4/5
The worst part of X Men: First Class was the climax. The build up was entertaining and had good acting, as well as developing certain mutant characters to explain their motives in the original trilogy. The deneument wraps up the film nicely, transitioning between the young and the old mutants and setting up for the next movie nicely. Unfortunately, the climatic scene in which missles fly back and forth through the sky during a pivotal moment in the Cuban Missle Crisis is a little disapointing.
One thing the movie does well is place the mutants in a real world. The film opens in a Concentration Camp in Poland, where Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is forced to witness his mothers murder at the hands of Sebastion Shaw (Kevin Bacon) in an attempt to release his powers. Erik grows older, and with time his powers increase. He then meets Charles Xavier, a student at Cambridge University and an expert on genetic mutation.
The main setting for the film is the United States, at the time of the Cold War. Together Erik and Charles begin to build a team of young mutants to potentially combat Sebastion Shaw. Shaw has been forming his own team of mutants and wishes to abolish mankind to make way for - in his eyes - a brighter future of genetic development. To stop Shaw from beginning a nuclear holocaust Erik and Charles must hone their powers and must persuade the younger mutants to refrain from turning to Shaw's side.
Director Matthew Vaughn gave us Kick Ass, a brutally violent film which combined attempted to combine techniques of Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bay (I know- polar opposites). Here Vaughn adapts another style, the loud and full of action film feels like your typical superhero type movie. Definitely not even in the same league as The Dark Knight, X- Men: First Class handles itself with more seriousness than a film like Thor, resulting in a good - but not great - superhero movie.
The cast has been assembled well for X-Men: First Class, Fassbender is a great Magneto, McAvoy brings new light to Professor X, and the almost uncountable line of other mutants are also acted well. Unfortunately I think that Vaughn doesn't quite use all of the tools at his disposal to full potential. Jennifer Lawrence (a Best Actress nominee) seems wasted on the character of Mystique. Mystique is developed well, and we gain an understanding of her relationship with Charles and Erik, but her lines are a little cheesy and underdeveloped.
There's much more I could say about X-Men: First Class, but the bottom line is that it is an enjoyable movie which gives us a nice sense of who the mutants are and how they fit into the world of both the humans, and of the original trilogy. While there are some inconsistincies with the ther films, this won't bother most viewers, and a brief cameo from Wolverine is appreciated- but I'm glad he wasn't granted much more screen time. First Class is definitely one ofthe better X-Men movies, and if you liked the others, this one is worth your money.
The worst part of X Men: First Class was the climax. The build up was entertaining and had good acting, as well as developing certain mutant characters to explain their motives in the original trilogy. The deneument wraps up the film nicely, transitioning between the young and the old mutants and setting up for the next movie nicely. Unfortunately, the climatic scene in which missles fly back and forth through the sky during a pivotal moment in the Cuban Missle Crisis is a little disapointing.
One thing the movie does well is place the mutants in a real world. The film opens in a Concentration Camp in Poland, where Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is forced to witness his mothers murder at the hands of Sebastion Shaw (Kevin Bacon) in an attempt to release his powers. Erik grows older, and with time his powers increase. He then meets Charles Xavier, a student at Cambridge University and an expert on genetic mutation.
The main setting for the film is the United States, at the time of the Cold War. Together Erik and Charles begin to build a team of young mutants to potentially combat Sebastion Shaw. Shaw has been forming his own team of mutants and wishes to abolish mankind to make way for - in his eyes - a brighter future of genetic development. To stop Shaw from beginning a nuclear holocaust Erik and Charles must hone their powers and must persuade the younger mutants to refrain from turning to Shaw's side.
Director Matthew Vaughn gave us Kick Ass, a brutally violent film which combined attempted to combine techniques of Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bay (I know- polar opposites). Here Vaughn adapts another style, the loud and full of action film feels like your typical superhero type movie. Definitely not even in the same league as The Dark Knight, X- Men: First Class handles itself with more seriousness than a film like Thor, resulting in a good - but not great - superhero movie.
The cast has been assembled well for X-Men: First Class, Fassbender is a great Magneto, McAvoy brings new light to Professor X, and the almost uncountable line of other mutants are also acted well. Unfortunately I think that Vaughn doesn't quite use all of the tools at his disposal to full potential. Jennifer Lawrence (a Best Actress nominee) seems wasted on the character of Mystique. Mystique is developed well, and we gain an understanding of her relationship with Charles and Erik, but her lines are a little cheesy and underdeveloped.
There's much more I could say about X-Men: First Class, but the bottom line is that it is an enjoyable movie which gives us a nice sense of who the mutants are and how they fit into the world of both the humans, and of the original trilogy. While there are some inconsistincies with the ther films, this won't bother most viewers, and a brief cameo from Wolverine is appreciated- but I'm glad he wasn't granted much more screen time. First Class is definitely one ofthe better X-Men movies, and if you liked the others, this one is worth your money.