I just got home after watching the last full show of X-Men: First Class at the Mall. I don’t usually devote more than two paragraphs to rant about films I’ve watched, but this one is probably motivated by the mixed reactions I have heard about the film, courtesy of my friends who told me I’d be wasting money on it, and well, to show off my Marvel geekiness.
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| Classy, indeed. |
First off, the film was made with class. I am very much satisfied by the way the storyline was handled, and the way the historic beginnings of my Uncanny team was made to fit the world we are in now. The locations, costumes and characters were woven seamlessly into the plotline of the movie: I guess, enough to satisfy Comic book purists, X-men (TV) series–followers of the 90s, and even the neophytes whose encounters with the X-Men were only through the recent movie franchises. Those who complain about the lack of action in the movie must belong to the latter – had you been acquainted with how the X-Men started, you would have appreciated how everything (well, almost everything) had been masterfully brought to the big screen in 2 hours or so. If you came to watch for the fight scenes and all familiar brawls – go rent a DVD of the first three movies, or better yet, go watch Kung Fu Panda 2.
First Class, I think, chose to focus on the characters – their “humanity” and their origins – and this is best accomplished, not merely through the excessive display of their powers, but rather, on their motivations and interactions with others.
Enough with my preaching, and on to the things I like about the movie.
The Cast: James McAvoy (Charles Xavier / Professor X) is convincing, he was bending bullets in Wanted, but now, it’s the other bender: Michael Fassbender (Erik Lensherr) who made each of his own appearance a delight to watch – he’s so classy and Kevin Bacon (Sebastian Shaw) is a perfect and effective villain.
I was delighted with the others too: I kept on clicking my fingers together everytime I see them onscreen Where have I seen this face before? I kept on asking myself, halfway through the movie, I managed to connect them to random pieces of information: Lucal Till (Alex Summers / Havok) – was the guy in Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” video; Nicholas Hoult (perfectly casted, btw, a pretty boy for the role of the Hank McCoy / Beast) was on Skins – which I have yet to pop into my DVD player; Jennifer Lawrence (Raven Darkholme / Mystique) was on the A-list of Oscar’s Nominees last time – for Winter’s Bone I think; January Jones (Emma Frost / White Queen) is on the cover of a back issue of a GQ magazine I have lying around in my room. (Eep, busted); Rose Byrne (Moira McTaggert) – she was difficult to place, I had Wikipedia to help me remember her, and what a revelation: she was the manipulative girl in Wicker Park , the pilot in Sunshine and the priestess Briseis in Troy
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| Would you even call this a BEAST? |
The choice mutants: Out of the numerous X-Men considered to make it to the big screen adaptation, I like how they were narrowed down to the select few. (Others might be asking Where’s Rogue? Where’s Cyclops? Jean Grey? Gambit? etc. etc.), but hey, the first generation of the muties who were given more air time have a special symbolism: they are to lead various groups later on: Sean Cassidy (Banshee) is to be the leader of Generation X, Alex Summers (Havok – that’s Cyclop’s brother, folks), is to lead X-Factor, and even Emma Frost (White Queen) will be future leader for the X-Men.
The villains (Angel Salvadore – played onscreen by Lenny Kravitz’ daughter, Zoe, Riptide and Azazel), also played key roles to the duality of X-Men characters~ not everything is black and white – no such thing as real villains, nor real heroes.
And finally, the acting – no exaggeration, no over-the-top screaming (no pun intended, Banshee), and no faking – the drama and the humor were exactly where they should be~ my disbelief was really suspended, I didn’t even have to compare the movie incarnations with the characters I have been familiar with on the comic books, on the 90s TV series and on the trading cards I have collected. The prequel also flows seamlessly with the known movie releases – a cameo of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn is enough to prove that.
So there, I walked out of the theatre eagerly anticipating the next one – if the producers plan to do it like Star Wars (backtracking), then, I guess, there’ll be two more in store.
End
La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf – that’s the French song that kept playing on the movie – how do I know? I’ve watched Marion Cotillard the other night, and Piaf’s on my playlist.
Anya – that’s Magneto’s daughter who got killed in the comics – causing his rage, it wasn’t the mother, as it was seen on the film. Max (that’s Erik Lensherr’s original name) had a much complicated past than what was seen on the movie, and his first encounter with Charles wasn’t underwater, it was on a psychiatric hospital. How do I know? I followed their love affair, erm, I mean, friendship throughout my childhood years.
Other discrepancies: Moira McTaggert wasn’t CIA – she’s a geneticist, Emma Frost’s adamantine form is a secondary mutation she wasn’t suppose to discover, until some time later, Alex Summers is Cyclops’ younger brother, he’s supposed to appear, much later in the X-Men storyline, Mystique and Xavier didn’t grow up together and she’s not responsible for turning Hank McCoy into a Beast, Riptide doesn’t spin tornadoes, he spins himself and throws shurikens – and definitely not as handsome and dapper as Alex Gonzalez, Ororo Monroe (Storm) should have been portrayed as a young thief, and Wolverine wouldn’t be drinking in a bar – he’s in the jungle somewhere, being experimented on – the age was right – Wolvie’s more than 200 years old.
Oh well, I love those little oddities they’ve inserted on the film. They even managed to make Emma Frost’s outfit appropriate. The Hellfire Club is also classy, and the origins of Cerebro was also inserted.
So, before I dispense more useless trivia (I’ve collected from reading the tiny print behind my old trading cards), I have to end my rant, and sleep… with two fingers on my temple ala Charles Xavier.
