One of the greatest misfortunes to come from the imaginative minds of writers is the origin story. The origin story is destructive and poisonous when it is produced nowadays. Instead of just showing and telling the introductory text of a newly created character in a simple manner at the top of the story, many wannabe fresh writers or money-grubbing, heavily-editing producers want it later. After all, why relate and enjoy the growth of someone when you can see how badass they are now. Of course, the other newly popular origin method is to look back at the past of a popular character and create it, revisit it, revise it, and/or make a new canonical origin. Plot holes and a new wave of unpopularity be damned.
A theatrical showing of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is a giant question mark for viewers. After a mediocre finale for the original trilogy and a previous origin film that was a humongous disaster, many would choose to avoid another helping of the popular superhero group when all of attention and production is focused on the next Marvel group, the Avengers. Despite a high pedigree in its cast and crew, can the general public's fear and dread be dissipated away from this new origin product? Why yes, yes it can because X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is a darkly satisfying film that might be the top superhero film of the summer outputs.
Instead of focusing strictly only on the mutant relationships and expected story developments in the foreground, Matthew Vaughn lustily looks to the background, the complex social tone and rich color of the 1960's, and wraps it all around the plot and characters for some much needed allure. Sure, it may be deemed too campy at times for some but that's when Vaughn and his writers make sure to include harsh violence and black humor. The film is more of a spy film than a superhero flick, complete with a leading James Bond figure, global politics, and a major villain who relishes his id. The mutant powers are simply the gadgets, designed for specific and timely purposes, while the real conflict is settled with mind games, fist fights, and heavy weaponry.
The film chronicles the first formation of the X-Men and the friendship and later breakup between the future Professor X and Magneto but it is mostly Magneto's, a.k.a. Erik Lehnsherr, own personal movie. We see what further happened to him in his childhood past in a concentration camp, previously mentioned in X-MEN. There, he becomes the "student"/test subject for a Nazi doctor who studies mutant powers. The young kid later grows up, played by Michael Fassbender, and embarks on a personal mission to kill former and now hiding Nazis to find the location of the doctor. When he eventually finds him, newly dubbed as Sebastian Shaw and played by Kevin Bacon, he fails at his assassination attempt only to team up Charles Xavier and the CIA. They want to stop Shaw's master plan of escalating the Cold War in an attempt for mutants, which Shaw reveals later to be one as well, to become the new rulers of the global political stage.
When you look at the acting, you look solely at three actors: Fassbender, Bacon, and Jennifer Lawrence. They are given the most material and pay it all back and then some. Fassbender, in his most striking American film role, creates a truly human portrayal of a man consumed by his guilt and violent instincts. Bacon continues his patented scenery-chewing even when he viciously kills someone without a show of remorse. Lawrence, who plays Raven a.k.a. Mystique, has the most diffcult task as the central character for the mutant debate and is able to handle it with a real range of emotions. Her only fault is due to the makers, as her powers as a shapeshifter aren't used more often considering the film is all about spy games and deception. James McAvoy does a good job as Xavier, bringing in his noted superdickery and smugness, and Rosa Bryne is well as Moira MacTaggert. The lone elephant in the room is January Jones, whose flat facials and boring line reading causes the viewer to question the powers of her character Emma Frost. Is she supposed to be a telepath or someone who creates charisma black holes?
The story has some great drama and comedic parts but the major theme of mutant tolerance is very misguided. The film very much agrees with Magneto's viewpoint of the world fearing and hating mutants for not being "normal". Xavier's opinion of equal rights is muted thanks to a lack of the superheroes using their powers for public good and his own egotistic and sexual nature. But the debate isn't able to totally work due to the laughable portrayal of mutant racism. It comes off very forced and unbelievable, completely unlike the famous Iceman scene in X2: X-MEN UNITED. The script also greatly fails in one important scene where the new mutant recruits, all of whom receive little characterization, lose two members due to a sudden heel turn and a death with no emotion weight for the viewer.
Despite these misguided points, the overall film is highly entertaining when its light-hearted and dark, cheesy and serious. The action sequences are well-choreographed even with some problematic special effects. As stated before, the violence is really shocking for a PG-13 film, even with little blood and two especially brutal and gory moments. This humor and horror structure greatly works thanks to Vaughn's direction, which can also be seen better in last year's KICK-ASS, John Matheison's cinematography, and the exceptional editing of Eddie Hamilton and Lee Smith.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is able to overcome its big problems to become another shining example of a good superhero film. It brings tongue-in-cheek comic book humor, 60's chic, and human pathos all together and keep it entirely stable throughout its slightly long running time. If it can have a scene with an undercover woman dressed solely in lingerie without raising an objection, then you know that it works. Also, the big cameo is absolutely fantastic and there is no stinger.
FINAL REVIEW: 4 / 5
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