A Quick Review of X-Men First Class ***No Spoilers***

So, I just got back from watching X-Men First Class and I feel like I need to get my thoughts out before I completely over think it which I have a tendency to do.  This is a first draft so please forgive me for typos/grammar issues.  Also, I'm going by memory on the background information so if something is incorrect I apologize and my interpretation of X-Men = Civil Rights Movement is my opinion so if you don't agree I understand. 




The nitpicking:

I was really annoyed at the costumes, not the "Super Hero" costumes but the regular costumes.  I felt like they weren't as loyal to the fashion's of 1962 as they could or should have been.  The women's clothing was more of the 2011 interruption of 1960's Mod than actual 1960's Mod.  The skirts were just a little too short for me and the patterns and fabrics were to modern to be Mod.

I also didn't like James McAvoy as Charles Xavier.  At times, he seemed more cheesy than sincere.  I realize he was playing the Good Guy, who believes in the good in everyone and all that jazz but I couldn't help but roll my eyes.  There was no conviction behind his empathy or sympathy for the other mutants which is a cornerstone of Professor X's character. 

Probably the most annoying part was the very small story change they made, because it's such a tiny little sentence stuck in with such a large explanation I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't even catch it but I being a semi-devoted fan couldn't help but catch it and become pretty fucking pissed about it. 

Some background:  What makes X-Men so unique from other Comic book heroes is their mutations.  Basically, before X-Men, Superhero's with powers were either aliens (Superman) or the result/victim of radio active spiders, radiation or some other poisoning or they were very rich men who could pay for really cool gadgets (Batman).  What made the X-Men so unique was that their mutations were genetically triggered, they were the next step in the Evolutionary process.  Stan Lee first started writing X-Men in 1963 during the Civil Rights movement.  Through the X-Men, Lee was able to express his thoughts and opinions on the prejudice of the time.  The mutation was genetic, not choice, just as being black was genetic, not choice.  Charles Xavier was a MLK type character, while Magnito was the Malcolm X character.  X-Men allowed people to explore and understand the various sides of the situation in a way that wasn't easy to do with the real life Civil Rights issues. 

So, when I hear the line, "their nuclear radiation created the mutation, they created us" that fucking bugs me (I'm paraphrasing the line so my apologize if I got it wrong, I didn't have a pen and paper to write it down the moment it was said).  Radiation did not cause the mutation it was genetics!

The things I loved:

I loved the character development.  I think they did a good job of introducing the characters, giving us their powers, their personalities and their feelings on being a mutant.  Obviously, there wasn't enough time to go in depth but what we got was enough to make us sympathize with the characters.  I liked that they took the time to allow the actors to actually act instead of filling the movie with SGI and a few lame lines of dialogue. 

Kevin Bacon!  Someone needs to give this man a damn Oscar.  Bacon can transform himself into whatever character he's playing with out changing his physical appearance.  I sat for about ten minutes trying to figure out where I'd seen him from until I finally realized it was Bacon, that's how in tune he is with his characters.  You ended up hating him and wanting him dead within the first five minutes of seeing him.

Michael Fassbender was fabulous.  He stole the show.  I believed him as Erik Lensherr/Magneto.  I was drawn into his suffering and understood and even wanted him to succeed in his revenge.  He was intense whether he was fighting or just talking, you just couldn't look away.  When the movie cut away to another scene I wanted to go back to what he was doing.

So, overall I liked the movie.  Yes there was some cheese but not enough to make the movie unwatchable.  There are too many action/superhero movies that are relying on SGI to tell the story and tossing in people to just say a few lines that the special effects can't convey.  Rather than just fitting into the action/superhero movie mold, X-Men played with the mold, stretching it, keeping what it liked and reshaping what it didn't.

Also, check out Nostalgia Chick's Thoughts on X-Men First Class.  There are Spoilers in this but I think it's worth a watch.