Believe it or not, X-Men First Class has been in production for the longest time. After production wrapped on X-Men: The Last Stand (one of the least favorable X-Men movies), Zak Penn was inspired to do an origins story for the franchise. Well, five years later, and several production shifts (at one point, original X-Men director Bryan Singer was actually on board for the project) later, the movie has finally hit theaters, telling the story of how the group of Mutants got his start – and how Magneto came to be. Is it one that’s worth seeing though? In a word, absolutely. In a matter of just a little over two hours, First Class manages to do the unthinkable. Not only is it good enough on its own merits, but it redeems a franchise that’s since gone soggy thanks to The Last Stand and the equally unimpressive X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Maybe that’s because it’s actually more inspired than most comic book flicks, focusing more on the heart of the matter than the substance. And that’s always a good thing.
The movie starts off visiting both Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr in their youth, both under completely different circumstances. Charles is living with his mom and makes a new friend in a visiting Raven (aka Mystique), while Erik is being tortured by the Nazis, who want to take control of his magnetic power – the ability to manipulate and move metal objects. Fast forward to several years later. Charles and Raven enjoy an unlikely friendship, while trying to spread the word about fascination regarding mutant powers. Erik, meanwhile, is on a bloodthirsty path to find the man responsible for his torture, the villainous Sebastian Shaw. As the story continues, Erik and Charles cross paths and form a friendship of sorts, eventually coming to terms and working together to track down Shaw, who has a dastardly plan that somehow ties in with the Cuban missile crisis. It turns out Shaw’s got a more devious plot in mind, one that sees the uprising of mutant-kind. As the movie progresses, we get to see Charles’ care for life, and Erik’s slow but steady turn into the vile Magneto that the X-Men series has come to know.
In the short amount of time since he signed on with the project (he had signed on just one month after Kick-Ass released), director Matthew Vaughn has done an outstanding job with X-Men First Class. Every aspect of the production looks superb, with most of it taking place in the 60’s. The set designs are magnificent, the special effects are just right without going over the top (the craziest it gets involves Azazel’s teleporting), and the cameras never go too crazy when it comes to the fight sequences. Furthermore, the film moves along with very few boring points, and even they manage to skim by without putting the viewer to sleep – unlike most of Spider-Man 3, anyway. Yawners. What’s more, Vaughn also pays comic book fans a service with neat little in-jokes, as well as careful explanation as to how things came to be. Ever wonder how Xavier ends up in a wheelchair? The film exploits that. Oh, and you think Beast was always hairy and blue? Surprise. As a further service, a pair of inspired cameos hunker back to the older, better X-Men movies. One in particular makes up for The Last Stand and X-Men Origins in itself, using three simple words. (We won’t spoil it, but you’ll know it when you see it.)
This feature movie review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see our final verdict on X-Men: First Class.
