REVIEW #59 X-Men First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class is a film directed by Matthew Vaughn based on the X-Men marvel comics. Set in the Cold War Charles Xavier is approached by the CIA to help stop Sebastian Shaw, a fellow mutant trying to cause world war three. Meanwhile Erik Lensherr (AKA Magneto) is also hunting Shaw for killing his mother during the Second World War.

CAST & THE ACTING 

It was always going to be hard to cast a new Charles Xavier and Magneto considering how iconic Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen we’re in the original X-Men films in the early 2000’s. However James McAvoy as Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Magneto, in my opinion was the perfect casting. Both actors delivered brilliant performances as younger versions of their characters. Especially Fassbender who portrayed a man really conflicted between good and evil which was ultimately driven by the tragedy he had been through in his life. Jennifer Lawrence was cast as Mystique which was a complete U-turn on the mystique we saw in the original films, she was good and kind hearted and a best friend to Charles Xavier, although perhaps not comic book accurate I really liked that take on the character. Nicholas Hoult played Beast and Kevin Bacon played Sebastian Shaw, with many other familiar faces popping up throughout the film. So overall the acting was good!

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

I really enjoyed seeing the younger versions of these iconic X-Men characters and I actually enjoyed watching those inter-relationships develop over the main storyline. It’s ultimately the first edition of what would become the X-Men teaming up to try and stop Sebastian Stan cause world war 3, in a world where mutants haven’t really been discovered yet. That main storyline was good but it was seeing how Charles and Erik first met, seeing the friendship between Mystique and Charles or the relationship between Beast and Mystique. All these little sub plots really got you invested in the characters which I really enjoyed. I loved the little cameo from Wolverine too, even if it was insignificant to the film. It gives the audiences the first glimpse of the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, whilst highlighting the conflicting beliefs of Charles and Erik.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

Out of all the latest X-Men films I’d probably rank First Class lowest in terms of cinematography, not that it was at all bad but there weren’t to many scenes you would remember for looking great. The special effects on the other hand were pretty good, it all looked realistic which helped keep your attention on the film, whereas if the effects were bad you would immediately be distracted by that and ultimately you would be put off from the outset. Some examples would be Havok using his powers, that was done really well and so was Banshees flight scenes. All the battle sequences looked good, especially the final battle on the beach where we see a real display of Magnetos powers which was great to watch. 

OVERALL (7.5/10)

I enjoyed this film, it was the first film with the new cast and they didn’t let us down with every casting being pretty much spot on. The acting from McAvoy and Fassbender was great and they really done their iconic characters justice. The overall storyline was pretty average but the sub plots and inter-relationships between characters made up for that because it really got you invested in those characters. The cinematography was kept basic but the special effects were decent, looked realistic which made for some pretty great scenes. It is probably my least favourite out of all the latest X-Men films but it laid solid foundations for future films.

Thanks for reading

Callan