Tom Reviews "X-Men - First Class"

Tom's Corner:



X-Men First Class
(2011, Matthew Vaughn, director)

This past Friday brought us the release of X-Men First Class, Marvel Entertainment's attempt to show us how the X-Men got started (note for comic fans: no, not at all like the comic, I know...did anyone really think it would be?). Was it successful? Read on.

Let's talk about casting. Well done. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier aka Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto aka Erik Lensherr (the comics have recently revealed that his real name is really really we're serious this time Max Eisenhardt. Guess it...sounds more Jewish? Jewish readers, please chime in!) drive the movie as two men who want the same goal of mutant acceptance (well ok, Magneto also wants dead Nazis, and we can all agree that dead Nazis are a good thing, right?) but disagree about how to achieve that goal. Facing off against them is the six degree superstar himself, Kevin Bacon (I'm sort of one degree away myself; we share a birthday) as Sebastian Shaw. Shaw was vastly different in the comic, and what they have here really should have been Mr. Sinister. Anyway, both groups end up surrounding themselves with young mutants to work with.

Xavier and Magneto's group include Mystique, played by Jennifer Lawrence this time around (previously, she was portrayed by Rebecca Romijn). She does a good job and plays the part different than Romijn, with a more innocent air about her. Zoe Kravitz plays Angel Salvadore, a winged mutant who first appeared in Grant Morrison's acclaimed New X-Men storyline. An interesting choice, and played far less bitchy than the character was originally written. Nicholas Hoult (Tony Stonem from the first two seasons of the UK's superior version of Skins) plays Beast better than Kelsey Grammar ever could. Caleb Landry Jones plays Banshee, without much of the Irishness of the printed character. Seriously, he's not at all Irish in this. Edi Gathegi plays Darwin (another interesting choice, as the character first appeared in 2006 and was believed dead for a while...remember that when you watch the sequel and don't be surprised if they bring him back), who has the power of reactive evolution. Lucas Till plays Alex Summers, AKA Havok, who in the comics is Cyclops' brother. Rose Byrne plays CIA agent Moira MacTaggert, who is a geneticist in the comic.

Shaw's side consists of Azazel, played by Jason Flemyng (here's another spoiler, since I love you all so much. Azazel is Nightcrawler's father, and Mystique is his mother. Also, in the comic, he's a demon, not a mutant. This'll get interesting in the sequel) a teleporting mutant. Riptide (Alex Gonzalez) is a wind controlling mutant who has completely different powers in the comics, and also looks like a pink glass sculpture. Neither gets much of a personality, nor too many lines to speak. Shaw's last team member is January Jones playing Emma Frost AKA the White Queen. Frost has been a long time anti-hero, and I would have liked to see more of her in this.

Ok, going into this, we all know how it's gonna end if you saw any of the other X-Men movies, or any of the cartoons, or read the comics. That being said, it's about the journey man, not the destination. And this journey through mutants and the swinging sixties is well done. My only complaint is that some of the characters (especially the villains) deserve much more characterization.

This is a great popcorn movie. Cool powers, great one-liners, a surprise cameo, it's a summer blockbuster.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Children of the Atom and Second Genesis featurettes

X Marks the Spot (Blu-Ray Only)

Composer's Isolated Score (Blu-Ray Only)

Cerebro: Mutant Tracker (Blu-Ray Only)

Deleted Scenes (Blu-Ray Only)

- Tom