Oddly enough, I have very little to say about “X-Men: First Class.” There was a rush to celebrate the film that felt hasty. It gets a number of things right (like the Xavier/Lensherr relationship, which is spot on), but it also feels like director Matthew Vaughn is a bit tone deaf, as the energy of the film felt incredibly unbalanced (perhaps owed to re-shooting with Bryan Singer, I’m not sure — and I haven’t been a big fan of Vaughn’s work so far). In any case, the film opens this weekend, and east coast midnight screenings should be letting out shortly, so you’ll all have your own opinions to offer. Cut loose with them here when you get around to it.
Comments
56 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘X-Men: First Class’”
Michael Fassbender has arrived, as has Jennifer Lawrence, to a lesser degree. They were the best part of the movie which had it’s faults, but mostly was just an enjoyable blockbuster flick. I don’t have too much to complain about. Did anyone else not know Kevin Bacon was in this movie before they saw it? I was so surprised and then he wound up being a major character!
Incredible! My favorite X-Men film so far (because you know there’s going to be more)! Michael Fassbender is so brilliant it’s not even funny, and McAvoy really takes the comic book stuff seriously, which is always great to see! The kids were also fantastic, and it’s great to see Kevin Bacon in a big role in a big movie! Vaughn does a wonderful job here, getting the feel of the comic books just right. The visual effects were great, leading to an all-around great film! Easily the best film of the summer (that I’ve seen, and admittedly that’s not many)!
It was fun. Me and my friends didn’t like the effects as much as al b seems to have. The green screen effects were noticeably bad.
I’ve been hating every big film this far but this one had me. Vaughn directed it so well. So much interesting choices and things going on there. The cut in the office of Shaw at the beginning of the film, revealing the butcher’s tools was mindblowing. Also his use if graphic matches really established the dichotomy of the film even more. Fassbender, McAvoy and Lawrence were all so good in this film too. I really loved all of them.
And I already hate the people that are complaining there’s too little “fun”. Geez, too little action, too much action. It tires me a littel, luckily I’ll just see it again because I liked it so much.
I loved it but I agree on the uneven tone. Scenes without McAvoy or Fassbender, as few as they were, seemed as if they were from a different film. But the performances of the aforementioned and their chemistry together was enough for the film to be a big success with me.
I liked it very much. I agree with the Bond film comparisons, although it has a bit more polish than most of the early Bond films. Jennifer Lawrence (now a certified obsession of mine) was the bright spot for me. Fassbender and McAvoy were every bit as good as they could have been and really transform the film.
It’s fun, a little light throughout, but it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Wasn’t a huge fan of how they handled the Cuban Missile Crisis aspect, felt sloppy and rushed, and without enough tension. But thankfully, Fassbender and McAvoy get you past Vaughn’s spotty direction.
After this movie, I’m thinking January Jones is less Grace Kelly and more Catherine Deneuve. Overall, it worked because the cast are real actors who are generally respected.
It felt like it had one too many plot strands. Otherwise, it gets nearly everything right. Much better than X-Men, X2, Ratnershit, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
I can honestly say that I enjoyed it more than The Dark Knight and Spiderman 2. I’m not saying it’s necessarily better than those two films. It’s a comic book film that isn’t embarrassed to be a comic book film.
Um… I absolutely hated this film. So much of it felt obvious, crude, and forced, Matthew Vaughn is one of my least favorite directors who ever lived. If there were films that didn’t do anything really interesting, at least they didn’t repulse me the way this film did. I liked the plot, but it felt way too ill served by the clunky and apparent script and the previously mentioned awful direction. Performances by Fassbender, Lawrence, and McAvoy are great, but they can’t redeem this least subtle of film experiences.
I don’t know jack about X-Men (only saw the first film and never read the comics) so I went into this with no preconceived ideas. I thought the whole thing was pretty preposterous, even for a comic book superhero film. Thank God for McAvoy and Fassbender, who gave good performances. Kevin Bacon seems to be having a lot of fun, but I think an actor with more weight would have made a more frightening villain. I almost want to take back Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar nomination after such a poor showing in this (though, granted, she doesn’t have much to do). I’ve seen far worse but I was never engaged so I ended up focusing on the score. That only made things worse. Oh well. Maybe if you’re an X-Men aficionado (which I assume there are some) you’ll get more out of it.
“After this movie, I’m thinking January Jones is less Grace Kelly and more Catherine Deneuve”
Did you seriously just compare January Jones to Catherine Deneuve? *sprinkles holy water on my laptop*
The first half was an absolute mess, though it improved once they had a big set piece to focus on instead of jumbling willy nilly around the world and cruising by millions of reasons why everything that happened in this movie couldn’t happen (really? the CIA’s going to let them walk out of langley? Really). And it had some of the worst dialogue I’ve heard in a while. When Rose Byrne gets back in her car in Las Vegas and her partner turns to her and says, “What are we gonna do?” and she responds “We have to find an expert on mutation” I laughed out loud. The set-up and editing made it sound like it was supposed to be some bad-ass one liner.
