X-Men: First Class

Stuart:

After the shockingly disappointing double of X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn tries to bring new life to Marvel's mutant franchise.

One has to remember that Bryan Singer's original take on the X-Men can pretty much take credit for the current superhero blockbuster trend. Whilst Blade may have proven that comic book movies could actually be good (something that hadn't happened since Batman Returns), it was X-Men that showed Hollywood just how profitable the genre could be. Thus, First Class comes from an impressive pedigree, and has to fight an uphill battle, comparing itself with Singer's creation.

This perhaps does First Class a disservice. For Vaughn's feature is much more... comic booky... than Singer's two attempts. Where Singer had taken the mutant premise and tried to make it as realistic as possible, Vaughn's film is well within the realm of comic book fantasy. Thus, the emotion, the narrative twists and the wholesale destruction aren't quite as impressive as they should be.

Set in the 60s, First Class tells of the meeting of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), and the first time that the US government is alerted to the presence of mutants in society. We have a villain by the name of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) on the scene also, and much like the Magneto of the future, he has a grand and horrific vision for mutantkind.

First Class has an awesome cast. It's wonderful seeing Bacon in a blockbuster again (it feels like ages since he last appeared in such a big-budget setting), and he's fantastic as Shaw. Michael Fassbender perfectly portrays Erik (and indeed, looks a lot like a young Ian McKellan). James McAvoy's performance as a young Professor Xavier oscillates between great and distracting, as if he's trying too hard to emulate Patrick Stewart. Rose Byrne is present (and skinnier than ever) though she doesn't get much to do apart from strip to her underwear, whilst Oliver Platt is similarly under-utilised (though, alas, doesn't strip to his underwear). As you'd expect, the rest of the cast is made up of young 'uns. Jennifer Lawrence (who got my vote for best performance of 2010, in Winter's Bone) excels as the young Mystique, whilst Nicholas Hoult plays Hank McCoy magnificently. The rest of the 'kids' are a mixed bunch, and none of the others really get to show off any acting prowess.

The film does suffer from an over-abundance of mutants. Whilst it doesn't try too hard to give everyone's backstories, having so many superpowered folks does mean we're never in awe of their powers, as we were back in 2000 with X-Men. The concepts behind the big, bombastic moments are beyond the reach of the special effects budget, which means that there are half a dozen occasions when the CGI is simply… embarrassing. The climactic scene, in particular, lacks a sense of scale. There are some inspired moments, to be sure, but then again when we see Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones) fly, it looks idiotic.

First Class makes use of its 60s setting to a certain extent, being wrapped up in one famous international incident and otherwise having a James Bond feel to the costumes and settings, but I wanted it to be MORE infused with the relics of that era. I think the costumes should have been more extreme, the technology noticeably older. It's a minor quibble, but if the whole film had had an exaggerated, Austin Powers-type art design, I think I would have been happier. That being said, it's hard to shake the feeling that having a prequel was simply an excuse for all the female cast to be young, especially when they're required to take their clothes off so often. Apart from Rebecca Romijn's presence, I don't remember the original films looking quite this much like Ralph Magazine.

The greatest crime committed by First Class would have to be the redux of X-Men's opening scene. Not only does this feel like it's riding on the coattails of the first film, but this speedier, shorter version has none of the original scene's power. It's beyond me why this was considered a good move, especially considering there's a subsequent scene that would have made for a much better opening.

Matthew Vaughn's film is great entertainment, but it doesn't really reach the heights of Singer's X-Men films, nor indeed Vaughn's own Kick-Ass. If it had featured fewer characters and more refined action scenes, it would have been a stronger feature. It's disappointing that, rather than take its time with the relationship of Erik and Xavier, the two very quickly descend into the same arguments they did in X-Men 1 and 2. This doesn't bode well for any future sequels, which are going to have to work hard to strike out in original directions.

Mark: