X-Men First Class Is More Than Just Great Casting!

The Good: Good acting, Great story development, Good special effects, Wonderful character development.
The Bad: Continuity, Michael Fassbender's accent.
The Basics: The prequel film X-Men: First Class is surprisingly good: smart, witty, well-performed and even better for those who are not fans of the franchise.


It has felt like a long time since I went to the movie theater and left feeling like I wanted to rave (positively) about the film I saw afterward. But that is where I am at following taking in X-Men: First Class. In fact, I enjoyed X-Men: First Class far more than I thought that I would, which is saying something. I have enjoyed the cinematic X-Men movies, but have not read any of the books, so when I write about them, all I am discussing is what is in the movies. And what was in X-Men: First Class was thoroughly enjoyable . . .

. . . except . . .

. . . in the context of the already created X-Men movies. And because I enjoyed the film so much, I've decided to dispense with the usual and leap into the worst aspects first. Quite simply, for a prequel film that begins where the first X-Men movie began and thus seeks to illustrate an important missing chapter in the history of mutants in the X-Men universe, there is a stunning lack of respect for what has come before in two key places. The first and most egregious error comes in making X-Men: First Class the entire history of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto). This is problematic - to avoid spoiling anything for anyone who has not watched the other films and who wants to essentially go into seeing X-Men: First Class blind - because Xavier is bald and with Erik when they meet Jean Grey for the first time. Given that he is not bald at the end of this movie, but the rift between the two mutant titans has come, director Matthew Vaughn shows a pretty stunning lack of understanding of the continuity already established. Furthermore, because Xavier is bald (fans will understand this is being used as a euphemism for more telling character traits!) in the Wolverine prequel, there is a rushed quality to the overall story told in X-Men: First Class.

That said, the only other problems with X-Men: First Class are that the actor playing Hank McCoy, Nicholas Hoult, has absolutely no connection or stature that would make him a reasonable precursor to Kelsey Grammar (who played the role in X-Men III: The Last Stand) and that Michael Fassbender's Irish accent comes out more and more as the movie goes on. I'm not saying that there weren't a lot of Irish Jews living in Poland in 1944, but . . . wait, I think I can safely say that. Fassbender's acting or the casting here is a little off. Regardless, X-Men: First Class deserves to be a hit and if it is at all possible to avoid seeing any previews for the film (all of which seemed to pull from the last hour to half hour of the movie, annoyingly enough), one should see it soon and on the big screen.

Starting in Poland in 1944, Erik Lehnsherr inadvertently reveals to the Nazis his extraordinary power to bend metal with only his mind. This brings him to the attention of Nazi scientist Klaus Schmidt who tries to cultivate Erik's powers by killing Erik's mother in front of him. Meanwhile in Westchester at the same time, Charles Xavier walks into his kitchen and discovers his mother there, only he knows immediately it is not his mother and Raven, a shapeshifting mutant, is revealed to him. While Erik begins a search for Klaus and Charles becomes a world-renowned expert in genetics, tensions begin to rise in the world. In 1962, the CIA seeks out Charles when an agent witnesses Emma Frost and a powerful teleporting mutant she is working with abduct Colonel Hendry from a Las Vegas club.

When Charles and the CIA hunt down a vicious manipulator named Sebastian Shaw, they rescue Erik who is trying to sink Shaw's boat and desperately attempts to stop Shaw's submarine. Shaw is the man Erik knew as Schmidt and Erik's desire for vengeance leads him to an unlikely pairing with Charles. With the CIAs help, Charles, Erik and Raven are united with the brilliant mutant scientist Hank McCoy and Charles and Erik begin the search for more mutants. After finding several and encouraging them to begin honing their talents and to work for the U.S. government. This puts Xavier's mutants on Shaw's radar and puts the entire operation in jeopardy as Shaw attempts to create nuclear war through what we now call the Cuban Missile Crisis.

X-Men: First Class is incredibly clever on several levels and one of the things I enjoyed most about the film was that the previews made it appear like the actual crisis - the U.S. and U.S.S.R. squaring off over nuclear missile deployment in Cuba - was the central thrust of the film. Not so. Instead, Shaw becomes an intriguing villain who believes that a nuclear apocalypse will end human life and allow mutants to be created, spread, and/or be revealed to a world they will then dominate. His philosophy is ghastly, but it mirrors what Charles speaks about early in the film when he shares his thesis with Raven. Shaw's aid, Emma Frost, is a cool villain and the scenes she is in are electric - for more than just the costuming. Indeed, Emma is Xavier's foil as a fellow telepath and unlike Xavier, she has a secondary power, which is that she can become diamond. This is a pretty clever power and it is exceptionally well-executed with the special effects of the film.

