Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kevin Bacon
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay by: Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz
A prequel to the Marvel superhero alliance known as the X-Men. Does it live up to the comics and everything about X-Men that has come before? Does it set up the story of these mutant heros well?
The film starts out in 1944, when we meet Erik Lehnsherr (who later becomes known as Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender), a young boy caught in the terrors of the Holocaust, watching his mother die at the hands of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) while also finding out his special ability, making metal move without touching it. We then meet Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) at Xavier's home, both discovering the other is a mutant (and soon to become a superhero). He takes Raven in, and soon they will become life long friends.
Fast forward to 1962, shortly before the Cuban missile crisis. Charles Xavier has become a professor at Oxford University (this is why he is known as Professor X). The mutants are starting to find each other, first with Erik finding Charles and Raven shortly after trying to take revenge at Shaw, who is also a mutant. Shaw is leading a small group of powerful mutants trying to rise up to gain respect from the public, while risking a third world war breaking out at any moment. It's up to Erik and Charles to form a team with the other mutants they have found to stop Shaw's campaign to puppet the Americans and Russians to a potentially apocalyptic war.
I really like the cast of this film. Everyone seems to work well together, but there are a few parts where McAvoy and Fassbender (mostly Fassbender) steal the show for themselves. However, they both deliver exceptional performances. Another thing I like is that the cast is full of young, up and coming people, like Jennifer Lawrence, along with old favorites like Kevin Bacon. It is a very mixed cast.
As one who enjoys history, X-Men: First Class takes a spin at historical fiction in addition to some science fiction, even though the whole idea of superheros is Sci-Fi. A lot of superhero movies make the enemy something fictitious and often unappealing. First Class puts the enemy on both good and evil, by making Shaw want the mutants to fit in well, but at the same time, wanting to have all the power to himself. It's a much more realistic plot and it fits well with the historical context of the Cold War. It's more appealing because it is historical fiction as well as science fiction.
Overall, First Class is a well done film. It has a good story with a great cast, all delivering exceptional performances. It's a good prequel to one of the few superhero alliances, the X-Men. All the elements that are known about them is discussed in First Class as a background to the X-Men that we know, with the exception of Wolverine because he got his own movie in 2009. I have to recommend this film to anyone who's interested in comic books and superheros.
I'm giving X-Men: First Class a B+.
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay by: Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz
A prequel to the Marvel superhero alliance known as the X-Men. Does it live up to the comics and everything about X-Men that has come before? Does it set up the story of these mutant heros well?
The film starts out in 1944, when we meet Erik Lehnsherr (who later becomes known as Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender), a young boy caught in the terrors of the Holocaust, watching his mother die at the hands of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) while also finding out his special ability, making metal move without touching it. We then meet Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) at Xavier's home, both discovering the other is a mutant (and soon to become a superhero). He takes Raven in, and soon they will become life long friends.
Fast forward to 1962, shortly before the Cuban missile crisis. Charles Xavier has become a professor at Oxford University (this is why he is known as Professor X). The mutants are starting to find each other, first with Erik finding Charles and Raven shortly after trying to take revenge at Shaw, who is also a mutant. Shaw is leading a small group of powerful mutants trying to rise up to gain respect from the public, while risking a third world war breaking out at any moment. It's up to Erik and Charles to form a team with the other mutants they have found to stop Shaw's campaign to puppet the Americans and Russians to a potentially apocalyptic war.
I really like the cast of this film. Everyone seems to work well together, but there are a few parts where McAvoy and Fassbender (mostly Fassbender) steal the show for themselves. However, they both deliver exceptional performances. Another thing I like is that the cast is full of young, up and coming people, like Jennifer Lawrence, along with old favorites like Kevin Bacon. It is a very mixed cast.
As one who enjoys history, X-Men: First Class takes a spin at historical fiction in addition to some science fiction, even though the whole idea of superheros is Sci-Fi. A lot of superhero movies make the enemy something fictitious and often unappealing. First Class puts the enemy on both good and evil, by making Shaw want the mutants to fit in well, but at the same time, wanting to have all the power to himself. It's a much more realistic plot and it fits well with the historical context of the Cold War. It's more appealing because it is historical fiction as well as science fiction.
Overall, First Class is a well done film. It has a good story with a great cast, all delivering exceptional performances. It's a good prequel to one of the few superhero alliances, the X-Men. All the elements that are known about them is discussed in First Class as a background to the X-Men that we know, with the exception of Wolverine because he got his own movie in 2009. I have to recommend this film to anyone who's interested in comic books and superheros.
I'm giving X-Men: First Class a B+.
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