X-Men: First Class (spoilers)
Note: There is some discussion of comics canon from the 70s-90s, in case you consider that to be a spoiler.
Right. So I saw X-Men: First Class, and I've been trying to process my thoughts on the film in a reasonably coherent manner. Let me preface this by saying that I have collected comic books since I was a pre-teen, and I wrote both my Senior Honors thesis and my Masters thesis on graphic novels. The X-Men played a significant role in both works. Also, my favorite comic book character in all of comic books is Banshee. So I get a little... involved when it comes to comics. Having said all of that,
First of all, let me say that I did love the movie. I really did, and I can't wait to see it again. And I have no problem with deviating from canon when necessary--a given, since the X-universe is incredibly convoluted. But I'm still going to bitch a bit. ;)
What I Loved
Erik and Charles: The chemistry is blistering, and it is a credit to both actors that they so completely captured their roles. That final scene between them, where Erik is cradling Charles' broken body--that wasn't even subtext, people. That was text.
The Powers: Overall, they did an excellent job portraying the powers. I particularly liked seeing Havok and Banshee in action. Sure, they could have let Hank have a little more fun (see rant below), but yeah. Nice job.
The Hellfire Club: I liked the debauchery of the 1960s Hellfire Club, and I'm glad to see them playing around in world affairs. It would have been nice to see more of the internal power structure (for non-comic readers--the Hellfire Club has a complicated power structure, though. It was made up of far more than just Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost.)
Charles, Erik, and the Cold War: I really loved positioning Charles and Erik within the context of the Cold War. The idea of them being sucked in by the government, and I think it played well with Charles idealism. And using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop was inspired.
The Magneto/Mystique Dynamic: It matches the established movie canon, and it gave Raven much-needed character development. She's still not my Mystique, but the backstory they gave her worked. I also loved the Charles/Mystique dynamic. Charles' paternalism came through nicely in his relationship with Mystique. It was an unexpected choice having her move in the Xaviers, but I liked it.
Havok: They didn't do much with him, but it was awesome to see a prototype of his costume, and I liked that they showed us his insecurity and fear of his powers. I was disappointed that we never got to see Scott and Alex meet, but I was excited to see Alex on the big screen.
And Now the Ranty McRants
Banshee: Banshee is my favorite character in all of comic books. I went all ragey when Ed "Shock Value" Brubaker decided to kill him off, and I have been wanting to see him on the big screen. If you saw this movie... you still haven't seen him on the big screen, because that wasn't him. I loved the kid who played him. He was adorable, and he did a great job. And they did a fabulous job with his powers. But the writers managed to strip away the core of Banshee's character. See, first of all, the real Banshee is from Ireland, and he grew up in a freaking castle. How cool is that! He was an Interpol agent (I am so tempted to write a Leverage/X-Men crossover just so I can see Sterling interact with Sean when Sean uses his contacts to get info for some reason), he was a cop with the NYPD, and he was an unwilling criminal for a while. In short, he was badass. He was also a love interest of both Moira MacTaggert and Emma Frost. He lived with Moira for years and broke into little bitty pieces when she died. It was highly unsettling to see him so close to both of them but not with either of them. :/ You guys don't even know. I cried so hard when Sean first found out Moira was dying of the Legacy Virus (the mutant version of AIDS). But I digress. The point is I think they lost a lot with their decision to portray him the way they did. They could have at least made him a little older and had him be a cop or something when Xavier found him.
Moira MacTaggart: Another of my favorite characters. The real Moira is a brilliant scientist who could stand toe-to-toe with Xavier. She was such a hardcore scientist, that she allowed herself to contract a fatal disease in an attempt to cure it. Why they chose to make her a rather meh CIA agent I don't know. Again, I think they stripped her of the essence of her character, and that was a problem for me. I can understand the need to tinker with backstories when comics make the move to the big screen, but the choices they made with Sean and Moira basically made them shells of the characters they were supposed to be.
The Oddball Character Decisions: Darwin I can understand (and quite liked the actor). Havok I could understand. But who sat down and said, "You know what this movie needs? It needs Angel Salvatore! And Riptide! Amirte?!" Seriously. There were so many other characters they could have chosen. What rationale led someone to choose Angel Salvatore?! (Btw, I totally didn't realize that was Zoe Kravitz.)
Things I was Neither Here Nor There About
Beast I guess I can't fault the movie for his portrayal. I blame recent comic writers (and yes, I'm including Joss Whedon on that list) for making him mopey. Back in the day, there was a scene where Henry McCoy, upon learning that one of his best friends was alive, burst through the door holding a bouquet of flowers, tackled him, and gave him a kiss on the lips. That, to me, is Hank. He was scary smart, but he was also a football player, a clown, and a generally fun-loving guy. And he used to like himself. I'm kind of over the whole "we need to find a cure" nonsense. Didn't we do that with not!Rogue in X-Men: The Last Stand? I wanted to see more of the Bouncing Blue Beast hanging from the rafters making stupid jokes and quoting Shakespeare. :/
But yeah... to boil it all down:
* Charles and Erik = :D
* The poor characterizations of Banshee and Moira = :(
Also, was there an after-credits scene? I had to go to work and couldn't stay.
