X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
US
Directed by Matthew Vaughn

CAST:
James McAvoy - Charles Xavier
Michael Fassbender - Erik Lehnsherr/ Magneto
Kevin Bacon - Sebastian Shaw

PLOT:
     Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together,. Over time, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.

REVIEW:
     By now everyone can pretty much agree that the last two X-Men movies were a let down on a massive scale.  Last Stand was to full of itself and broke away from the character molds set by the better first two. While Wolverine had two really good parts in it (Ryan Reynolds at the start of it and Liev Schreiber for every scene he was in) and the rest of the movie was just a big pile of shite. First Class has a lot to live up to, and to put the franchise back to where it should be. So does the movie work?

      If there was one thing that this movie needed more than anything else it would have to be more of Micheal Fassbender as Erik Lenhsherr. Or I should say him hunting Nazis. Even though once Fassbender joins up with  James McAvoy's Charles Xavier, who  have an amazing chemistry on screen together, it cannot compare to the stand alone scenes of Lenhsherr working toward his personal goal and the tension that is on screen during those times. Fassbender is just such fun to watch during this. McAvoy's Xavier though has the largest character change in the whole movie. As Charles Xavier, he starts out as a smarmy, horny well educated graduate who is only at first interested in getting laid, yet changes once he finds out there are more mutants in the world than what he thought. Yet it's his meeting with Lenhsherr that changes him the most, as this is someone that he can openly talk to about his ideas that isn't afraid to disagree with him. This is what changes him from wanting to be a teacher and actually becoming one. Both McAvoy and Fassbender give their characters a human quality that was missing from the previous movies, as you truly care about what happens to them both. Kevin Bacon though seemed like he enjoyed his time as Sebastian Shaw the most, as every scene he was in he stole and for good reason.

     The film moves at an amazing pace, as it seems like not line of dialogue or action is out of place or used to show something undue. Even though the main story is to stop the start of a war, the true story is the friendship of Xavier and Lenhsherr and the dissolution of it due to differing views of the human race. Even though it is talked about in the film, a whole hour could have been devoted to just that subject as discussed between the two characters, as the heart of the film is the two of them together. There's only two things I had a problem in with the movie. One was that Shaw's group isn't giving much dialogue or back story as they're just there, and are exceptionally powerful, as is Shaw. The other problem is of the character of Darwin, as he's used as the "token black guy". Enough said about that.

     If nothing else, First Class reboots the X-Men franchise as Batman Begins rebooted the Batman franchise. It basically wipes most of the past movies away, though it keeps two characters  the same that appeared in the previous films (you'll know who when you see them, as one of them has the best line in the whole movie). As for the team behind the camera for the movie, if Fox is smart they will keep all of them in place as they are the ones that made the film as good as it is. As far as comic book movies go, this is probably my second favorite one after The Dark Knight, as the film is compelling, smart, and actually has a soul to it that was missing from the previous ones and is probably the best movie I've seen so far this year.

BEST DEATH:
     Exploratory surgery with a coin!

BEST LINE:
     Go fuck yourself.

FUN FACTS:
     Bryan Singer was approached to direct First Class, but declined due to previous commitments. Yet he stayed on as producer.

     A telepathic battle between Professor X and Emma Frost was going to be in the film, but upon the release of Inception, the scene was scrapped.

     Matthew Vaughn wanted everyone to drop their accents in their performances. James McAvoy was somewhat disappointed in this decision due to none of the main characters would have accents including Moira MacTaggert who is Scottish, due to he, himself, is Scottish.

     The filmmakers hired an "X-Men" specialist to help the cast understand their roles.