Too unfocused. Too urgent. Too much urgently unfocused score.
Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy make this film. The rest of them are fine, but the next film really only needs them and maybe Rose Byrne and January Jones–well, maybe just Byrne. Or just use Fassbender. Fassbender as Magneto is the *&^ing truth.
Best superhero movie since The Dark Knight. Yep.
I don’t get the January Jones obsession. Including, frankly, aesthetically.
***Best superhero movie since The Dark Knight. Yep.***
What’s the competition, really?
Better than good, but worse than great. It’s very likeable.
Spider-Man 2 is still the best comic book movie, The Dark Knight doesn’t count as one, because it’s just too awesome.
If you don’t like January Jones and you’re not obsessed, please, watch Mad Men. Betty Draper is one of the most complex characters ever created.
Filipe
One of the most complex characters ever created? oh dear. Don’t get me wrong, I think January Jones is an adequate actress but comparing her to Catherine Deneuve? that’s outright insulting.
January Jones and Jennifer Lawrence are hot.
January Jones owns her role as Emma Frost. The two leads were excellent as expected. I love Jennifer Lawrence and she did fine, I don’t think someone else could’ve done it better but that’s not to say someone else couldn’t have done it.
I liked but didn’t love the movie. I would have to rank it below Singer’s films but it is probably better than Last Stand (which I felt was good as a summer action film, poor as an X-Men movie) and a huge improvement over Origins: Wolverine. Some of the things I liked about the movie were the cast, particularly Fassbender (who if the year ended now would be near the top of my best actor list), the training segments which I thought were just great, and the way it felt like a perfect prequel to the first two films.
My dislikes were the way the first act of the film dragged with too many plot strands and also felt a bit too dark at times for my tastes (kinda funny because the First Class comics series, which the film shares pretty much nothing with, is very colorful and lighthearted), and I thought some of the visual effects and Beast’s make-up were rather poor. Those may have been an outcome of the rushed production schedule but it was still a problem for a big budget film such as this.
Did anybody else notice that the music in the scene where Fassbender moves the satellite was a COMPLETE ripoff of “Time” from Inception? And at the end of the movie the score turned into “Journey to the Line” from The Thin Red Line (but both are Zimmer and very similar so I suppose it was still just Inception they were intending to copy…)
Better than I expected at first, with all the problems during pre-production and filming, but it’s not an awesome masterpiece or the best superhero film since whatever.
It has it’s share of problems, including one of the worst scores in recent history of film, but also some qualities, including great performances by Fassbender and Mcavoy.
It’s above average for a blockbuster, but not unforgettable.
Also just to go briefly into January Jones since she seems to have generated some discussion. I have never seen Mad Men but felt she was simply awful in Unknown and on Saturday Night Live, and have not been impressed with her acting abilities in anything else.
But it seemed to me life the biggest part of her First Class role was to look hot in her underwear, and that she can certainly do IMO.
Bryce — absolutely. Maps perfectly onto”Journey to the Line,” which Zimmer himself ripped off for Inception.
Anyway, what a mess. Magneto: Nazi Hunter is a fun (?) concept for the opening — sort of like rebooting Munich as a Daniel Craig revenge thriller. Then it plays in the key of Austin Powers for a while, before becoming a Mighty Ducks type training the comically inept recruits movie, then modifying the silly two-ships set piece from The Dark Knight. It’s Frankenstein’s monster, cobbled out of the guts and offal of other creatures.
I loved it. The Dark knight is a better film. So is Spiderman 2 but, this entertainment. It’s the most fun I have had with a blockbuster comic book movie.
Also, some people are touching on the cheese factor of the movies and some of the silly parts. Vaughn is harkening back to the 60’s with retro style comedy, storytelling, and acting. I thought it was genius.
And whoever said it was a little dark in the beginning must be Helen Keller. Yes we see a “darker” past with Erik (*SPOILER ALERT!*) but when his mother get shot and he releases his rage I wanted crack up because I noticed after the fact he was screaming “NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!”
Awesomeness incarnate. @Ben M. I’ve never read the comics but there was pep and cheer and wonder and more colors than what a unicorn regurgitates. Maybe we saw a different movie.
I might be overreacting (and overwriting…) but this movie made me have nerdgasms and I dont even read comic books, I just really admire the original X-Men series. (sans like 87% of Last Stand.) Best part. “F*** Off!”
Part of me really liked it, another part still enjoyed it, but had a few problems.
I don’t mind the smaller characters getting less development, but at times it makes their motivations and actions either unclear or rushed such as the characters like Angel and Darwin.
