As I continue to play catch up, we come to last week's new release - X-Men: First Class. I'll admit I had quite a bit of skepticism going into this movie given the franchise's recent track record. After a sufficient introduction and a solid first sequel, the X-Men films fell off the rails once Brett Ratner took over directing duties on the third one. Then, they did little to ingratiate fans with a wholly unnecessary and uninspired Wolverine spinoff. To make matters worse, the promotion for this latest effort - a prequel/reboot of sorts - was rather underwhelming.
Set in 1960s, First Class looks at the early lives of the franchise's two most central figures, Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto. The two begin on very disparate paths. Xavier thrives in academia thanks to his mind reading mutation while Erik is on a path of destruction trying to locate the man responsible for his killing mother while their family was held in a concentration camp. Of course, their paths do cross when they come across a mutual enemy - the mysterious Sebastian Shaw. Shaw is played by Kevin Bacon and has a much larger role than the previews of this film would suggest. Seeing Bacon not only in a high profile film but hamming it up as the primary villain was a wonderful surprise, one of many that the film features.
In an effort to stop Shaw, Charles and Erik round up a number of other indiduals with mutant powers. This is done through a nice montage that showcases a lot of characters and how the two of them weren't always successful at convincing some to join their cause. This is just one place where you'll find some effective cameos in this movie. Once they've amassed a group, the film does a good job of spending time with these characters and making us appreciate them, even if they weren't mutants who most people would recognize prior to this film. I really liked the fact that through both castings and choice of characters, there really isn't a dud in the group. Unlike with past X-Men films where some of the characters were either annoying or pointless, I liked all of the choices made here. And perhaps more importantly, I would enjoy seeing another film featuring them as well.
By giving the film the backdrop of the 1960s, First Class adds some credibility by infusing its story with real life events. Who knew that the Cuban Missile Crisis was merely an extension of the festering war humans were developing against mutants? All joking aside, I liked that they blended this story with real events. It gave the film some added authenticity and eliminated some of the silliness that can naturally come when telling a story about a guy who can make tornados with his hands fighting someone who can fire red laser discs from his hands.
Now that's not to say that the film doesn't have its silly moments. I felt the first 20 minutes or so of the film was too goofy in its attempt to first illustrate the different characters' powers. However, once the film shifts into its central story those moments are less frequent. On the other hand, some more silliness could have been exhibited by Emma Frost (played by January Jones). Clearly the weak link in the cast, Jones' wooden portrayal of the character hurts each scene that she's in. Both of these gripes though are minor issues that do not severely affect the film in a negative way.
I recognize that there is probably a lot of people out there who may have mutant fatigue given the number of recent poor X-Men films, but I would strongly suggest you give this one a chance. There is strong acting from the leads coupled with a very engaging story. In a summer where most films have felt like retreads that fail to offer up fresh ideas, this latest X-Men movie is in a 'class' by itself. Grade: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment