So, earlier today, I went to a screening of Xmen:First Class. Let me be the first to say, holy shizenburg, what a fucking movie.
Seriously, I loved 95 percent of the entire film. Sets, Actors, Wardrobe, the whole thing. The plot was really original, and it seamlessly introduced characters and concepts that the first three Xmen films touched upon.
James Mcavoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) were perfectly casted. Rose Byrne, who plays Moira Mactaggert, was also great, but her part was not nearly as large as the other three. I'm not sure I would have loved the movie as much as I do if those three had been played by different actors. Oh! and Kevin Bacon as the villain Sebastian Shaw was also pretty good as well. The only poor casting choice, in my humble opinion, would have to be January Jones as Emma Frost. It kills me to say, because I happen to like her a lot on Mad Men, but I found her to be, while visually amazing, a little bland and mundane with her lines and delivery. She really did look awesome though. Throughout most of the movie, she wears some serious lingerie, so you win some you lose some I suppose.
Another great part? The fact that the writers slipped some cameos into the film that worked perfectly. Sometimes, cameos can seem like a desperate attempt for a laugh, but not in this film. When Prof.X and Magneto start recruiting mutants to join their side, one of the subject they track down turns out to be none other then Wolverine, played in four films by Hugh Jackman. Although he's in it for less then thirty seconds, he manages to find the time to tell them to fuck off in only the way the Wolverine can. The theatre went wild when he said his line, and I have to be honest, I might have clapped a little bit. The other cameo is made by Rebecca Romijn, who played Mystique in the first three X films. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique is trying to score with Magneto in the bedroom, and she changes into Rebecca in order to look hot. Obviously, Becca (oh yeah, were on nickname basis) is not suppose to be her character from the other films, but more of a generic hot model of the 1960's, which is when the film takes place. I think I liked that part so much because it sort of brought it full circle, while not overtly trying to slip a big name star into the movie for two seconds.
The only thing I can say, besides January's performance, that I wish could be different, was the team of mutants they recruit. Not that the character's they chose weren't great, because they were, but I was really hoping to see a young cyclops, Jean Gray, or even Storm. If I had to guess, I would say that in the next two films (they planned this one as the first of a trilogy) we will be introduced to the younger versions of characters we met and loved in the first few Xmovies.
Overall, I give this movie a solid A. It has a really good message about being true to yourself and standing for what you believe in. It has an amazing cast (excluding Ms.Jones) and it was written and directed beautifully. Here's hoping it kills it at the box office so we can see a few more movies in the "First Class" series.
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