To those who don’t know, X-men First Class (XFC) is the best X-men movie to date and so far the best summer movie of 2011. Over the years we’ve been tortured with substandard comic book movies but that trait seems to be changing.
You still have the odd bunch like the X-men Last stand which was painful to watch but thank goodness for directors like Christopher Nolan (director of Dark Knight) who seem to be taking these projects seriously.
What I enjoyed most about XFC was the little things that made it such a good movie. Starting from the top, it was great seeing new faces. James McAvoy as professor Xavier was refreshing and opened the character more. Who knew Xavier had some funny jokes. And Michael Fassbender as Erik/Magneto was just plain cool.
The relationship between Xavier and Magneto was brought down to a more human level that made it easy to relate too. We the audience already know that they end up being enemies but it was just lovely to watch how both characters believed in their contrasting views but still had brotherly love for each other.
I questioned myself calling Magneto a villain in the end, as his character was not just in black or white. It wasn’t easy to judge him as he himself is fighting for his survival. I found myself cheering him and wanted to be on his side rather than Xavier. I say, “Humans are foolish and only fear what they do not understand”. In short, it felt they were fighting for a real cause.
Another major surprise was the role Mystique played in terms of her early relationship with Xavier. I am not aware if it played out this way in the First Class comics but if it didn’t I love the movie even more for constructing the relationship and showing how Magneto influenced her to join him.
I love when I find little nuggets in movies that the general public might not understand because they weren’t exposed to the comics or the animations. XFC did not disappoint. The cameo with Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) was funny and awesome. Recognising that Wolverine was alive in that time plus his abrupt attitude in shutting Xavier and Magneto away. The good thing was that it didn’t take you out of the movie.
Another cool cameo was Storm as a little girl. This was when Xavier used Cerebro for the first time. Mystique also showed an older version of herself when trying to seduce Magneto. The older Mystique we are familiar with in the original Xmen movies. Azazel would I guess sleep with Mystique to give birth to Night Crawler from X2 who has the same powers as Azazel.
I could go on about the movie. The future for the first class looks bright and we can only look forward to an awesome sequel with how tight and well made the first was. Most of the characters histories have been established like the origin of Magneto’s helmet or how Xavier lost his legs. Hopefully the sequel should be creative in exploring the X-men world and give some interesting stories.
Pics- Marvel, Guardian.co.uk