Bacon’s a fine bad guy, but he is too busy scheming to be presented with interesting thoughts. I know 20th Century Fox weren’t thinking that far ahead, but I feel like Magneto’s transition should have been in the following installment.
@ Alex L.
There were A LOT of unintentionally funny parts, much like the NEEEEIIIIINNNN!!!!
My whole row started cracking up when Kevin’s Bacon character said something like, “they will have you enslaved” and of all the mutants to cut to for a reaction shot they chose the black one. The editors really dropped the ball there.
@ Alex L. there are many different interpretations of the X-Men over the years, and some are darker. But I got some First Class comics when the film was announced a couple of years ago, and that series is classified as an all-ages comic with no death (from what I’ve read of it), a lot of humor, and cross-overs with other Marvel characters. Though while the film originally was supposed to be closer to those comics, when Singer came on board he pretty much wrote a new story and just kept the title.
The film does have some comic relief moments and color in the art direction, but I did find the cinematography slightly on the darker side overall, and the Nazi scenes and some of the kills were far more intense than anything in those comics. Not really a huge issue as some of the revenge scenes and CIA agents dropped from the sky scene are really the only parts that struck me as a bit too violent and grim, but I thought the differences were interesting.
I liked the film. It was fun, not perfect, but fun. This may sound odd, but I loved what youthful energy it had. Lately I feel like superhero flicks are getting lost in their own seriousness and self-importance, but this had some comic relief and vitality I enjoyed. I thought the stylish Mad Men-era art direction was smart and still interesting. Finally, I hope this is the true coming out party for Michael Fassbender who to me is quickly becoming one of the most versatile and impressive actors. Jennifer Lawrence was really great too.
Kris, you are reading my mind. January Jones is a terrible, one-note actress, and frankly I’m glad she’s being phased out of Mad Men.
I’m relieved that I enjoyed First Class so much. As a gigantic Michael Fassbender fan, he was just brilliant as Magneto/Erik, and both he and the wonderful James McAvoy added so much thespian class to this marvel comic. I was a little underwhelmed by the supporting cast of young mutants, but it’s ok, the entire film was fun to watch.
Michael has been properly introduced to North America! What took ya’ll so long?
The only thing that Mad Men has done wrong is give January Jones any attention at all. Was Elizabeth Banks unavailable?
It amazes me how opposite reactions can be. One guy says it has one of the best scores of any recent blockbuster. Another guy says it has one of the worst. One person says it’s dark and dramatic. Another person says it’s cheesy and lightweight.
It can’t be both. Make up your mind, people.
I certainly didn’t go into this movie expecting to see a masterpiece, my only expectation was that it would have to be better than X3 and Wolverine. Thankfully it was way better than both of those films, and imho it was on the same level as X1 and X2. For a summer blockbuster film, it was unbelievably high quality, and for a comic book adaptation it established a great balance of fun campy setpieces and well-executed action scenes. It didn’t take itself altogether too seriously, but it wasn’t operating as a spoof either. And for a time when superhero films are being “rebooted”, it was an odd combination of being a prequel/remix of the previously established timeframe.
At first I had complained about the characters chosen to be in the film and how they weren’t the original group of heroes in the first X-Men comics. But after seeing the film and how they chose to use the characters they picked, I am happy with the changes in the end. I thought the actors they picked were a huge casting triumph, and they delivered all across the board. There were some plodding moments in the storyline, and some of the actors were given pretty thankless roles without much to do (Angel, Darwin, Havoc, Banshee, Azazel, and not to mention Riptide who didn’t even have a single line of dialogue!) But for the most part everything mostly worked, and some moments were extraordiary to the point that I can definitely say I was completely blown away and would love to see another franchise built out of this prequel/remix.
Oh, and gotta love the Fassbender!
It’s alright. Dumb, silly summer fun… really not much more you could ask for out of a movie like this. I liked the 60s decor and I was quite impressed by the cinematography. Sleek and well shot. The young cast injected some vigor into it all, although you could still see what a difference it makes when you’re left without the big guns like McKellen and Stewart. There was definitely a lack of gravitas that something like “X2” had in spades. However, I really loved the scenes between the kids. They had great chemistry when they were joking around with each other.
I also noticed them cutting to the black guy (Darwin) after Bacon says “they’ll enslave you all.” Weird choice. And is it just me, or was Angel a totally different character in “X-Men: The Last Stand?” I could have sworn in that one it was guy with literal angel wings. In this one it’s a girl with dragonfly wings.
As a self-professed X-Men comic book geek, I think my amusement in the film was a bit different from most viewers.
Plenty of excitement but not the emotional promise that they could have dug deeper into. Fassbender really is the sexiest and most charming actor working right now, though.
My full geeked-out review is on my blog; click my name to read the dorkiness. Ha.
