I should be sleeping instead of typing this with my thumbs
causeways and I have been putting a lot of thought into all of the ways that X-Men: First Class could have been a better movie. (and yes, before you ask, top of the list is some Charles/Erik text.)
But imagine this: George Lucas decides to make prequels to the original trilogy, only he's tight on money and can only make one. So the character arc is child Anakin ---> Darth Vader in one two hour period. (I'm really not saying the GL did a GOOD job with what he actually did do, but I can say that the man actually took his time with it.)
What I'm saying that movie needed was about six more hours of character development, a lot more Charles/Erik mind fucking, and a lot more of Mystique being blue and bad ass. Mystique is the only one with a character arc that actually makes sense in the given time frame (and I guess good on them that it's the female character this time).
I hated (A LOT) the scene on the beach where Charles has been SHOT and is BLEEDING OUT ON THE BEACH (for all they know) and yet that seems to be the opportune time for Erik's "mutant and proud/come with me and we'll build a better tomorrow" speech, and for Mystique to not only buy it, but buy it enough to abandon Charles for it while he is, again, lying there bleeding on the beach.
You guys, I have such an epic hate for that scene.
I LOVE James McAvoy (mostly that he apparently wishes that Erik and Charles kissed, made up, settled down and got married, but also because he is adorable and amazing) and Michael Fassbender and how freaking amazing their chemistry is together. And OH GOD especially the scene where they mindmeld or whatever and Charles sees the menorah and they both cry this single matching tear of epic man pain. So awesome. The recruiting montage was freaking fabulous.
But every time I think of what this movie should have been, if the time had been taken to develop this friendship that is supposed to define them through the next four decades of their lives, I actually get a little angry. This movie should have been fucking amazing. It had the cast, it had the budget. It even a little bit had the writing (which was not AWFUL in the parts where they weren't trying to shoehorn three movies worth of plot development into one line).
(And, I mean, clearly KEVIN BACON was having a fucking fabulous time.)
I didn't hate it, except for the aforementioned beach scene, and also the Erik/Mystique scene, which I a little bit see the purpose of, but which mostly just made me uncomfortable. I also didn't love it with wild abandon like I wanted to, mostly because I look at it and see all the things it SHOULD have been.
Oh, movies. Must you torment me so?
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