[Review] X-Men: First Class

Please Note: This review contains extreme spoilers. If you haven't seen this movie and do not want to know what happens, stop reading now!

- The Good - Story and Plot

The moment I saw gray shoes slosh through gray mud while Michael Kamen’s “Death Camp” playing over a near frame for frame reshoot of the introduction from 2000’s X-Men I was enamored. When I left the theater two and a half hours later, there were two things I was certain of. First, I would actually get to geek out for once in a good long time about a fantastic movie. Second, this was not a reboot.

Now I have NO problem with reboots in and of themselves. Some have turned out amazingly well, Batman Begins being one of them, and it gives me perspective when I enter a theater. I tell myself "Tim, this is a fresh story. There is no reason to judge it based on the previous rendition."

But with the massive amount of marketing focusing on the connection between Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen with their respective youthful counterparts, my movie filter was automatically set to ‘kill.’

I’ll admit that I am a continuity junky, but only so far as the story being told and how it relates to others in a series (especially if they claim a relation to something pre-existing). Maybe I hold storytellers (both writers and directors) to too high a standard, but this seems to be a no-brainer.

Thankfully, X-Men: First Class does NOT disappoint.

The story was conceived by the director of X-Men and X2: X-Men United, Bryan Singer, as a period piece involving the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 (coincidentally the year before X-Men #1 was first published by Marvel Comics). Unable to direct due to prior obligations, Singer handed the story and reigns of the franchise to Matthew Vaughn, director of Kick Ass.  Making up for his lack of involvement with X-Men: The Last Stand, Vaughn crafted an amazing story that beautifully tied into Singer’s previous works while ignoring some of the obvious blemishes on the franchise.

Before I get into some of the continuity squealing fangirl stuff, I want to actually discuss the story. And really I’d like to talk more about the characters as they make this story what it is.

I was chatting with a friend about what makes Marvel so different from other comic distributors and it all comes down to depth of character, which was a strength of the first couple X-Men films: character over action with Micheal-Baytastic sequences being a minor consequence of good character development.

Though some characters could have easily been excluded (we’ll discuss that later) or built up a bit more, I feel most of them were used to their maximum effectiveness. The character arches for each member of the Mutant G-Men were simple, yet gracefully played. Xavier’s journey from cocky college student to somber professor. Hank McCoy and his sadly ironic transformation into a far from normal Beast. Mystique’s acceptance of literally living in her own skin. Almost everyone had some arch (however small) that developed who they were within the context of the film and helped push the plot along.

The nice part of character development in a prequel is seeing where familiar characters got their start.  In this regard, the most surprising story is that of Erik Lehnsherr. The pre-Magneto honestly begins very much how he started, just more set in his anger. The whole time, instead of saying “this guy is going to be freakin’ awesome as a villain!” one finds themselves hoping with Xavier that Erik will turn from the slippery slope of revenge only to watch him become the monster that took his mother. Just one of the sad tales that gets you to the edge of your seat!

Now comes the part where I really spoil you and get back to how this story really ties into the first two installments of the X-Men franchise. The real ties come from a few well placed "throw backs" to the earlier films as well as a couple well placed cameos that I feel are worth mentioning and if you didn't catch them, I'll help you out.

A) Heterochromia - as Xavier is very “groovily” trying to pick up a co-ed, he begins to use a very obviously rehearsed speech. If you listen carefully, the young Xavier almost word for word quotes the Patrick Stewart monologue at the start of X-Men.

B) "Best I've ever seen" - Moments before Mystique stuns a room full of government agents with mutant gift, Xavier attempts to wow Special Agent Stryker by reading his mind. The mention of his son, William, is a great tie in with X2, where William Stryker is the primary antagonist and the timing of the film lines up with Stryker Jr's rant about being involved in Vietnam to Senator Kelly.

C) Cerebro Spot 'Em - at the moment, the only mutant we KNOW can be found in the Cerebro sequence (which was another beautiful remake of the way it looked in the first X-Men) is a young girl with white hair we can all safely assume is Storm (who coincidentally was supposed to cameo in X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

D) "F%$# Off" - probably one of the best placed, high profile comic book cameos ever done, Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Logan (complete with cigar and beer) is easily the most clever and foul mouthed surprise one could ask for. I only wonder if this was before or after Weapon X.

