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MguyXXV 
"X marks the spot"
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 Posted - 06/07/2011 : 23:03:36
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The title says it all: first class. I enjoyed this film abundantly, I think Kevin Bacon was enjoying himself way too much in the early portion of the film; I know I was. The story is unhurried, and the premise does not fall prey to the need to blast viewers with mutant power gimmickry for the sake of showcasing mutant powers. There are acting and story in this installment, which actually rises above its the comic book underpinnings. If you walk in and take it literally, you're simply going to spoil your own fun: it doesn't take too much suspension of disbelief, but don't worry yourself with the physics of how that mosquito-girl can fly or why her spit does what it does (though there is an effort to provide just enough explanation of powers for you die-hard physicists -- but you were probably comic book nerds anyway, so why the hell are you asking questions like that???). Only a couple of corny lines ("Brothers and sisters!" when a more soul-searching "We are brothers and sisters" might have served better), but certainly nowhere near enough to detract from a really fun film.
And if you're a comic-book geek, then, yes there are a few liberties taken with some of the origin stories, but remember: both Marvel and DC Comics characters inhabit multiverses, where individual character stories unfold in different ways. So don't get caught up in an elfen spell that works on your cloak of invisibility even though you are carrying the staff of Zanzibar, o.k. bub?  |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 06/09/2011 : 01:44:52
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Just back from seeing this and I agree MGuyX. Masses of fun and much better if you can forgive some hefty dollops of cheese that occasionally pop up and threaten to undo the great work all round. It's probably the best of all the X films for sheer pleasure to be had.
Michael Fassbender is a brilliant actor. He's great in everything I've seen him in now and he brings wonderful depth to Erik and a burgeoning psychopathic menace, promising things to come for the character. It's exactly what an actor should bring to an origin role. He's wonderfully dark, while still struggling to maintain his humanity. For a comic book movie that's pretty great going. (Worth saying though that he suffers the worst accent malfunction in the movie. He's English, possibly hint of German, for the most part until the climactic scene on the Cuban beach when he goes painfully Irish for five minutes. Whooops.)
On the flip side James McAvoy really can't match him in any respect. Xavier proves to be not as interesting a character and McAvoy, good as he is, just isn't as good an actor. Watching Stewart and McKellen facing off and chewing scenery in the original trilogy is great fun, but that doesn't happen here. Although McAvoy has some nice moments and it's Fassbender's film from start to finish.
He's given some sterling competition though. Kevin Bacon is ever reliable, January Jones is frankly the most beautiful woman and I get heart eyes when I look at her (bit of a dull actress though, but she and we all know what she's there for and it involves a white bikini), and Jennifer Lawrence (also looking lovely, and a million miles from Winter's Bone) does a great deal with a tricky role in Mystique - also getting a good deal out of being a good person battling a darker nature. Nicholas Hoult has a nice journey too as Hank McCoy, although he has a made up origin here, it works pretty well. All the other kids are totally forgettable. Azazel is an interesting character I wasn't familiar with but somehow he's not as exciting as the very similar Nightcrawler in X-Men 2. The other baddie mutant is never even named which goes to show how important he is in the plot. Rose Byrne remains a total mystery to me. She's rubbish in everything, how does she get work?
Loads of nice character cameos too from familiar faces like Ray Wise, Michael Ironside and... well. There's a few nice cameos.
It's frustrating that the screenwriters insist on tying up every loose end and making much of the dialogue, that on the whole isn't been too bad, into "Hey, you're hairy and blue, let's call you Beast", and "Hey, we can be called something like... The X Men". That undermines much of the really interesting stuff that has been going on rooted in real character and situation.
I gather they are intending to make this a new trilogy, which I think isn't a good idea. They should move on and tell other stories - this one stands alone extremely well and seeing Xavier and Magneto finding and training new mutants to fight each other and attack/defend the human race really isn't that interesting, particularly as that's pretty much what they do in the original trilogy.
One last thing in the light of the BBFC's decision to ban Human Centipede 2 this week is the decision made to make this film a 12A. As the darkest, sexiest and sweariest of the series I was a bit confused. A quick look at my DVDs confirms X-Men 1 is a 15. This one should have been as well.
4.5/5 |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 06/09/2011 : 22:29:51
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| Oh, forgot to mention - I worked on a theatre production in the West End with the lad playing the boy version of Charles Xavier in the pre-credits sequence. Lovely, talented kid - so it's a thrill to see him doing ever bigger things... (little shit). |
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damalc 
"last watched: Sausage Party"
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Posted - 06/10/2011 : 04:12:25
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i really liked it. and i really didn't want to.
after the bloated Last Stand and underwhelming Wolverine movies, i swore off X-Men films, but too many people were telling me First Class was good for me to ignore it.
i'm a comic fan, with some knowledge of the X-Men but i was never a huge fan of the title. throughout the film, i was thinking, "who's that? that's not in the books. they never met. that character can't do that." but dammit, it was still a good time. there were even subtle nods just for us fanboys. there was at least one more in the theater when i saw First Class. i know because we giggled at a couple of parts when everybody else was quiet.
there were also subtle touches to connect the mutant issue with modern social issues. it got a little melodramatic during the resolution, but i was completely sold by then.
i'm sure they plan on making more X-movies, so i wonder if they'll make a sequel to the prequel or go back to post-Last Stand? i hope they realize that fewer prominent characters if is better than all those toy-sellers they crammed into X3 and Wolverine. |
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Chris C 
"Four words, never backwards."
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Posted - 06/16/2011 : 10:44:03
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I can only echo what demonic said - it's fun from start to end, and it was a waaaay better night at the movies than POTC4.
quote:
Michael Fassbender is a brilliant actor. He's great in everything I've seen him in now and he brings wonderful depth to Erik and a burgeoning psychopathic menace, promising things to come for the character. It's exactly what an actor should bring to an origin role. He's wonderfully dark, while still struggling to maintain his humanity. For a comic book movie that's pretty great going. (Worth saying though that he suffers the worst accent malfunction in the movie. He's English, possibly hint of German, for the most part until the climactic scene on the Cuban beach when he goes painfully Irish for five minutes. Whooops.)
I didn't spot this, but I thought Kevin Bacon's German accent was horrendous to the point of laughable.
What I did like were the cameos, and the occasional throwaway lines referencing things that appear (or don't) in the other movies.
Worth seeing. |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 10/24/2011 : 02:49:05
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| Liked it very much. Even Ms. randall, who is as far away from a comics geek as you could imagine, loved it as well. I'm with MguyX: story, performing, direction, then that mutant stuff as a cherry on top. Nice job. |
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X-Men: First Class
