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The
first two X-men
movies were great.
X-Men
and
X-2:
X-Men United
were both solid.
X-Men: The Last
Stand
was atrocious and
too hard to follow.
X-Men
Origins: Wolverine
was fine but they
didn’t translate a
great story into a
movie as well as
they could have. The
point is, after two
great movies, Fox
delivered two
ordinary titles with
the
X-men
property, so that
leaves
X-men: First Class
in a bit of a
different situation
with perception.
People aren’t
expecting much
because of the last
two movies and
that’s why it didn’t
do amazing in
theatres. However,
if you did go see
the movie in
theatres you were
treated to the best
X-men
movie since the
original.
X-men: First Class
doesn’t tell the
typical
Wolverine/Cyclops/Magneto
story. It starts at
the beginning with
James McAvoy playing
a young Charles
Xavier and Michael
Fassbender playing a
young Erik Lehnsherr
AKA Magneto. The two
meet by chance
trying to capture a
villainous mutant
named Sebastian Shaw
who’s trying to
start a nuclear war
so the mutants will
be the only people
left on earth and
they can run it
without human
interference. To
counter the human
threat of evil
mutants, Charles
Xavier and Erik
Fassbender must
unite and form a
team of young
mutants and train
them to use their
powers so they can
fight the threat.
However, the two men
have very different
opinions of the
future of mutants
and a clash for a
rivalry is set up.
X-men: First Class
takes place in a
very cool era for a
movie. The movie’s
setting takes place
in the 60’s and it’s
a fantastic backdrop
for a superhero
movie. Everything is
shot in that type of
light and glow with
the camerawork too.
It’s a joy to watch
the story unfold in
the era and it’s
awesome to see how
director Matthew
Vaughn made this
movie come to light
in a type of 60’s
style. The other
cool thing with
X-Men: First Class
is
the cast. The young
cast that filled out
all of the first set
of mutants is
outstanding with
Jennifer Lawrence,
Zoe Kravitz,
Nicholas Hoult,
Caleb Landry Jones,
and Lucas Till. But
the real stars are
McAvoy and
Fassbender as Xavier
and Magneto. The two
actors are
incredible here,
especially McAvoy.
He channels Patrick
Stewart to an extent
and it’s just fun to
watch him in this
role.
X-Men: First Class
has one big problem
though… that’s its
villain and the
concept of its
villain. Kevin Bacon
in 2011 should not
play the role of any
villain in a
superhero movie.
Let’s just get that
out there. Plus the
way they translated
the Sebastian Shaw
character onto the
big screen… he
starts old, gets
young, and that type
of thing… well it
just didn’t work.
The other villain in
the story is Emma
Frost who’s played
by January Jones,
and not only does
she play the part
extremely well… she
looks it too. Plus,
with her Madmen
background she just
looks great in the
60’s setting as
well.
As
far as extras,
X-Men: First Class
is
stacked comparable
to
Thor.
It’s got a great
mutant feature that
runs down mutants
from all of the
movies and some
other great
featurettes. There’s
a ton of great
content with bonus
features, more than
enough to warrant a
purchase.
The
best superhero movie
of the summer of
2011 belongs to
Thor.
That’s obvious, but
X-Men: First Class
gets an honorable
mention. It’s a
great origin story
that’s got an
awesome backdrop. I
sincerely hope there
will be a sequel
here because after a
great first movie,
it’s warranted.
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