E) Get Her a Robe, Wait! What am I Saying? - In a scene that begins to explain her allegiance to Magneto, Mystique (played in the movie by Jennifer Lawrence all make-upped and "naked" exactly as in the previous films) laying comfortably under some blankets shifts her appearance a few times. In a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo, former Mystique actress Rebecca Romijn morphs into scene.

- The Bad - Unnecessary Character Inclusion

I can honestly say I don’t have many gripes with First Class. But I do have gripes.

First, if you only have ONE member off color in a cast, please DON’T perpetuate the stereotype and kill of the “token black man.” Darwin, a mutant with adaptive powers, is the ONLY member of the team to die. SERIOUSLY!?! I’m not the kind of guy to go off on a rant about race and stuff, but why? That seems so….wasteful and stupid! I get that it might have been homage to a story in recent comics, but in a movie where the majority of the cast is white, you’re going to be ballsy enough to kill of the only guy with a darker complexion?

Second, why include Angel? She barely had any lines, mostly just turned her back on the team and spit acid at them. She was like another member of the illustrious characters who went through an X-Film with almost NO lines (the others include Mystique, Sabretooth, and Toad from X1, Deathstrike and Jason from X2). She, Riptide, and Azazel hardly spoke, though honestly I can understand the other two in context with the James Bond henchmen motif they filled.

<Comic geek rant>

Now comes the part where I get all “Tim is a huge comic book geek” and become a bit upset.

There is one rule in the X-Men sandbox: You don’t mess with the Summers Family tree!

Not this much, anyway. Alex Summers (Havok) in comics is the brother of Scott Summers (Cyclops) who appeared in the first three X-Movies. His introduction into First Class decades before his older brother appears in X-Men has led most fanboys to assume that Alex will end up being Scott’s dad in this revised continuity.

As a Cyclops fan, I disapprove.

Sure it’s partially a personal bias, but like the inclusion of Angel (a heroine in current comic book continuity), there are literally THOUSANDS of Marvel Mutants to pick from to fill the role of blasty-jerk guy! Did the writers feel a member of the Summers family needed to be on the team? I can’t fault them for that, but seriously guys… you’ve messed up Cyclops enough in previous films! Do you really need to continue the onslaught?

</Comic geek rant>

- The Forgivable - Minor Continuity Issues

Since I really do love this movie quite a bit, I have turned over and over some of the continuity discrepancies in my head and come up with a list of problems that I am more than willing to overlook (but wonder if anyone else caught):

A)  When Erik Met Charles – in X-Men, Charles Xavier informs a newly acquired Wolverine about the goings on at his school. While explaining his history with Magneto, Xavier states that he met Erik when he was 17. I’m fairly certain that the two men are several years older in First Class.

B) Horns are All the Rage – The next two come from the same scene in the first X-Film. While introducing us to Cerebro, Xavier tells Wolverine that he can’t track Magneto with the device.  Xavier says that the reason for this is that Magneto’s helmet must “somehow be designed to shield himself from me.” The tone of the good professor seems to indicate some surprise over this fact, however we know from First Class that Charles figured out quite quickly what the oddly designed (and awesomely classic) helmet would do to his psychic powers.

C) Mutants Only – In replay to Xavier’s revelation of Magneto’s psychic invisibility, Wolverine asks how that is possible. The line given is the very first indication of the full extent of Charles’ trust and depth of the schism between himself and his old friend. “He helped me build it.” But First Class says you built it with Hank. Did you build another one? With the guy who you just ran off after he took your mobility and has pretty much sworn will oppose your every ideal?

- Overall -

In the end, I still stand by my original assessment from my very first viewing…X-Men: First Class is the first comic book movie in quite some time to really excite me. Though I know not everything is as comic book fans would desire, I can’t deny how well every aspect of the movie was handled and how utterly fantastic it was to see the start of a team every person on earth can relate to in some way, shape, or form.

Unlike most summer blockbusters, this movie delivers a story and action. Drama and excitement. And will sit proudly on my DVD shelf alongside its predecessors.

Grade: Worth Seeing in Theaters and Buying on DVD/Blu-Ray