing! I thought it was a brilliant film and very emotional, especially at the end. James McAvoy was brilliant. I think I might go have an X-Men binge now
neilramsden
Commented 59 months ago - 26th June 2011 - 23:11pm
The other films vary... The first X-men is a bit dull, X-2 is brilliant and is still one of the best superhero movies, X-3 has a bit too much going on, and it's best to avoid Wolverine together :p
Dan (Sub-Editor)
Commented 59 months ago - 26th June 2011 - 23:46pm
Nahhhh, X-Men 1 was epic. As was the second.
The third was such a letdown.
Scriptwriters in X-Men 1:
"Let's have Magneto extract the iron out of someone's BLOOD, then use it to form death-darts, then stretch it into a flying platform and allow him to escape a maximum security prison!"
Scriptwriters in X-Men 3:
"Let's have Magneto throw some cars at people, while the burny-guy sets them on fire."
It just wasn't up to the same calibre.
Dan (Sub-Editor)
Commented 59 months ago - 26th June 2011 - 23:49pm
Actually... was that 'iron in the blood' scene in X1 or X2? I can't remember now. :/
neilramsden
Commented 58 months ago - 3rd August 2011 - 20:56pm
That's in X-2 :p X-1 has "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? The same as everything else." Worst line ever in a superhero movie.