Saw X-Men: First Class
I love how they're trying to make learning foreign languages sexy in this movie: German, French, Russian...Wanda (from A Fish Called) would be beside herself. See American kids; education can be sexy.
I did not know Kevin Bacon was in this movie. Surprised Q is surprised.
Okay, little kid from the Doctor Who episode A Christmas Carol.
The Brits are finally going to re-colonize us through our movies, aren't they? Over half the cast in this is British. (Not that I'm complaining, oh dear me no.)
Michael Fassbender...in that part of my brain that stores completely useless information, I suspected that he was in Inglorious Basterds, so that plus his name; I thought he was German. So I was surprised when a trace of Irish lilt came out on one line. Surprise! IMDB says he's Irish. He was also in The Devil's Whore, which is where I'd seen him before.
He was the one who was originally supposed to play Sexby until John Simm decided he wanted the role (and now I want to see them both alternate the roles a la the Cumberbatch/Miller Frankenstein; they would have been breaktakingly awesome in both parts). I think he was also the one Simm admitted to playing swordfights with in between takes, calling it "an accident waiting to happen". Incestuous acting island love. :)
Speaking of accents, James McAvoy's RP slipped SO BAD. I thought it was cute when he was supposed to be drunk, but then the brogue slipped through during a quiet scene where he was talking to Erik. Bless.
In the interests of a scene that is way too good to spoil, I will simply say: Best. Cameo. EVER.
That was Jason Flemyng playing Nightcrawler's dad? What a waste, hiding him under all that makeup.
Holy shit, the little boy young man playing Banshee is almost obscenely pretty, isn't he?
Ditto Nick Hoult, the kid playing Hank McCoy/Beast:
Gods bless you, Michael Fassbender, for providing my libido with a target that does not make me feel like a creepy old fangirl. And speaking of which...all I want to do to him and his big handsome rugged face is make him laugh until he squeaks. Doesn't he look like he'd have the most amazing laugh?
Hero prize goes to the actors here, for bringing an impressive amount of emotional truth to some of the most hackneyed "hero" dialogue I've heard in many long yonks (I have to say the story held together pretty well for your average big blockbuster movie, but Steven Moffat and RTD have spoiled me for any other writers' witty one-liners): "Peace was never an option." "Mutant and proud." And worst of all..."I can't feel my legs!" Seriously? Yes, seriously. They actually made poor wee McAvoy say that line, not once, not twice, but at least three times. Just in case, you know, there was a single-celled amoeba in the audience who DIDN'T instantly get it that that was the injury that put Xavier in his wheelchair.
Also, many kudos for heroic acting while wearing the stupidest looking helmet ever.
I must have been in a really foul mood today. I wan't aware of being snarkier than usual, but I totally had no problem with Erik taking his revenge on anyone in the movie. Nazis? Had it coming. Navy soldiers? Asked for it by nature of the job they signed up for. (I think I really like the notion that "just following orders" cuts you NO slack anywhere. Doesn't wash with the Doctor; doesn't wash with Magneto; doesn't wash at Nuremburg.) And Shaw definitely had it coming.
Writing fail: killing the token black guy off in the first act, and sending the message that finally accepting yourself means hating others (re: Mystique).
Lord above, that kid playing Havok was just about oozing testosterone through his pores, wasn't he? Cute but very very butch.
Rose Byrne FTW! Great to see her doing so well for herself after listening to Casanova rabbit on about his sordid love affairs for an entire miniseries.
The first scene really impressed me; the one with Kevin Bacon (surprise!) and young Erik. Well shot, well written, and well acted. Almost seemed to come from a different (and slightly better) movie.
Nutshell: didn't make me want to throw things at the screen due to plot inconsistencies, and yes, the bromance WAS extremely tasty. Go see it.
Q