Ah… I remember a time when X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were non-existent. How the times have changed. X-Men was a good film, not great, but pretty good. X2 was great, satisfying sequel and a definite game changer (until Spider-Man 2 the year after). The third film was mediocre, and Wolverine’s prequel left a very sour taste in my mouth. Let’s face it; passing the director’s chair to Brett Ratner was a terrible idea, but it boils down to Bryan Singer’s mistake, but let’s focus our attention on the present.
X-Men: First Class is a prequel film (like Origins) directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass), and returning to the series is Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United), this time as Executive Producer. The film opens with a recreated opening to the first film, in which a young Erik Lensherr is separated from his mother in a concentration camp. In his emotional distress, he awakens his powers over magnetism and bends and distorts a metal gate obstructing him from his mother. However, this time around we actually get to see what happens afterward, Klaus Schmidt (Kevin Bacon), also known as Sebastian Shaw, kills Erik’s mother after he fails to use his powers to move a silver coin at his request. Meanwhile, a young Charles Xavier meets and takes in a young Raven Darkholme, who will later become Mystique.
And so begins X-Men: First Class, the origin of the X-Men in general, at least in sense of the film universe. I won’t bother beating around the bush with this one; this is the best X-Men film thus far. There are some great things in this latest installment that make it exactly that, despite minor issues I have with it.
Of course the biggest question is how James McAvoy portrays a younger Charles Xavier as he forms the X-Men with Erik (Michael Fassbender) at his side. Professor X and Magneto are iconic characters, the two elder titans of the X-Men franchise, and I am happy to say that both McAvoy and Fassbender were well-casted, flawless performances from the both of them. Out of the two performances I would have to favor Fassbender, the best prequel portrayal since Robert DeNiro’s young Vito Corleone, and I will defend that statement.
The plot centers on Xavier and Lensherr forming the X-Men (though they aren’t called that directly) and putting a stop to Sebastian Shaw’s activities, which if succeeded, would mean nuclear war. In the meantime, Erik is out for revenge, as Shaw killed his mother and put Erik through the horrors of The Holocaust. Among the main characters is Raven Darkholme (Jennifer Lawrence), who has stayed with Xavier after he took her in.
The plot is well-executed, and it feels like the Singer films again, though Vaughn brings his own clarity and sense of humor to the table. The characters are surprisingly likeable on the protagonists’ side, though on the antagonists’, villains like Azazel and Riptide are completely underdeveloped, the latter not even having a single line of dialogue. The film also has some continuity issues with the other films, some are welcome, and some irked me. I won’t give out spoilers but I am happy to say that First Class eliminates The Last Stand and Origins from canon, which was a very welcome change for me.
On the whole, this film has more thrills than the previous films, but unlike Origins, it keeps its integrity and doesn’t adhere to action schlock or cliché. Like the first two films, this is a character-driven story, not an acti0n-driven or effects-driven one, between the attention to detail, the solid chemistry between McAvoy and Fassbender, and the believable outcome of this possibly ongoing tale from this point in time. First Class has that passion and humanity that Ratner and Hood muddled in their films and this is as close a redemption as we could want. Apparently, it may be the start of a new trilogy, though the term “prequel trilogy” is synonymous with dread for obvious reasons. They have my support; I just hope they don’t make me regret it. 9 out of 10.
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