FilmWatch Review of X-Men: First Class

'First Class' lacks the pizzazz of its predecessors but makes up for it with substance.

I have to admit that, despite initially liking the idea of a new X-Men movie, my excitement was quickly diminished when promotional material began hitting the internet. Despite what others say, I enjoyed all three of the first X-Men movies. I even felt that Origins wasn't as horrible as some made it out to be. So, needless to say, I was excited to see more. However, once images and trailers started being released, my hopes and expectations began to dwindle. The characters just looked stupid to me. Furthermore, it seemed to lack that flash and flair that the previous X-Men movies had (which made me enjoy them).

When early reviews started coming out, I noticed the movie was getting quite the praise. This made me curious. However, I still had my reservations. I just couldn't see how the movie could live up to the excitement of the previous movies after what I had seen. It was with this skepticism that I sat down to watch Vaughn's latest work. I'm happy to admit, though, that by time the credits rolled almost all of that skepticism had been erased and filled with excitement.

X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the original movies. The film focuses on when Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) were younger. It takes place in a time when the two opposing forces were still on the same side. A time when the X-Men were just being put together. First Class takes place in 1962 against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Providing a fictional alternative take of events, the movie sees Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) behind the scenes trying to manipulate events and create a war that will destroy humans, paving the way for mutants to rule the world.

Through this, Magneto finds himself on a personal vendetta mission to destroy Shaw for ruining his life. Meanwhile, Xavier and his foster sister Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) team up with the CIA in an effort to stop Shaw's plans after CIA agent MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) becomes aware of the powers that Shaw and his gang possess. What ensues is a frantic race to rid the world of Shaw and save society from a war that would surely wipe out the human race. All of this leads to a rift between Xavier and Magneto after the two join forces against a common enemy. A rift that will soon drive each other to be archenemies as sides are chosen and the X-Men and the Brotherhood are formed.

The place where First Class shines the most is in its story. Instead of delivering a stylish, somewhat shallow action flick that focuses on style like its predecessors, First Class opts to make substance the focus of the story. Vaughn and his writers do a good job of creating an intelligent story that provides a breath of fresh air to the franchise. Vaughn does a good job of directing the film allowing the drama to unfold as we're treated to an enthralling action thriller.

The focus on the dramatic, rather than the stylish, allows for viewers to become absorbed in the world of the X-Men rather than simply awed by the pretty pictures and the cool characters and their abilities. This is further accomplished by the focus on relationships. In this origin story, it's all about the relationship between characters as the group evolves. Strong character development are a result and a contributor to this. More so than ever before, we're introduced to the heart of the X-Men and get to see them on an emotional level like never before. As a result, this installment succeeds far better than its predecessors in connecting with those viewers that have found themselves to be the outsiders or black sheep in life at some point. This development was strongest with the Magneto character as we watch him go from innocent child to vengeful youth to the man we know today.

Magneto and Xavier are definitely the shining parts of this movie. The development of these characters (along with Raven/Mystique) really shine as the most thorough and polished aspects of the film, also being the most dramatic. Magneto's story shines above both of those, though. I found myself definitely captivated by his story throughout the film, always wanting to see Fassbender return to the screen. While the acting was solid from pretty much the whole cast, I felt Fassbender stole the show here. Lawrence impressed as well. McAvoy I felt indeed did do a good job, but whether it the writing or him, he just came across as a bit awkward at times. Though, this did not ruin the movie at all, just further enabled the Magneto character to shine above Xavier. And in some ways, Mystique shone above him as well.

First Class is not without its faults, though. While I feel the more dramatic/character driven approach was great, I also think the movie faltered in not following in its predecessors' footsteps a tad bit more. Something that always impressed me with previous X-Men movies was the awesome action sequences and the cool character abilities. In that department, First Class was somewhat lacking. What action and effects were done were done perfectly fine. However, there did indeed feel to be a lack of action as the story focused on the characters and story. Furthermore, there are no really cool action sequences. None like the sentinel simulated fight with Wolverine and Colossus. No Magneto and the bridge scene. No cool battles like X3. And no awesomness like Wolverine going berserk or Nightcrawler going "Bourne" on the White House security. Though, First Class does seemingly try to recreate this with a scene involving Azazel, but that just came off as a cheap imitation. Even the scene with Magneto raising the sub, while cool, didn't manage to live up to some of the coolest scenes from previous movies, nor was it able to salvage the film in the "wow" department. As a whole, the movie lacked in the action department period.

Another area the movie faltered was the lack of characters. This especially felt wrong due to the nature of the movie and its "first class" approach. Let's be honest, one of the coolest things about X-Men always has been (and always will be) seeing those cool characters and their abilities put on screen for us to see in action. Despite being a movie about the gathering of mutants and their teaming up, First Class has a very limited arsenal of such cool abilities. I would've very much preferred to see a bigger variety of mutants, getting to see those powers showed off as the mutants hone their powers and take on their enemies. Instead we get more of the same really, just stripped down. Even some of the mutants that were included were redundant. Multiple telepaths. Havok is just another Cyclops (yes I know they're brothers). And beyond a couple of scenes, the few that were included never really get to show off their abilities in an awesome fashion. Most of their showing off is merely done in a "I'm trying to learn to control my powers" fashion that serves more as a teaser than any real fulfillment. I have to also say at this point that Hank in his full Beast form still strikes me as a crappy rejected design for a live-action version of a Thundercat. I didn't care for that at all.

Overall, though, X-Men: First Class is definitely worth the watch and will probably be contending for summer blockbuster of the year by time the season has passed. Whether it's the absolute best, I'll hold off judgment on that until we've seen Transformers, Green Lantern, Captain America, Harry Potter and Cowboys & Aliens. Plus, I've still yet to see Super 8. As far as comic book movies go, however, this one has to rank right up there as one of the good ones. While I wouldn't put it up there with the likes of The Dark Knight or maybe even Spider-Man, First Class definitely ranks right up there with the original X-Men.

Delivering a strong character-driven story, First Class presents a captivating tale that delivers plenty of enjoyment and thrills. Despite lacking in the style department a bit, the substance definitely makes up for it and makes this one for fans of the genre to definitely check out. Providing a breath of fresh air to the franchise, previous fans will be delighted and First Class provides some definite hope for the future of the franchise. Ideally, I'd like to see them now find that perfect blend between the original X-Men and First Class; blending the style of the former with the substance of the latter. I definitely recommend checking out First Class, though, despite its minor faults and I look forward to the possibility of Vaughn continuing the franchise.