This was Supposed to Be a Review, but Then It Got Away
So, X-Men First Class. Saw it on Thursday at a special screening from Teen.com, for an audience that was decidedly not teenage. There were at least some people in their early twenties, and some people brought their kids, though it's not really a kids' movie, mostly due to the themes and not language or violence.
This is not a superhero movie; or at least, it's not a superhero movie until toward the end. There's really two narratives at work here: Xavier and the CIA, and Erik trying to find Sebastian Shaw. The first is a spy thriller, the second is a revenge flick that eventually gets folded into the first. And not being a superhero flick really, really works, because X-Men has never been a traditional superhero comic/story.
I've seen people mention/complain/whine that they've changed too many things about the characters, like "Wait, Banshee as an original X-Man?" or "Havok is supposed to be Cyclops' brother!"
Yeah, they've changed some things, but they generally most of the details right and keep the spirit of each character, unlike X3 where they just threw out code names willy-nilly. Also, I'm willing to bet most of the people making that complaint haven't actually read an X-Men comic in years and are just going by some fuzzy, idealized childhood memory. Most of the comics blogosphere has been pretty happy with the movie.
But this movie isn't about those other mutants anyway. It's about Xavier and Magneto, who are very true to their comics counterparts, even when things have to be changed to fit the movie narrative. And they do have to make some changes, because let's face it, the comics are contradictory. The movie remixes them into something that's pretty functional, and also fleshes out the characters a bit more. Or at least Xavier, as I always felt Magneto got way more time dedicated to his origins because hey, the Holocaust makes for easy storytelling and characterization. He is ANGRY. He vows NEVER AGAIN, etc etc.
But first, Xavier. He's a spoiled rich boy. A neglected, spoiled rich boy, which makes him just a little desperate for attention and awkward socially. He hits on women using a combination of telepathy and most amusingly, SCIENCE! He loves talking about mutation and uses this as a starter in conversations with women and it doesn't always work but it is absolutely freaking hilarious to see him try. And the worst part is that he's got Mystique at his side and is completely oblivious to her. He claims that it's because he's known her such a long time, but the truth comes out and Xavier is an ASS. So that actually sets up the first two movies quite nicely, where Mystique really seems to hate Xavier but we don't know why.
Now, as for Erik/Magneto, this movie creates a delicious bloodthirsty schadenfreude in the audience. He's hunting down Nazi war criminals, and when he finds them it's such a horribly one-sided fight but it feels just RIGHT because they're Nazis. Reactions ranged from tittering to outright laughter, but it's not really ha-ha funny. It's pure malice that feels right (at the time) because we know what he's suffered.
And that leads us into the meeting of Xavier and Erik, and just as they're teaching the kids how to use their powers, it also feels like Xavier is teaching Erik how to be a person again, as opposed to some bitter Nazi-murdering machine. Looking at it this way the ending, and their lifelong dynamic, is VERY interesting: an act of kindness in fact created his greatest enemy, but if he had to do it again Xavier still would.
The movie is very strong on characterization, but perhaps I should look at the plot. Like I said, it's definitely not a superhero movie. The movie is set in 1962, and a '60s aesthetic pervades everything. The sets, the costumes, the social dynamics, and even the actual genre. It isn't a superhero movie partly because superhero movies as we understand them hadn't been invented yet, so we instead fall into an archetype that did exist back then: this is a Bond movie. It's no coincidence that Dr. No came out in 1962. X-Men First Class is rocking all the little hallmarks of Bond: the clothes, the mod technological setting, and even the women: you can't tell me that Emma Frost isn't a Bond Girl. She's even got the gimmicky name (though not sexually suggestive).
Emma is a character they toned down a bit; she doesn't come across as flamboyant or even that arrogant, she's really just an accessory, and that probably makes her the X-Men character who lost the most in the page-to-screen transition. But for everything we lost with her, Sebastian Shaw was fantastic. I didn't even know Kevin Bacon was in it until a few weeks ago, and I was worried that he wasn't right for the part, but man, can he play a dick.
The movie isn't without its flaws and pause-inducing moments. For a franchise that's supposed to be about tolerance and civil rights, well, this movie has got some problems with women and minorities. And there are a lot of things that rely on people being DUMB DUMB DUMB. I want them to be true to the comics, but sometimes, man, you just need to close the book.
