X-Men First Class!

Wow this movie's story and style is wicked cool! This is the first of Marvel Comics' two period piece origin films, first time around is inspired by the story of how Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr first met. Though not a Marvel Studios property like Iron Man 2 and Thor, the director and actors do a fine job of showing audiences the events that led two of comic's most beloved characters into Professor X and Magneto.

Pretty much all I wanna say is that this movie delivered. All the purists and semi-purists of comic lore (and i love you all) spat on this movie, soley because particular characters weren't in it. I get that. But thankfully the story and the direction of this movie is so clean its not funny. Why weren't the other three X-Men movies this tight??? I mean this film felt so streamlined it wasn't funny, I can look back at the other three and say none of them feel as stylish and comitted to the story as First Class. Granted I enjoy the the first three and adore the second one because so many feel that X2:United was the best of the three, no matter how enjoyable as a whole the series is. Often times the other movies felt like super hero movies but this felt like how I felt in The Dark Knight, take out the fantastic elements like heroes and villains and you have great crime drama. Do the same thing here and you get a period film about war, peace, tolerance and humanity. It's great, I think the more grown up of the series, definitely!

The main gripe is that some of the original X-Men are missing in this movie: Jean Grey, Angel (Warren Worthington), Cyclops and Iceman. Instead these founding members in the comics are replaced in the film with pseudo counterparts: the younger brother of Cyclops, Havok, Angel Salvadore later known as Tempest in comics, Banshee and Darwin. Havok has Cyclops' power only from his whole body, Angel has transparent wings and spits fire, Banshee has a sonic scream that he can alos use to fly and Darwin could change his body chemistry to create armor or grow gills and breathe under water. These guys are a cool bunch and Charles teaches them all how to use their powers very well.

I definitely feel a strong character drive in this movie. Maybe all of the characters weren't fleshed out as well as others but it's about these young people learning about their powers and helping anyone they can. I enjoyed the freindship Charles and Erik have. I was actually surprised at how humble Erik could be and admit he hadn't tapped the limits of his powers yet. My favorite scene is where Charles and Erik try find the "point between rage and serenity" as a means to pushing Erik's powers. Its a very touching scene.

I also like how Charles and Mystique grow up together in London. His and her relationship explored the idea of knowing when its time to hold back your true self and when to reveal it. It sets up some nice stuff at the end too.

Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club are great! Thanks to them the movie has this strange super hero/007 vibe. Matthew Vaughn's direction is great, I don't think I ever felt once that Shaw or the villainous hideouts and such were over the top. My best friend was right on, the movie takes itself seriously. Shaw is a great villain in my book becasue he spotted Erik at a young age and inspired his more aggressive pursuit of world domination for mutantkind. He and Erik have this sort of strained master/apprentice relationship. Only thing is Erik hates Shaw's guts from day one; and who can blame him?

Watch out cameos too, I loved these, familiar faces and scenes show up in very creative ways!

I am just so impressed with this film because it seemed like it was going to be a major letdown. I only hope one day I can write a clearly coherent story like in this one. There's plenty to enjoy, popular characters, actions, clear story, good performances, and crisp special effects. I really haven't felt this good about an X-Men movie since X2: United! I hear this is the first of a new X-Men film trilogy and I have to say if they can keep this up then there are gonna be some happy movie-goers out there and maybe even a little money to be made lol. If you want a summer blockbuster with nostalgia value, great clear story and sweet action sequences, check out X-Men First Class. Here's hoping the next Marvel period piece, Captain America: The First Avenger will be just as hot!

Professor X: Are you ready for this?
Magneto: Let's find out!

EL FIN