"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, June 15, 2014

X-Men: First Class (2011, PG-13)

 
Now that it’s summer and I have time to go to the movies, I figured it was time to finally see First Class before Days of Future Past leaves theaters.  There really aren’t as many superhero period pieces as there ought to be, especially considering the long history that so many comic series have.  While X-Men:  First Class doesn’t reach the heights of the first Captain America film, it’s a nice direction for a franchise that lost its way with The Last Stand.
 
Set in 1962, First Class is equal parts swinging ‘60s fun and Cold War drama.  Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr meet and begin a joint venture to discover other mutants like themselves.  Initial solidarity gives way to clashes, which grows into the schism we all know is coming.  There are Russians, great fight scenes, a nuclear standoff, and a shocking number of scantily-clad women.  (I mean, I know it was the ‘60s, but seriously – every single woman in this movie is dressed in ridiculously short skirts and/or shirts with plunging necklines and, on numerous occasions, nothing but lingerie.  I rolled my eyes when the X-Men are suited up for the final battle, and all the men have their shirts zipped up tight while Mystique’s is low enough to show off her blue cleavage.  What’s up with that?)
 
But I digress.  Since the film is a prequel to the original trilogy, it by necessity recasts a lot of people we know.  I don’t know that anyone could match Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen – that was a match made in geek heaven – but James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender do well as Professor X and Magneto.  Their tumultuous relationship forms the center of the film, and it’s compelling to watch them inevitably diverge in their philosophies.  My girl Jennifer Lawrence brings a lot of grit and heart to Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult (Tony from Skins) makes a great Beast; their subplot is terrific, a dynamic that demonstrates the Charles vs. Erik debate in microcosm.  Not being a comic book reader, I wasn’t familiar with the other mutants featured in the film, but they round out the team nicely.
 
The central ideological conflict between Charles and Erik is, for me, the most intriguing part of any X-Men film.  Though Erik is generally painted as the villain, and he’s definitely gone down a villainous route, it’s not as simple as saying Charles is right and Erik is wrong.  Charles believes in celebrating and fostering mutants’ abilities while at the same time protecting anonymity – for Charles, abilities are something that should only be displayed in private, and mutants themselves should blend into society at large.  By contrast, Erik believes that mutants shouldn’t have to hide who they are, and that assimilating is tantamount to kowtowing to the less-evolved general population; he rails against Charles’s belief that Mystique, for instance, should always maintain a façade and disguise her natural blue self.  Obviously, Erik takes things too far, adopting a stance of mutant superiority and hostilely regarding people without abilities, but Charles’s custom of falling in line with societal expectations is problematic as well.  I like that there isn’t an evident, cut-and-dry answer – it makes Magneto a more interesting villain, and the story on the whole is richer for it.
 
Warnings
 
Some language, comic book violence, thematic elements, and sexual content (including blue boobs.)

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