This year is loaded with superhero flicks, but I think this one is probably the only one that's trying something different, using superhero trappings to tell a slightly more intelligent story. Slightly.
This is not a superhero movie; or at least, it's not a superhero movie until toward the end. There's really two narratives at work here: Xavier and the CIA, and Erik trying to find Sebastian Shaw. The first is a spy thriller, the second is a revenge flick that eventually gets folded into the first. And not being a superhero flick really, really works, because X-Men has never been a traditional superhero comic/story.
I've seen people mention/complain/whine that they've changed too many things about the characters, like "Wait, Banshee as an original X-Man?" or "Havok is supposed to be Cyclops' brother!"
Yeah, they've changed some things, but they generally most of the details right and keep the spirit of each character, unlike X3 where they just threw out code names willy-nilly. Also, I'm willing to bet most of the people making that complaint haven't actually read an X-Men comic in years and are just going by some fuzzy, idealized childhood memory. Most of the comics blogosphere has been pretty happy with the movie.
But this movie isn't about those other mutants anyway. It's about Xavier and Magneto, who are very true to their comics counterparts, even when things have to be changed to fit the movie narrative. And they do have to make some changes, because let's face it, the comics are contradictory. The movie remixes them into something that's pretty functional, and also fleshes out the characters a bit more. Or at least Xavier, as I always felt Magneto got way more time dedicated to his origins because hey, the Holocaust makes for easy storytelling and characterization. He is ANGRY. He vows NEVER AGAIN, etc etc.
But first, Xavier. He's a spoiled rich boy. A neglected, spoiled rich boy, which makes him just a little desperate for attention and awkward socially. He hits on women using a combination of telepathy and most amusingly, SCIENCE! He loves talking about mutation and uses this as a starter in conversations with women and it doesn't always work but it is absolutely freaking hilarious to see him try. And the worst part is that he's got Mystique at his side and is completely oblivious to her. He claims that it's because he's known her such a long time, but the truth comes out and Xavier is an ASS. So that actually sets up the first two movies quite nicely, where Mystique really seems to hate Xavier but we don't know why.
Now, as for Erik/Magneto, this movie creates a delicious bloodthirsty schadenfreude in the audience. He's hunting down Nazi war criminals, and when he finds them it's such a horribly one-sided fight but it feels just RIGHT because they're Nazis. Reactions ranged from tittering to outright laughter, but it's not really ha-ha funny. It's pure malice that feels right (at the time) because we know what he's suffered.
And that leads us into the meeting of Xavier and Erik, and just as they're teaching the kids how to use their powers, it also feels like Xavier is teaching Erik how to be a person again, as opposed to some bitter Nazi-murdering machine. Looking at it this way the ending, and their lifelong dynamic, is VERY interesting: an act of kindness in fact created his greatest enemy, but if he had to do it again Xavier still would.
The movie is very strong on characterization, but perhaps I should look at the plot. Like I said, it's definitely not a superhero movie. The movie is set in 1962, and a '60s aesthetic pervades everything. The sets, the costumes, the social dynamics, and even the actual genre. It isn't a superhero movie partly because superhero movies as we understand them hadn't been invented yet, so we instead fall into an archetype that did exist back then: this is a Bond movie. It's no coincidence that Dr. No came out in 1962. X-Men First Class is rocking all the little hallmarks of Bond: the clothes, the mod technological setting, and even the women: you can't tell me that Emma Frost isn't a Bond Girl. She's even got the gimmicky name (though not sexually suggestive).
Emma is a character they toned down a bit; she doesn't come across as flamboyant or even that arrogant, she's really just an accessory, and that probably makes her the X-Men character who lost the most in the page-to-screen transition. But for everything we lost with her, Sebastian Shaw was fantastic. I didn't even know Kevin Bacon was in it until a few weeks ago, and I was worried that he wasn't right for the part, but man, can he play a dick.
The movie isn't without its flaws and pause-inducing moments. For a franchise that's supposed to be about tolerance and civil rights, well, this movie has got some problems with women and minorities. And there are a lot of things that rely on people being DUMB DUMB DUMB. I want them to be true to the comics, but sometimes, man, you just need to close the book.
This year is loaded with superhero flicks, but I think this one is probably the only one that's trying something different, using superhero trappings to tell a slightly more intelligent story. Slightly.