X-men: First Class Movie Review

The X-men franchise has its ups and downs. Lately it has been on the down side with X-men Origins: Wolverine and X-men 3. But, with X-men: First Class, 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment has risen from the dark shadows of those films.

X-men: First Class tells the story of how the X-men came to be. It shows how two of the world’s powerful mutants met and became friends and eventually turn to bitter enemies. The film showcases the first revelation of mutants to some of the people of the world. And it also came at a dark time in the world’s history, namely, The Cuban Missile Crisis.

The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn, the guy who brought us Kick-Ass. And he does a great job of telling the story as well as showing us the inner persona of the characters. He brings together this great and talented cast and he uses that to his advantage to tell the origin story. Vaughn has a lot of material to work with the he uses all of them to make a film that will revitalize the franchise.

One thing that makes the story flowing are the characters. Some of the characters in the film are not new, though a lot are. The film has a great ensemble of actors that really brings to life the classic characters.

For the heroes of the film, we got James McAvoy playing a young, with hair, Charles Xavier. McAvoy at first shows no character resemblance to Patrick Stewart’s Charles. Here we see him as a lady’s man. Always trying to impress young women and always showing off. But by the end of the film, we finally witness McAvoy change his character’s persona. He becomes the Professor X that Patrick Stewart was.

Michael Fassbender plays the younger version of Ian McKellen’s Erik Lehnsherr or Magneto. Fassbender does a great portrayal of the character. He shows us a man who is tormented by his past and seeks retribution. Fassbender greatly reflects on McKellen’s older Magneto and he uses it as part of the fuel to build the younger one. Fassbender shows us both the good and bad in Magneto’s character. We see both of it fighting over which one will hold Magneto’s life. And in the end, we all know which side won but we still see a deeper part of Magneto.

Jennifer Lawrence shows a new side to Raven Darkholme aka Mystique. In the past X-men films, Rebecca Romijn played Mystique as a tough, heartless follower of Magnet. She showed how Mystique was dedicated to the cause. This time around, Lawrence shows us the lighter side of Mystique before all that. We see a girl troubled by things any teenager would encounter. She is troubled by her true appearance and the choice of hiding it or showing her true self. We also get to see her choose which side she wants to be with, Eric or Charles.

Kevin Bacon delivers a great performance as the film’s villain Sebastian Shaw. He plays the character like one of the classic James Bond villains like Dr. No and Goldfinger. He brought class and finesse to Shaw showing more of a thinker than doer. He has that facade of a nice man with the nice smile but also a hidden darker part which commands respect.

The rest of the cast perform well with the main actors. They mix well with the story and interact well with their co-stars. January Jones plays Emma Frost or the White Queen. In the film, Jones didn’t quite fill the character. She only has a few lines and she mostly just walk around in sexy lingerie. Her performance is forgettable as well as at times dull. The rest of the mutants did their part well. From Havok, Banshee, Angel, Darwin, Riptide and Azazel, the actors portrayed these characters to the full extent.

Of course not everything on the film is good. There are still some flaws. Almost all of the special effects are great. But there are still some that did not pass. Take for example Beast’s new form. In the film, his face or possibly the entire character was CGI. But it is a far cry from what they did in X-men 3 where they did make up to make Kelsey Grammer the Beast. The CGI in the new film made Beast look fluffy and like a cat.

The film also leads to a lot of plot holes that is mainly due to the previous X-men films. Like in X-men 1, Professor X said that Magneto helped in creating the X-mansion and all its technological wonders. But in First Class, they part ways way before the mansion got any improvements. Another hole that in X-men 3, the movie starts off with Eric and Charles recruiting a young Jean Grey. Both of them are recruiting her to join the school for gifted youngster. But in first class, the school has yet to be formed and they were recruiting for the special mutant division of the government.

Despite all that, X-men: First Class is still a great film. It features a new way of looking at the start of the X-men. It has action, romance, terror and a little bit of humour. It also has some surprises in store for the fans. The film also has a lot of familiar actors who are portraying lesser characters but they will make you say’ Hey, that’s him.”

X-emn First Class is a film worth watching. Though for those die hard comic fans, it may disappoint you but still you will enjoy. It is a film of friendship and choices rather than abilities and revenge. It may not be X2 or Spider-man 2 or even Iron Man, but X-men: First Class stands on its own and gives way to possible sequels. I give it 7.5 out of 10.