X-Men: First Class (SPOILERS)
Just saw it. Overall I liked it a lot. But it does have it's problems.
First, the Good:
-Kelsey Grammer doesn't play Beast.
-The set, production, and costume design (Except one costume) makes the film look like an old James Bond film.
-Obscure mutants. I've always found them more interesting than the more famous characters like Wolverine and Magneto. And they usually have more interesting powers than "Shoot shit out eyes" or "Make it rain."
-Kevin Bacon in all hiss Kevin Bacon-y glory.
-A lot of good performances. I especially like the guy they got to play Banshee.
-Good action set-pieces.
-Wolverine's cameo was pretty great.
Now the Bad:
-Wasn't crazy about the actor they got to play Beast. He seems too young and thin.
-Make-up on Beast is a bit iffy in some shots. It's about 50% make-up, 50% CGI, though they could have used more CGI. His upper lip barely moves.
-Some hammy dialogue. That's to be expected though. it is a comic book movie after all.
-This may be a bit biased because I hate Betty Draper with a fiery passion, but I didn't care for January Jones as Emma Frost. But I've never read an X-Men comic in my life so if Emma Frost is suppose to be an icy bitch than she got the part down flawlessly.
-The CGI for diamond Emma Frost is also iffy. I preferred the design they used for Wolverine, seen here. In that she actually looks liek she's made of diamond. In First Class when she changes, she just looks like she's made of glass.
-Magneto's costume at the end looked way too cartoony.
-Not paced very well. I thought the training of the new mutants would take up a good part of the film. It's actually just a 15 minute montage. More than 25 percent of the film is made up of scenes of world leaders and politicians and military guys sitting around talking. And it only seems like a few weeks pass between when Charles and Erik first meet to when they go their separate ways so it's kind of hard to care. They act more like work buddies than "old friends" as they put it in the original films. But again, I've never read the comics so maybe they got this part right or something.
-Michael Fassbender's accent seems to go in and out, especially towards the end where he sounds Irish. I mean I know he is Irish, but I don't think Magneto is.
And the Ugly:
-Nothing really ugly, but the one thing that bothered me is this: There are only two minority characters in the film and each is given maybe five minutes of screen time. The first dies after his five minutes are up and the other goes evil after two minutes for no real reason. beyond the few green and red skinned characters, the film is startlingly white.
I know the bad stuff seems to outweigh the good but the film really is great. A step above Last Stand and miles above Wolverine. Really hope a sequel gets greenlit.
Magneto's just looked like a child's costume to me.
I also forgot to mention that right before Darwin is killed, Shaw is giving a monologue and mentions how mutants will be enslaved and right as he says that there's this weird, out of place reaction shot of Darwin and nobody else. And there was a third minority character if forgot to mention: Riptide. He doesn't do much other act menacing and evil.
This film has some weird racial undertones. I guess because it's set in the 60's?
Darwin sucked though, it was pretty obvious that he was going to die first. Hard to explain mutation = not a lot of screen time.
Angel was supposed to be male, and should have died, if we're staying true to the comics. The Prof and Erik relationship wasn't friendly-enough to warrant the genuine respect that follows the break. Too much of the relationships and dialogue were from "extra" scenes of campy high school dramas.
Mystique wasn't spectacularly acted but had the most human-role in the film, and was the most sympathetic character.
All scripts written by more than two people are bound to suck, and this one, written by at least four people, sucked. I am not a fan of Kevin Bacon and wasn't psyched to find him in this movie. Darwin was way out of place, considering in the comics, he shows up for one issue, only to be beaten to death (by humans) because he's a mutant. The "mutants and proud" thing reeked of American nationalism. Many themes in the film were about how great the USA thinks it is.
Origins of characters were too short - totally agree that the montages for recruitment and training lost time in favor of scenes of bureaucrats that are neither introduced, nor given any depth, therefore jump in and out without value or sympathy.
Still the best action scene of the franchise:
And the Mozart piece just brings it over the top.
Dead bro walking.
Haha Justin, I was thinking the same thing about the accent.
In general, I really enjoyed this movie but little things bugged me. Just some inconsistencies between the comic and film. I could probably be more specific but I don't want to nerd rage.
Justin:
The pace of the movie was perfect...until the last ten minutes. Prof X just lets Mystique go without a second thought. 'Well I know he's gonna kill countless people, but if he makes you happy just go with him.'
Also, I guess Prof X EXPERIENCING EVERYTHING that Magneto went through in one scene was supposed to be enough. It was a really great scene though, with both of them crying together. Despite its greatness though, I don't feel that it conveyed to the audience enough to make us believe that they'll always be friends despite their differences.