And of course, I need icons and fanfic. The slash potential trumps the rest of the film.
Right. So I saw X-Men: First Class, and I've been trying to process my thoughts on the film in a reasonably coherent manner. Let me preface this by saying that I have collected comic books since I was a pre-teen, and I wrote both my Senior Honors thesis and my Masters thesis on graphic novels. The X-Men played a significant role in both works. Also, my favorite comic book character in all of comic books is Banshee. So I get a little... involved when it comes to comics. Having said all of that,
First of all, let me say that I did love the movie. I really did, and I can't wait to see it again. And I have no problem with deviating from canon when necessary--a given, since the X-universe is incredibly convoluted. But I'm still going to bitch a bit. ;)
What I Loved
Erik and Charles: The chemistry is blistering, and it is a credit to both actors that they so completely captured their roles. That final scene between them, where Erik is cradling Charles' broken body--that wasn't even subtext, people. That was text.
The Powers: Overall, they did an excellent job portraying the powers. I particularly liked seeing Havok and Banshee in action. Sure, they could have let Hank have a little more fun (see rant below), but yeah. Nice job.
The Hellfire Club: I liked the debauchery of the 1960s Hellfire Club, and I'm glad to see them playing around in world affairs. It would have been nice to see more of the internal power structure (for non-comic readers--the Hellfire Club has a complicated power structure, though. It was made up of far more than just Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost.)
Charles, Erik, and the Cold War: I really loved positioning Charles and Erik within the context of the Cold War. The idea of them being sucked in by the government, and I think it played well with Charles idealism. And using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop was inspired.
The Magneto/Mystique Dynamic: It matches the established movie canon, and it gave Raven much-needed character development. She's still not my Mystique, but the backstory they gave her worked. I also loved the Charles/Mystique dynamic. Charles' paternalism came through nicely in his relationship with Mystique. It was an unexpected choice having her move in the Xaviers, but I liked it.
Havok: They didn't do much with him, but it was awesome to see a prototype of his costume, and I liked that they showed us his insecurity and fear of his powers. I was disappointed that we never got to see Scott and Alex meet, but I was excited to see Alex on the big screen.
And Now the Ranty McRants
Banshee: Banshee is my favorite character in all of comic books. I went all ragey when Ed "Shock Value" Brubaker decided to kill him off, and I have been wanting to see him on the big screen. If you saw this movie... you still haven't seen him on the big screen, because that wasn't him. I loved the kid who played him. He was adorable, and he did a great job. And they did a fabulous job with his powers. But the writers managed to strip away the core of Banshee's character. See, first of all, the real Banshee is from Ireland, and he grew up in a freaking castle. How cool is that! He was an Interpol agent (I am so tempted to write a Leverage/X-Men crossover just so I can see Sterling interact with Sean when Sean uses his contacts to get info for some reason), he was a cop with the NYPD, and he was an unwilling criminal for a while. In short, he was badass. He was also a love interest of both Moira MacTaggert and Emma Frost. He lived with Moira for years and broke into little bitty pieces when she died. It was highly unsettling to see him so close to both of them but not with either of them. :/ You guys don't even know. I cried so hard when Sean first found out Moira was dying of the Legacy Virus (the mutant version of AIDS). But I digress. The point is I think they lost a lot with their decision to portray him the way they did. They could have at least made him a little older and had him be a cop or something when Xavier found him.
Moira MacTaggart: Another of my favorite characters. The real Moira is a brilliant scientist who could stand toe-to-toe with Xavier. She was such a hardcore scientist, that she allowed herself to contract a fatal disease in an attempt to cure it. Why they chose to make her a rather meh CIA agent I don't know. Again, I think they stripped her of the essence of her character, and that was a problem for me. I can understand the need to tinker with backstories when comics make the move to the big screen, but the choices they made with Sean and Moira basically made them shells of the characters they were supposed to be.
The Oddball Character Decisions: Darwin I can understand (and quite liked the actor). Havok I could understand. But who sat down and said, "You know what this movie needs? It needs Angel Salvatore! And Riptide! Amirte?!" Seriously. There were so many other characters they could have chosen. What rationale led someone to choose Angel Salvatore?! (Btw, I totally didn't realize that was Zoe Kravitz.)
Things I was Neither Here Nor There About
Beast I guess I can't fault the movie for his portrayal. I blame recent comic writers (and yes, I'm including Joss Whedon on that list) for making him mopey. Back in the day, there was a scene where Henry McCoy, upon learning that one of his best friends was alive, burst through the door holding a bouquet of flowers, tackled him, and gave him a kiss on the lips. That, to me, is Hank. He was scary smart, but he was also a football player, a clown, and a generally fun-loving guy. And he used to like himself. I'm kind of over the whole "we need to find a cure" nonsense. Didn't we do that with not!Rogue in X-Men: The Last Stand? I wanted to see more of the Bouncing Blue Beast hanging from the rafters making stupid jokes and quoting Shakespeare. :/
But yeah... to boil it all down:
* Charles and Erik = :D
* The poor characterizations of Banshee and Moira = :(
Also, was there an after-credits scene? I had to go to work and couldn't stay.
And of course, I need icons and fanfic. The slash potential trumps the rest of the film.