X-Men First Class (2011)
Plot Summary
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.
Okay I know that was super generic but let's face it, just about everybody has seen this movie by now. So what did I think of it?
HOLY CRAP!
Now THIS is an X-Man movie! This is the first film that truly captures the essence of the X-Men and feels like a comic book put to life. Director Mathew Vaughn deserves a ton of credit for creating a visual style that is true to the era as this movie takes place around and at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. (sadly this is the highest grossest movie ever that has anything to do with said historical event) The use of bright colors and a traditional framing of scenes and movement of the camera really enhanced the 1960s feel this movie was going for. I'm sure lots of other directors would've been tempted to just do their thing but this movie from a cinematography aspect FEELS like a movie from that time frame. In fact, the movie has a very Connery Bond films look and feel to it as well.
There were tons of changes from the comics and indeed the movie also rejected much of what came before in the cycle of X-films but did so in a way that made it stand on its own. The origin and backstories of Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) was a key part of this film. This iteration of Xavier is interesting as he's not yet the mature, well heeled mentor type but rather a cocksure young man who uses his knowledge of genetic mutation and such to pick up women. Xavier in that respect comes off as a cocky know-it-all bastard who's hiding his mutation not because of the grand idea of co-existence with "normal" people but rather he does this to further advance himself in the world. At the same time though he's very much flaunting off his telepathic ability such as when he's become embedded with the CIA to stop Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) he meets Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) and blurts out that he's a fellow mutant!
On the flip side of this is Magneto, who was in a concentration camp during WWII and becomes a guinea pig for Sebastian Shaw when his mutant powers are discovered. The scene in which Shaw wants Erik to move a coin across the table is one that crystallizes the exploitation that Erik goes through and which exemplifies how humanity would exploit and use mutants for its own purposes despite being scared of them. Anyways, you get the dynamic of Shaw completely exploiting and using Erik to his ends which puts Erik on the path of wanting to take down Shaw later in life.
The thrust of the movie is that Shaw and his group, most notable among them Emma Frost (January Jones) have cooked up a scheme to manipulate the Americans and Soviets into starting WWIII. This at first involves getting the US to put Jupiter Missiles into Turkey and then manipulating the Soviets into retaliating by delivering nukes to Cuba which would put the US on alert and start a nuclear war. I really like the idea of using real historical events as the basis for a villain's plan and showing how mutantkind has played a HUGE role in the world far beyond just the regular "the world hates us but we still want to help and protect them" aspect of the X-Men. Kevin Bacon walks the tightrope between being utterly evil and being a MUAHAHAHAHA villain. Again, this is where the Bond comparison comes in as Shaw is played very much like a Bond villain. He's a man who can be charming to the hilt but when he is pushed, he makes his intentions totally clear. I also like the fact that Magneto's telepathy deflecting helmet's origin comes from Shaw as well. Shaw as it turns out is also a mutant and his scheme is to wipe out humanity so that mutants can rule the world. The idea of mutants being superior and better than humans is one that Magneto by the end of the film takes up and thus the mantle of mutant supremacy is passed from Shaw to Magneto in a great way.
The other great thing about the film are the young mutants and the interaction between Beast and Mystique. (Jennifer Lawrence) First of all, these are just teenagers with very little idea of just how powerful they are. When the crap hits the fan and it's clear that Xavier and the other mutants have to band together to take down Shaw it's up to Xavier to train them. They move to Xavier's Winchester estate and we get a great montage type sequence of Xavier and Magneto training Beast, Havok (Lucas Till) and Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones) using split screens and such to denote time passage and change from one character to the other. This was more of a '70s technique by Vaughn but it worked well here as it fits in well with the overall tone of the film. The younger mutants go through an arc of not knowing just how much they can achieve and/or not knowing how to contain their power to using said power to great effect. Hell, even Xavier has to coach up Magneto as Magneto can't do anything unless he's in a pique of rage but Xavier trains him to find the happy medium between rage and serenity which ignites Magneto's power.
As for the action sequences in this movie? They were excellent! The fights are done filmed in a fluid way and the action is very much choreographed as you'd see them in a comic book. The lack of shaky cam and quick edits surprisingly makes the action scenes feel even more real and hard hitting than your typical action flick and to top it off the climax of the film sees Xavier fighting Magneto as Magneto turns the missiles aimed at the mutants towards the Americans and Soviets. The opposing sides of Xavier's position of co-existence and Magneto's idea of enslaving/destroying humanity suddenly becomes less philosophical and more real as their argument is played out on a physical realm. Even the ending and aftermath of said fight enhances and enriches both characters as we see Magneto's not all bad and Xavier despite completely disagreeing with Magneto's views still finds a way to see his point.
All in all this was an excellent film. It's not only an origin film and reboot but something that stands on its own and is a perfect spring board for future films. I'm really looking forward to Days of Future Past and wonder if after that film if the X-Film franchise will continue to go in a continuity with the younger versions of the X-Men set in the past.
This flick gets my highest recommendation *****
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