Kit:
People keep saying how bad January Jones was, and honestly I thought absolutely nothing of her while I watched the film. She didn't add anything, but also didn't really take anything away. But, she didn't add anything.. That's a problem.
Skygrotto:
I think you're thinking of the wrong Angel (who already appeared in X3). Also, like Jones, Lenny Kravitz's daughter (yep, that's who that was) added nothing to the movie.
Justin and Kit:
I was disappointed when Darwin died, because I thought we as a society have moved past the "dead bro walking" stereotype. Also, it seemed that minorities weren't treated well by the creators of this movie. I hated that. Darwin fit the stereotype because he was the black guy who gave himself to save everyone. Angel betrayed the group. And so did Magneto, but you knew that.
And Last But Not Least, Minerva:
One shouldn't be upset about the plotholes in the movie created from the comics. I was kind of upset at Mora McTagart (sp?) not having an accent or developing a relationship with Banshee. X-Men being true to the comics makes a TERRIBLE movie (or at least a terribly difficult idea to pull off) and makes a much better TV Show. You have dozens and dozens of different main characters all needing of character development and in a 2 hour movie is just not gonna happen. So who cares that Havok is twenty plus years older than his supposedly older brother?
What one SHOULD be upset about:
are the plotholes created by this movie for the other movies in this movie franchise.
1. In X-Men 1, Prof X says that he and Magneto built Cerebro for the mansion together. They didn't.
2. In X3, Prof X and Magneto are still friends in their 30's when they visit Jean Grey to recruit her. This wouldn't be so bad except that Prof X can walk.
Overall though, I'm having a hard time deciding whether this movie or X2 is the best X-Men live action film.
EDIT: Oh forgot to mention: Two other huge problems I had were how both Beast and Prof X were both unlikeable assholes to Mystique. These are supposed to be the good guys and they both shrug her off. No decent human would say some of the messed up crap they said to her.
It's especially frustrating considering his power is all about adapting to survive i.e., avoiding death.
2:23-2:50
My feelings exactly.
Skygrotto:
I think you're thinking of the wrong Angel (who already appeared in X3). Also, like Jones, Lenny Kravitz's daughter (yep, that's who that was) added nothing to the movie.
What one SHOULD be upset about:
are the plotholes created by this movie for the other movies in this movie franchise.
1. In X-Men 1, Prof X says that he and Magneto built Cerebro for the mansion together. They didn't.
2. In X3, Prof X and Magneto are still friends in their 30's when they visit Jean Grey to recruit her. This wouldn't be so bad except that Prof X can walk.
Yeah, wasn't that dude called Archangel? Angel is a legit, although recent (and minor), character in the comics.
The other thing is, this movie isn't supposed to predate the other movies exactly - it's a complete reboot of the series, and they plan to make another trilogy. So I don't think they were concerned with continuity through from the first series of movies.
Partly correct. He was called Angel, but a very strong mutant called Apocalypse corrupts his mind turning him into Archangel, even making him one of his Four Horsemen(War).
Wanting Apocalypse to be in the movies has been my biggest want since they made an X-Men movie, but at the same time, I worry they'll fuck him up because they wont' know how to handle him. And the franchise so far doesn't give me much hope. But Apocalypse has always been my favorite.
Wow. I wouldn't have even noticed that the two black characters were gone from the group by the end of the movie, until I read it here. Does the fact that there isn't a token black character in the group REALLY take away from the movie? Was it really that distracting?
Si vis pacem, para bellum
It kind of was.
Angel is at least partly black, even though the character has a hispanic last name. The actress playing the role is the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet.
Speaking as a spleen of a black man, its not distracting in the heat of any particular movie but it is distracting overall. Directors, writers, etc, see characters as reflections of themselves. Racially speaking. Most of the time at least. So to see examples of dynamic black characters in movies, a lot of times we have to wait for black directors or screenwriters to do us justice.
The wolverine cameo was my favorite part.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
I enjoyed the movie a lot. The last scene was super cheesey and made me laugh when Xavier got shot. That whole sequence just seemed way too forced and rushing to make Magneto the "bad" guy.
They should have made it two movies. Even Anikin took 3 movies to become Darth Vader.
^ This.
They could have even stretched this out over an entire trilogy. I mean, we'd all know it was coming, but it would seem a lot more believable.
But I guess they had to make Erik evil or else we'd forget he was Magneto or something.
January Jones is goddamn awful. Emma Frost was meant to be icy and witty, not lifeless and pouty. Apart from that I thought the casting was very good.
I think all the costumes looked a bit cartoony, but wasn't that the point? These were the very early costumes, like in the very early comics, they're not supposed to look all technological and molded.