Great enjoyable film, I agree that it’s the best superhero film since TDK (not like there’s been that much competition, of course). I liked that it seemed to follow Star Trek’s formula of bringing in young, fresh faces to give it, as someone upthread pointed out, a youthful vitality and energy that really helped make the film enjoyable. The visual effects were a little spotty at times, but the actors really helped to sell it. I liked the period aspect of the film as well, it makes me look forward to Captain America for that alone.
Best Actor for Fassbender…?
And it took me forever to realize that that was Rebecca Romijn!
Let me get this out of the way first; I’m with Kris in saying that January Jones does not do anything for me at all. Jennifer Lawrence on the other hand…I think the best directorial decision was to let the camera linger on her legs frequently through the film.
Overall, I agree with the most of the sentiments here. I think it was generally a terrific film that was held back by being a bit tonally uneven with some ordinary special effects. The whole ‘mutant and proud’ thing was painfully heavy handed, especially given how deftly they handled the Erik/Xavier moral dilemma.
Having said that, it was entertaining and fun. Fassbender clearly stole the show and McAvoy balanced him well. The story was exciting and I felt it was well paced. It can stand pretty comfortably amongst the better of the comic book movies.
I saw it today and thought it was AWESOME! Exactly what I wanted from an X-Men movie – good character development and super powers. It was funny, action-packed and stylish. The script was pretty good too.
and yes, January Jones and Jennifer Lawrence is hot.
M1 and Squasher88
What an in depth and thorough analysis you have there.
It’s a movie based off comic books, for people complaining about ridiculous premises…really?
Why else would Moira want an expert on mutation? if they didn’t go that route we wouldn’t even have had this movie in the first place.
stop nit-picking and just enjoy it for what it was.
that said, James McAvoy was a great Xavier, and Michael Fassbender was just incredible. Really brought gravity and motivation into his character and easily the standout role of the movie.
Incredible! Second only to Dark Knight this was the best comic book movie yet!
I thought it was a very entertaining film. I thought McAvoy was fantastic as Professor X and I thought Fassbender was able to successfully tap into the complexities of Magneto. I thought Kevin Bacon was having a grand old time with his villainous role as Sebastian Shaw, and I thought the action sequences were well-structured and pretty suspenseful. The fact that it was very well-acted brought a great seriousness to the film, which I felt strengthened the drama tremendously and made it quite enjoyable to watch. Yet I do agree with Kris that there were parts of the film that felt unbalanced and separated from the whole in terms of tone and energy. But I don’t think they hindered the film to a point where it loses its overall entertainment value. Pretty solid work overall in my opinion.
I loved it. In fact, I’ve liked all the big tentpoles thus far (FAST FIVE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4, THOR). Looking at Kris’ review of SUPER 8 and the lame-o previews I’ve seen, that will be funny if the one original tentpole is the stinker of the season.
Kevin Bacon was grand fun as the baddie, the two leads did the whole comic-book-as- Shakespeare thing, and Ms. Lawrence racked up yet another good role. Loved the historical re-write and the Connery-Bond feel. The costumes and art direction did a good job of re-creating the era. That said, I wish the director would have immersed his young cast in the culture of the era more thoroughly (as Peter Weir speaks of doing on the commentary for DEAD POET’S SOCIETY). Also, the plethora of CGI, while fine for a modern movie, clashed with the 1960’s aura. Of course, mutant FX should remain consistent with what we’ve seen in the other movies, but I would have preferred if they could have looked for less-modern-looking FX solutions for the non-mutant FX (ship battles, etc.) Of course, that would have turned off the teenage audience even more. Still, SHUTTER ISLAND, for example, managed to keep me feeling I was fully in the 1950s by keeping its FX less intrusively modern (I’m sure there was a lot of CGI in that, but it wasn’t used distractingly)
What I liked the most is that it was a good story, well told, with engaging characters, which should be the goal of any movie.
Ad, although, I’m a casual viewer, not a readerof the comics, I preferred Ratner’s movie (which reminded me of 60s era Star TREK in that it wore its message on its sleeve + finally gave Halle Berry enough to do + wrapped things up with gusto) to Singer’s first XMEN, which seemed largely interested in setting its plates in motion and little else.
Lawrence was god awful, and there were some real shitty lines in this. Still it’s pretty good, and Fassbender was awesome in it. Seeing the real Magneto costume was icing on the cake.
I mean, it’s got a lot of cheese and some elements that weren’t great, but really, it was an exciting film for me as a return to form for what used to be a beloved series. X-Men 3 is probably one of my 5 least favorite films ever, and Wolverine was only okay.
This brought back at least some of the punch that the original two films had. It worked well as an origin story and had some parts that really got me excited. I loved the infamous cameo and I was genuinely surprised at numerous parts. Well done is all I can say, one of my favorites of the year so far.