The thrust of X-Men: First Class is in the relationship between Charles and Erik and that is where the film is very successful as well. Charles and Erik are men of about equal power, with opposing philosophies on the relationship between humanity and mutants. Their enthusiasm in hunting down mutants together is fun to watch and they interact well. Moreover, both James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have the gravitas to realistically evolve into characters played by Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. I didn't, honestly, see the resemblance for Fassbender and McKellen until almost the very last scene, but near the climax there is a moment when Fassbender lets complete vulnerability into his eyes and in that moment, he looked like a young McKellen.

Despite the rushed plot of X-Men: First Class, the character journeys are compelling and well-executed. Xavier focuses on the betterment of mutantkind and preparing for a world where both humans and mutants may exist together. Erik, on the other hand, is focused with liberating mutants from the yoke of human oppression. Strangely, Xavier never points out to Erik that it was a mutant, not a man, who committed the worst crimes against Erik. But while Xavier philosophizes and is oblivious to advances of a fairly adult Raven, Erik tunes his anger and comes to believe that if mankind wants to wipe themselves out, he will happily help it along. How Charles and Erik then continue and evolve their relationship makes the movie more engaging as it goes on.

What also works is how the characters from the X-Men universe were selected. While I am sure there is a chronology that dictates such things, with only Xavier, Erik, Raven and Hank having been seen in prior X-Men films, there is a real sense of menace throughout the movie to other characters, like Emma Frost, Angel, Darwin, Banshee and Havoc. When Emma Frost is captured by Erik and Charles, for example, there truly is the sense that anything can happen to her and I like that. In a prequel it is hard enough to build in surprises, so that X-Men: First Class mixes it up with characters that can be casualties works.

In addition to great special effects, good plot development and good character development, the acting is pretty wonderful. I had not seen January Jones in anything outside the Jimmy Kimmel Live HoBo diet sketch, but she rules as Emma Frost. With equal grace and ability, Jennifer Lawrence recreates Raven (Mystique). Lawrence makes Raven very powerful in her convictions, but exceptionally emotionally vulnerable and the conflict is played out very well through Lawrence's performance. Indeed, it didn't occur to me until post-viewing analysis that Raven might be characterized as something of an easy mutant given that she expresses feelings for Charles, Hank and Erik. But I attribute the failure to view the character that was as an acting success on the part of Lawrence. Lawrence makes it clear that Raven's attraction to McCoy is more a transference of feelings for Charles to McCoy. Her budding romance with Erik works as a result.

Kevin Bacon makes Shaw plausible as a villain without ever appearing over-the-top.

For fans of the franchise, there are two wonderful cameos that play to the larger story of X-Men, though this was the first Marvel film I did not notice Stan Lee in. For those not invested in the franchise, there are clever tongue-in-cheek moments like when Charles unwittingly outs McCoy as a mutant to the CIA and Hank tells the director of the project, "You didn't ask, so I didn't tell." As well, there is no post-credit scene on this one. X-Men: First Class is solidly entertaining and while it is not at all perfect, it is one of the smartest super hero movies I've ever seen and so far the best movie I've seen in theaters this year.

For other X-Men films, please check out my reviews of:
X-Men
X-2: X-Men United
X-Men III: The Last Stand
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

8/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Fun But Unsettling, Kick-Ass Is Still A Winner.

The Good: Good pacing, Generally decent sense of realism, Dark tone
The Bad: Seems too familiar/predictable in places.
The Basics: A violent, action-packed super hero film that has a disturbing level of realistic violence and terrible language, Kick-Ass holds its own as an atypical hero film.


It might seem weird that as a fan of the super hero genre, I find myself recommending remarkably few super hero films enthusiastically. Sure, the last two years, my favorite movies of the year have been in the genre, with my sense that there is a real sense of injustice in the awards process where Watchmen (click here for that review!) was not even nominated for any. So, with the new film Kick-Ass, it might seem surprising that I opened myself up to the potentials of the super hero film again. But I did and it was (mostly) worth it.

