I went into X-Men: First Class skeptical, even with the loads of positive buzz leading into it. I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a period movie that may or may not be a reboot or is it a prequel? After seeing the movie, I came out pleasantly surprised and think the movie works pretty well as a prequel to the original trilogy. The movie’s main focus is on the early relationship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (a stand out performance by Michael Fassbender). This is all with the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis which is being pushed by the mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).
The movie is a mix of previous X-Men movies with a 60’s James Bond vibe about it. It embraces the 60’s, in it’s attitude and how the characters act, which is great. It owns that it’s a period piece movie. The story itself has it’s minor issues here and there, but overall it’s solid. The action comes quickly and the characters themselves are entertaining. McAvoy and Fassbender especially stand out. McAvoy’s Professor X has the cocky arrogance you’d expect a younger version of the character to have. He loves the ladies and attempts smooth lines showing off his intelligence and using his gifts. Fassbender’s Magneto on the other hand is haunted by the horrors of the past and surviving the Holocaust. He’s a man on the mission of vengeance to hunt down the people who inflicted horrors upon him and his family and in doing so crosses path with Xavier.
The movie’s heart is these two and if possible, I’d love to have seen the movie focused solely on them. Instead what could of been a great philosophical debate on humanity, evolution and strength with get glimpses and a lot of action. But it’s entertaining and fun. The rest of the cast is decent with some minor exceptions, but overall they’re there to look good, taking away screen time of the focus on Xavier and Magneto.
As I said, there’s minor issues, some characters I could of done without and some scenes we’ve seen before and some glossing over of basic explanations of things. Overall though, X-Men: First Class lives up to it’s name as a first class movie, perfect popcorn fun for the summer.
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