Just Attended the 1st Class : X-Men Movie
Review of the movie X-Men : First Class
Awesome. Awesome.
Apart from the spoiler alert, another warning: this review would be completely biased as I have always loved the dynamics between Charles & Erik (Prof. X and Magneto) from the comics, to the animations, to the big screen.
X-Men first class is the ‘origins’ prequel for the X-Men itself: before the team/school was established, before they were Professor X and Magneto. The movie tells the story of where Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr came from and how differently they grew up. The two coming from completely opposite experiences: one from a princely life, the other, wholly devoid of luxury – and how they came together and became the dichotomous match that we are familiar with. The movie explains the why and how the X-Men was formed and the histories of some of its members but it is mainly in relation to the lives of Charles and Erik.
James McAvoy (whom I am an absolute fan of) plays Charles Francis Xavier, opposite Michael Fassbender as Magneto. The casting of the two is a perfect match for the characters – which (almost) equals to that of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen from previous X-Men movies. I really appreciate how J. McAvoy was able to show some of the quirky side of Xavier in funny but endearing manner.
M. Fassbender added the ‘cool’-factor to the already awesome Magneto – especially when he wore the silver (colored) helmet. The pair and the connection between the two is just awesome.
Their experiences and account is leveraged on the American-Russian conflict involving a possible nuclear/thermal world war. All of it orchestrated by Sebastian Shaw (played by Kevin Bacon) to incite destruction between humans (non-mutants) – triggering them to use nuclear weapons to destroy each other. His ideals and actions plays a big role in shaping the character and goals of Magneto which is opposes Xavier’s hope for a peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans. It makes for a really good storyline to base the sequels.
Okay, i have to admit that there are also components in the movie that i didn’t particularly like. This would include the choice of characters which became the members of Charles-Erik team (they were not yet called X-Men then); the role of White Queen (and the casting) – as i would have imagined her to be stunningly beautiful; the sense of disconnect between several scenes at the beginning; and the reason why the young(er) Erik didn’t just try to kill Sebastian Shaw in the first place (the first scene with the coin). Well, I guess i am nitpicking here.
There are also components that really surprised me like: the large participation of Raven (Mystique) in Xavier’s life and even with Hank McCoy’s (Beast) mutation; then there’s the reason of how Xavier lost his legs – which is really a heartbreaking scene, and a turning point in the movie.
We also have cameos for the mature Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the latter being a scene stealer. Quite surprisingly, i didn’t see a cameo of Stan Lee – which i’m sure i would have recognized easily if he had been there.
The movie is quite different from the original story of the X-Men from the Marvel Comics. Everything seems to be at odds with the original background: i.e. the timeline (with regards to characters, their ages and involvement), (some nitpicking here) cause of Xavier’s disability, the original profession of Moira McTaggert, etc. Even with X-Men: The Last Stand i was still comparing, i guess it’s just out of habit. However, regardless of that, I truly truly accept this ‘retelling’ of their origins as it is really a beautiful story between Charles and Erik.
Due to circumstances i got myself into these past few months, there are a lot of good movies that i missed seeing in the big screen (think: pirate and a panda) – but this one I have deemed I will not miss for my life!
If you’re a fan of the X-Men, be it from the comics or animations or the movies – this should be on the top of your list. To be honest, this is for me the best X-Men movie there is.
Oh! One last thing: no need to wait until the end of the credits – there are no extra scenes.
Darn! I was hoping to see James McAvoy shaving his head.
Happy Watching!
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