Kick-Ass is best analogized as Hancock without the super powers or the pretense. Whereas Hancock tried to explore the consequences of a super hero with real failings living in the otherwise very real world, Kick-Ass explores the consequences of people – mostly young people – getting involved in vigilante actions when they have no superlative abilities. It is not just a super hero origin story, but it is - in many ways – the entire arc of the super hero and it is one that is entertaining, but not for the faint of heart.

Dave is a pretty normal teenager who enjoys doing the usual teenage guy things like reading comic books and trying to pursue girls who are not actually interested in him. One night, he decides it’s stupid that there are no super heroes in the world and he sets out to become one. The result is that he gets his butt kicked, bones broken (graphically) and he spends quite a bit of time in the hospital recovering. Even so, when Dave recovers, he suits up again and goes out armed with only improvised nun-chucks which allow him to rescue a needy person from a group of three assailants. Filmed in the process, he declares himself to be the new crimefighter Kick-Ass and he sets up a MySpace page to try to save those in need.

What he attracts, however, is the attention of the father-daughter vigilante group, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. Big Daddy has set his sights on ridding the city of the notorious criminal Frank D’Amico, who believes that Kick-Ass has been thwarting some of his attempts to smuggle. D’Amico’s son, Chris takes on a super hero persona of Red Mist to lure out Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy to try to rid the city of the vigilantes.

Despite the appropriately cheesy super hero names, Kick-Ass is surprisingly real and the film’s graphic violence reflects that. This is a ridiculously bloody movie in parts and the viewer has an uncomfortable sense of watching violence done to people often too powerless to save themselves. This makes it far darker than the initial previews made the movie seem and those looking for a light popcorn movie are not going to find it here.

Part of the reason for that is that it is unsettling to see Hit-Girl in virtually every scene she is in. The eleven year-old crime fighter has been toughened by doing and defending herself from violence. As a result, she swears like there is no tomorrow and the effect is undeniably disturbing. However, even though hearing a girl so young use words I never would as an adult made me cringe, it is hard to argue with what writers Mark Vaughn and Jane Goldman are doing. Illustrating how violence begets violence – D’Amico’s men getting killed spirals into a climactic attack from Red Mist and D’Amico himself – the writers (Vaughn also is the movie’s director) illustrate that stopping criminals by using their methods often leaves them in a similar, undesirable, mindset. Despite the fact that young people populate the film, this is in no way a children’s movie.

Kick-Ass also works because the starkness of the world it creates. Dave’s first attempt to rise up as a costumed hero has painful results and as his body is broken and bloodied, it is hard not to feel like one is watching a real mugging take place. This both stirs the fear and the empathy in the viewer. Dave’s desire to rid the world of even petty crime becomes perfectly understandable and the viewer wants to like him. As well, the movie does not resort to too many of the obvious conceits. Sure, Dave has an interest in a girl at school, Katie, but the movie abandons developing a ridiculous romantic subplot too far and instead focuses on Dave’s life as Kick-Ass and the real risks that entails.

Surprisingly good in Kick-Ass are Nicholas Cage (it’s been so long since I could write that!) and the young actors, Chloe Grace Moretz and Aaron Johnson. Johnson might initially seem to be just the product of good casting as a gangly teenager, but he pulls off the role by speaking of his character’s purpose with a determination that still has the optimism of one untouched by violence and a force of an adult. Johnson has great realism in his movements, which make many of his fight sequences seem anything but choreographed and there are moments when he takes a hit where he sells the moment perfect.

Similarly, Cage and Moretz play off one another with a realistic chemistry that make them truly seem like father and daughter. Cage has a worldly quality to him that fits Big Daddy perfectly and Moretz has an anger she portrays that never seems over-the-top, but is almost entirely troubling. In fact, the only scene Moretz truly fails to sell is in her final moments on screen and I’ll not ruin the reason for the problem with that.

Those looking for a good super hero film, even in the wake of Iron Man 2, will find a lot to enjoy in Kick-Ass, so long as they are not expecting bright, pastel fun. This is a dark world and Kick-Ass seeks to show what happens when common people stand up in it.

For other super hero films, please check out my reviews of:
The Dark Knight
Wonder Woman
Blade: Trinity

7/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here for a concise list of all I have reviewed (updated daily!).

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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