X-Men: First Class is a reboot of the X-Men film franchise, completely separate from the other four films. The overall story is about the formation of the X-Men and how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr became their more common alter egos Professor X and Magneto. The film takes place in the 1960’s in various locations all over the globe from Germany to the US to Russia and Argentina. It discusses the politics of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis and doesn’t fail to capture the X-Men’s famous allegory of racism and homophobia.
The film is wonderfully written for the most part, never forgetting to flesh out their complex conflict and their strongest characters. And their conflict is certainly complex. The politics of the early 1960’s revolving around the US/Soviet Cold War is presented in a way that is engaging and easy to comprehend for viewers who may not understand it. The motivations of the antagonist (Sebastian Shaw/Schmidt) are as clearly presented as the motivations for the protagonists (Xavier and Lensherr). The plot moves slowly at the beginning but picks up when the stakes escalate towards the middle of the film leading up to a fantastic and exciting climax and ending.
The film does an excellent job of presenting the ideas of racism and homophobia as an equal to mutation with the young adults being mutants themselves—particularly in the characters of Hank McCoy, Mystique and Angel Salvadore. Each of them feels ostracized by their respective mutations. Hank about his prehensile feet then his shaggy blue hair (at which point he becomes “Beast”), Mystique about her natural form which features blue skin with “reptilian” markings and yellow eyes, and Angel having insect-like wings and saliva with corrosive acidic properties. Angel—a stripper when Charles and Erik find her—even remarks something like “I would rather they look at me without my clothes than the way they do [when they know I’m a mutant]”. Erik Lensherr was experimented on in the Nazi concentration camps for his mutation—the ability to control metal telekinetically. The parallels to racism, while possibly severe, remain the same. Experimentation on humans from other races and other preferences (be they religious or sexual) has happened, of course. The film illustrates the point by showing the character’s being ostracized by the normal humans in the CIA and by the suspicious military. Even Charles Xavier is turned off by his adopted sister’s normal blue form and Hank McCoy tells her she’s beautiful as her human form, not as her natural self.
First Class is wonderfully presented with strong costume choices, complete sets, relevant language (particularly Xavier’s entertaining use of the word “Groovy” while hitting on women) and witty humor. The action scenes are not over-the-top and feel dangerous, not simply stunts on Hollywood. The blue and yellow uniforms are the most interesting of the costume pieces. They are the only costume pieces, besides Emma Frost’s wardrobe, that seem silly. But somehow they feel nostalgic and appropriate for the time period and the team at hand. The CGI effects look as natural as they can be and flow with the rest of the scene. The cameos of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm as well as the speculated ones of Jean Grey and Scott Summers during the film were refreshing for the fans of the other films and the comic books but did not distract from the overall scene or the plot.
The major drawback of this film is its cast. And that is a substantial drawback. While James McAvoy (Xavier) and Michael Fassbender (Lensherr) both did phenomenal jobs in their respective roles, a majority of the remaining cast gave very weak and forgettable performances. The scenes between Xavier and Lensherr feel as genuine and emotional as their famed comic book friendship requires. Kevin Bacon (Sebastian Shaw) was possibly the next strongest actor, his character’s motivations clear and his menacing agenda posing a genuine threat to the heroes’ agenda and their lives. Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy) was probably the only other actor capable of recognition in the “good performance” category. Hank’s chemistry with Mystique (while one-sided performance wise) was interesting and brought another dimension to the character. His enthusiasm and passion for knowledge as well as his confidence in his work was evident with his charming smile and eloquent speech.
The rest of the cast was, unfortunately, forgettable. January Jones (Emma Frost) came off as bland and distracted. Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) seemed without enough emotion to effectively pull off the dialogue and characterization she had from the script. To put it bluntly, the lines were there but the actress was not. Lucas Till (Havoc), Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore), Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee), Edi Gathegi (Darwin), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), Alex Gonzalez (Riptide), and Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) were not poorly written, but not well characterized with their performances either. They were not all bad actors, just not given enough screen time or characterization to make the viewer care about their characters or their boring performances. They do not seem to have the chemistry as a team with each other on either side of the fence. The closest the viewer gets to see some genuine fun and chemistry was the scene with the kids dancing before Charles and Erik stop the music and even that seemed bland. However, given the length of the film and the massive amount of plot to cover, the weak cast can be forgiven. It is a shame that so many actors were pulled on to this project only to have their performances mean so little to the overall story.
To sum it all up, X-Men: First Class is an interesting, engaging film that is well-written and beautifully presented, even if the majority of the cast is a bit bland. McAvoy and Fassbender can proudly add this one to their resumes. This film is certainly one Marvel can be proud of. It is worth the time and money to see it on the big screen for sure, and worth adding to the home collection when it comes out on DVD to watch again. 4 out of 5 stars.
