X Men: First Class

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt

Dir. Matthew Vaugh
Scr. Matthew Vaugh, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz & Jane Goldman

It was exciting. It had explosions. It was smart and funny. It had some emotional grunt. I’ll go as far as to say it’s the best comic book action flick since Dark Knight. X Men: First Class – part one of a prequel trilogy – has the potential to outclass the original trilogy of X Men movies and make a tremendous addition to the ever-growing comic book action genre. Two big thumbs up from me.

Before Professor X and Magneto were Professor X and Magneto, they were Charles (McAvoy) and Erik (Fassbender), two mutants who think they are all alone with their powers. Against a backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, they forge a friendship to help the world avoid the very real nuclear threat and, with the help of the CIA, find and recruit others like themselves. The uber-baddie here is wonderfully bad – Kevin Bacon hams it up in his role as the evil mutant genius (Sebastian Shaw) hell bent on helping the super powers destroy mankind to make way for his utopia of mutantkind. Throw in a little wartime Poland, a smattering of civil rights and a whole lot of mutant self-discovery, and you have a very compelling and intriguing film. Full credit to the team of screenwriters (including the brilliant Jane Goldman) who took on a huge amount of material to pack into two-hour-plus movie.

This wonderful new direction of smart comic book action movies ultimately needs a cast of credible actors. Hence the Christian Bales, Robert Downey Jnrs and, in the original X Men, the Patrick Stewarts and Gandalfs. First Class is no different. McAvoy and Fassbender are brilliant, the latter especially. And such an interesting choice. Along with Jennifer Lawrence (in the role of Mystique), Fassbender is certainly not of the typical action genre stock. But there’s no doubt he has the necessary gravitas and the acting chops and, for me, he is certainly the stand out. I teared up twice, both thanks largely to Fassbender, which is not a usual occurrence for the viewer of a comic book-inspired flick. McAvoy is charming and yummy, if somewhat annoying (but that’s certainly the character). It’s a treat to see a younger incarnation of the Professor – shamelessly hitting on anything in a skirt with his nerdy knowledge of genes and mutations. If these two characters/actors hadn’t gelled then you would have had a disaster on your hands. Thank the casting gods for such good fortune. The only stand out for all the wrong reasons is January Jones (as Emma Frost) – wooden and boring, but thankfully not onscreen enough to be too problematic. The always wonderful Oliver Platt (Man in Black) and the lovely Ross Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) are the main non-mutant additions and they are delightful. And keep your eyes open for an inspired and hilarious cameo from a mutant favourite.

This movie looks mighty good. With enough big bang action set-pieces to keep the audience on their toes, as well as more intimate and emotional action scenes (young Erik distressed at hands of the Nazis and a coin through the head are two that particularly stand out). Special effects are flawless. The 1960s is captured with flair. I can’t think of anything to fault in terms of this film’s look and feel – nothing distracted me from the story, which moved along at quite a clip.

The only one of the X Men family of films that I would recommend to an action movie sceptic, this is a film on fine form. There is a lot going on but don’t let that put you off. And sure, you may know what eventually happens in the end, but you’ll have a rollercoaster of a time getting there.

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Charles: We have it in us to be the better man.
Erik: We already are.