X-Men: First Class

“X-Men” Deserves First Class Seat on Superhero Plane

By: Tyson Anderson

Rating:    8/10

Overall:

“X-Men: First Class” brings intelligence and heart back into the “X-Men” franchise, giving us a movie that is exciting and thought-provoking (imagine that!), while unfortunately being bogged down by some inappropriate content.

Thumbs Up:

Going into “X-Men: First Class”, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was interested in how the story tied into the historic Cuban Missile Crisis and what fun gimmicks would go along with it; however, in my mind an “X-Men” movie without the delightfully ripped and animal-like Wolverine was, in my mind, not a real “X-Men” movie. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.

I’ll start with the film’s two main characters: Charles Xavier (played with perfect optimism by James McAvoy- I’d never heard of him) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender, with deadly precision), more commonly known to us as Professor X and Magneto. The two were previously played by favorites Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, respectively, so these two young actors had big shoes to fill. Needless to say, they did so flawlessly, creating a new picture of these well-known characters and not resorting to merely mimicking what once was done by Stewart and McKellen. The movie follows their separate stories as Charles lives a life of luxury with loving parents and a wonderful education, while a young Erik witnesses the murder of his mother in a Nazi concentration camp, turning him into a monster of rage. This is to the delight of Dr. Sebastian Shaw, a doctor in the camps who takes a great interest in the abilities of Erik to control metal. The background story of Erik is riveting, and really gives you insight into why he becomes the Magneto that we all know. His “Nazi Hunter” scenes are fun to watch, reminding me of Daniel Craig’s James Bond as the now young adult Erik seeks vengeance on those Nazi leaders that stole his life away. His number one target is Shaw (played by a scary Kevin Bacon), whom he comes THIS close to knocking off before Shaw escapes. This encounter allows Charles (who’s assisting the CIA) to meet Erik, and they begin to form a friendship.

The relationship between Charles and Erik is my favorite aspect of the movie. I loved seeing the origins of some of their interactions in the later movies, including their chess playing. Charles is the central “good guy” of the movie, preaching forgiveness and discipline. There’s a very touching scene where Charles uses Erik’s memory to show him that love makes him far more powerful than rage ever could, and we get to see an Anakin Skywalker side of Magneto (I feel the good in you….). The two characters’ differing viewpoints on life are very evident today, as people seem to take sides on seeing the world as a cold hard prison where it’s every man for himself (Magneto), or as an opportunity to learn from mistakes and grow in the process (Xavier). I love movies that make you ponder these questions in life while giving you an exciting story, as opposed to just throwing a mindless action movie at you (similar to the “Wolverine” prequel, though the mindless action was fun).

The action scenes were enjoyable as well, though not as frequent or dazzling as in other “X-Men” movies. The training of the mutants is a lot of fun, as Charles and Erik use different methods to push the fragile youth to realize their potential. There are new and familiar mutants in this movie, but director Matthew Vaughn is careful not to pack the movie full of them, allowing enough time to let each mutant’s power shine. Banshee in particular is really cool and makes me wish I could scream supersonic waves. I would have a blast with that.

The plot and storyline are fun too, revolving around the Cuban Missile Crisis and the mutants assisting the CIA in stopping nuclear war. The music score wasn’t doing anything spectacular for me until the climax at the Cuba blockade, when the mutants really show off their powers. There’s a distinct X-Men theme that gets repeated and it gave me goosebumps. I’m such a nerd.

Thumbs Down:

Before I get into the objectional content of the movie, probably my only other complaint about the movie is that I wish there could be more cool fight scenes with Magneto. There’s a little taste of this as he quickly dispatches some Nazi generals in Argentina with a knife…but think about how awesome it would be to have Magneto face off with a bunch of assassins and defeat them by manipulating the metal they had. Anyways, enough with my rambling.

Violence: The violence in this movie can get pretty intense, especially in the beginning and end scenes, all dealing with Magneto. There are brief flashes of Magneto being tortured by Shaw as a boy; but the main violence comes when he’s exacting his vengeance on Nazi leaders. He torturously extracts a tooth filling from one man, and stabs another man twice in the hand with a knife. I’m not a big fan of torture scenes; they make me squeamish, so this to me was no good. Also, at the very end of the movie Magneto sends a coin through a man’s head, and it’s done in slow motion so that you see the gash in the head and the coin as it comes out the back (the coin’s a little bloody). There’s very little blood, but it’s pretty graphic nonetheless.

Sexual Content: This is the one that bugged me the most. It seems like every X-Men movie has to have some sort of sexual content in it, which I find stupid. This movie contains some scenes inside a Vegas Strip Club, and although nothing graphic is scene there are a lot of scantily-clad women. Also, Mystique tries to seduce Erik by lying naked in his bed (you only see her shoulders). I’ve never been bothered by her almost-naked blue form, mainly because she looks like a poison-ivy frog, but others might be. The worst scene happens when Emma Frost (a mutant that also has telepathic powers) seduces a Russian general by stripping down to her lingerie and then creating a scene in his mind where she’s straddling him and he’s making out with her. This kind of stuff just ruins movies!

Language: To be honest, I don’t remember there being much swearing in the movie, except for the stupid 1 F-word (said by a famous character in a cameo appearance) that writers these days think HAVE to be in every PG-13 movie.

After All Is Said and Done…

“X-Men: First Class” is one of the best superhero movies and is the second-best “X-Men” movie (behind X2). The story, acting, and action are great, but the movie suffers from some inappropriate scenes that take away from the fun of the film.

This film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language