X-Men: First Class (2011)

I actually can’t explain in words how excited for this movie I was… but I guess I’ll try to ramble for a few hundred words about how much I ADORED this movie.

First and foremost, it is IMPERATIVE that I get my hands on this poster set… there are two technically but I chose Erik’s because… well… I like him better. I want Charles’ power but I like Erik better. Anyway…

In 1962, Charles Xavier starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities. Among them is Erik Lensherr, his best friend… and future archenemy. X-Men is difficult to describe without going through the entire history of the comic book series, but in short this is the prequel to the X-Men trilogy most people know of, and centers around the two young men that grew up to become Professor X (Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy) and Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr, played by Michael Fassbender).

I can’t really tell you why I was so excited by the prospect of seeing this film. For all intents and purposes it is another comic book remake, and very few comic book-to-film adaptations are worthy of any form of praise. Nolan’s Batman trilogy is a stunning example of a good adaptation and the Iron Man franchise is a surprising contender, but I never saw the X-Men trilogy as anything worth reviewing till I saw this standalone. I guess I have a thing for back story.

Being a writer, I make sure to not only write but know by heart every back story to every character I create. When I was a kid, I read tons of comics… I really need to get back into them since I barely remember all the important plot points – and I am getting very rusty on my Batman villains – but I do remember that I loved X-Men. I also loved the animated series but I’m not sure if you’re meant to admit that as a 21-year-old girl. Whatever. Point is I love back story, and this film delivered a very believable and powerful connection between two very important and deep characters. And it did it well.

For those new to the franchise, X-Men is pretty much action central. It’s about people with genetic mutations that go beyond what we know in the real world; that is, some people can read minds, others can control metal, others can change appearance at will. All this is known in the real-world-of-the-comic, and the mutants are not accepted by society, making it very difficult for them to live normal lives. Because of this, going into an X-Men movie expecting deep philosophy is like walking into a Tarantino and expecting it to make sense. However, of all the X-Men films that exist to date, this is the most cohesive and emotional film, so definitely start with it before moving on to the next ones. Also since this is the prequel, that would kind of make sense.

I have to say that I was really very impressed with how a lot of the material was handled in this movie. Erik is a holocaust survivor, and although EVERYTHING was twisted ridiculously to fit with the plot line of the comic books, a lot of the factors and terrifying goings-on were not glossed over. And although Charles is a very rich – rather annoying and blind to pretty much every emotional connection till it smacks him in the face – prick, he’s very likable. To be honest, I think that their friendship is what makes this film really stand out above the rest. It’s a genuine bond that you feel developing, and are happy to see succeed. I won’t be pummeled for spoilers here since the synopsis itself says that they become enemies later on, but I have to say that it tore at my heartstrings when they went their separate ways.

The special effects in this film shouldn’t go unmentioned. It’s not exactly groundbreaking genius like Nolan’s work, but it’s not shoddy in the slightest. A lot of the mutations are impossible to portray without looking stupid, and, magically, this film achieves the desired effect and DOESN’T look stupid. I also love just how far each power extends beyond the “simple description”, but that’s more the comic’s genius than special effects. But watching Erik pull a submarine out of the ocean and deflect hundreds of American and Russian missiles is pretty damn cool, and I would give so much to have every power that Charles has that it’s not even funny. Aaaaah my geek is showing.

All in all? 8.5/10. Yep, not a typo, I really did like the movie that much and would gladly watch it again. I recommend it to pretty much everyone; most people tend to think that X-Men is a boy thing, but it’s really not. It’s an actiony, fighty, cool-power-transformery comic book movie, but it’s got stuff for girls too. And not just tomboys like me who read the comics as a kid and thought Kitty was the coolest character ever. No, not just for tomboys and, well, boys. If anything, go see it for the leads. You can’t go wrong with James McAvoy. He stole my heart in Atonement and hasn’t let it go since. And I must say that Michael Fassbender is weeeeeeeell worth the attention.

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