Always a Marvel Comics favourite, the X-Men have returned to the screen with X-Men: First Class; a Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) directed movie which is a direct prequel to the events of the much loved X-Men trilogy, and a film which is constantly, and surprisingly brilliant.
While the first X-Men movie had the best opening by far (showing Magneto’s use of power at a German concentration camp when he was only a boy), First Class actually manages to capitalise on and improve that by going back, and expanding on what happened directly afterwards, before moving the setting on to the real timeline of the film; providing an alternate history, where mutants played a huge role in the events of The Cold War, and even instigated the Cuban missile crisis.
Obviously a prequel to the X-Men trilogy, First Class traces the origin of The X-Men, and concerns itself with not only introducing fans of the films to a host of new mutants, who all come with their unique and flashy powers; including Azazel (Jason Flemyng, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Angel (Zoe Kravitz, The Brave One), Havoc (Lucas Till, Walk The Line), Emma Frost (January Jones, Unknown), Beast (Nicholas Hoult, About A Boy), and more; but mainly focuses on the building and breakdown of the franchise’s most important relationship; that of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy, Wanted), and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender, Inglorious Basterds).
It’s something fans have wanted to see for a long time; how these very powerful men, who are enemies by the time the trilogy rolls around, but clearly still close friends, became friends in the first place, and how their paths began to diverge (not to mention what landed Professor X in his iconic wheelchair); and by setting X-Men: First Class right in the heart of the Cuban missile crisis (with head bad guy Sebastian Shaw; a mutant played by Hollow Man’s Kevin Bacon; not only being behind it, but actively attempting to start World War III), and allowing that to create the need for mutants to rise up and fight back, Matthew Vaughn created a huge superhero movie that doesn’t disappoint in terms of scale, spectacle, effects, or drama, and has it’s stakes const aptly raised; feeling both more intense and gripping than the last couple of X-Men movies, but still grounded and somehow real (or as real as a movie about mutants can be).
While the writing in First Class is clearly brilliant, the direction is fantastic, and it’s a pleasant surprise to see that the film has turned a more brutal corner than its predecessors; with the opening, some of the fight scenes, and clearly Magneto’s early actions, actually being a little violent (but perfectly fitting for the story); it’s thanks to the cast’s impressive work (everyone involved pulls out a fantastic performance; it’s a good thing that they didn’t simply try and imitate the performances of veteran actors such as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen; Michael Fassbender is amazing as the young tortured soul that is Magneto, and despite James McAvoy’s slightly annoying nature shining through, he also consistently delivers here), and the film’s highly personal nature, that X-Men: First Class can easily be counted as one of the best entries in the entire X-Men franchise.
It’s thanks to keeping the whole film about the character’s relationships, their different journey’s, and their personal struggles, that First Class manages to make you really care about the events and characters in the film; far more than you do when watching The Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America, or even the other X-Men movies; and it’s great when a film such as this, which would usually be nothing more than simple spectacle piece (and it even presents the spectacle brilliantly), gets you to think about the way you’d act if you were in their shoes (would you try your damnedest to save humanity, or fight against the humans to secure your future?).
So to sum up, it’s hard to think of a reason not to watch X-Men: First Class; a brilliantly directed, perfectly fitting, well acted, movie with a great story, great performances, amazing effects, all the action and spectacle you’d expect from a summer superhero tentpole, a few healthy dollops of comedy, and even an amusingly brief cameo from everyone’s favourite mutant; which make it not only a fantastically fun and gripping film, but quite possibly the best X-Men film so far.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
