"X-Men: First Class"

X-Men: First Class - Directed by Matthew Vaughn, written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, and Vaughn, story by Bryan Singer and Sheldon Turner, starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kevin Bacon - Rated PG-13

Cuban Missile Crisis, Nazi hunting, Fassbender as Magneto? Rock on!




The summer of superheroes, sequels, and prequels marches on but this prequel stands out because it works as a standalone film. X-Men: First Class still plays fan service enough to please the devotees but newcomers to the series are likely to enjoy this prequel as well. The film is a mixture of history, humor, and action that stands leaps and bounds above the previous prequel, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

While the last film in the series explained the origin of fan favorite Wolverine, this film leaves that character aside to explain the complicated friendship between Professor X/Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), all set to the background of the Cold War. The Cold War aspect works perfectly as an origin story to the X-Men universe as the original three films are basically about a cold war among mutants that eventually turns into a real war. These comic book characters have always been ripe for comparison to American history, from civil rights to Communist fear-mongering. First Class keeps that tradition alive by actively implanting the mutants in the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

The film isn’t just a about history, though. It’s primarily a film about how Magneto and Xavier met, became friends, and eventually ended up on opposite sides of a war. Fassbender and McAvoy are the glue that holds the film together. They work great together and if anything, there are not enough scenes featuring the duo. To be honest, Fassbender stands out a bit more than McAvoy, and his early Nazi-hunting scenes were interesting enough to be a movie on their own.

But First Class also has to give the background on some other characters like Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Emma Frost (January Jones), Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and many others. There may be a few too many characters, actually, but it’s not much of a problem for the film. The adversarial role goes to Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, a kind of precursor to Magneto in the later films, helmet and all. Bacon adds a bit of fun to the movie as the evil, Hugh Hefner-esque villain.

The inclusion of so many characters means that there is a lot of ground covered by the film and most of your questions about the original films will most likely be answered, though First Class will likely leave a few attentive viewers scratching their heads because some things mentioned in the previous four films are kind of ignored or flat out contradicted. It’s all pretty harmless stuff in the larger scheme of things but dorkier audience members might cry foul.

All comic book issues aside, First Class is successful in summer blockbuster terms as there are plenty of laughs and the action is compelling and easy to follow. Oh, and it wasn’t in 3D, which is very refreshing for a big summer movie. Some of the effects and costume choices might look a bit goofy to some, but when you factor in the 1960s setting, it all adds up and gives the film a distinctive style that sets it apart from other films in the series (something Wolverine failed to do.) It seems like director Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass) was just what the series needed.

First Class isn’t without its faults, however. As stated earlier, the film would have been more interesting had the focus been squarely on Fassbender and McAvoy. For instance, there were some great moments in a training montage in the second half of the film; if there had been two or three more scenes like that that the film would have been improved. To make room, the side story between Beast and Mystique could’ve been excised, since that storyline had already been covered with Rogue and Ice Man in the third film. Also, not all of the acting is top notch, January Jones is once again a weak link (as she was in Unknown), even though her role is to basically just sit around and look pretty. These are petty problems in an otherwise awesome movie, though.

X-Men: First Class should be enjoyable for fans and newbies alike. It does what a prequel should for the fans: it makes re-watching the original film a richer experience. Also, the film features one of the most crowd-pleasing cameos I have ever witnessed and that short scene alone makes it worth watching for any fans of the series. Those not in the know will most likely enjoy this film that has all the action and humor you could ask for in a summer blockbuster, along with a compelling story of friendship and war. Don’t worry that it’s the fifth film in the series or that it’s a prequel; X-Men: First Class is its own film and it’s a pretty good one at that.


Random Thoughts (SPOILERS)

Here are some inconsistencies I noticed. Moira’s appearance: she shows up as Olivia Williams in the post-credit scene of X3 as a nurse, so how does it make sense that she's a CIA agent in her twenties in the 1960s?

Xavier seeing the helmet: if you watch the first film again, Xavier seems surprised that Magneto has a helmet that blocks his ability, yet he had to have noticed the helmet at the end of this film.

The ages of Xavier and Magneto: Xavier claims, in the first film, that they first met when X was 17. I know Xavier is a genius and all, but you can't tell me that he is supposed to be 17 in this film.

Emma Frost was in Wolverine and appeared to be younger even though that film takes place after this one.

The Wolverine cameo was definitely one of the highlights of the film and an excellent use of the sole f-bomb in the film, but it does cause problems. Both Magneto and Xavier seem unaware of Wolverine in the first film. I suppose it could be argued away because they were visiting many mutants and never really got a good look at Wolvie, but it seems like they should have a bit of memory about him.

Speaking of Wolverine, remember at the end of Origins, when that weird CG-young Patrick Stewart shows up, bald and standing? Xavier can't walk at the end of the this one and he still has his hair, so that's messed up now.

For the record, I am completely fine with First Class ignoring the timeline of Wolverine. The fact that that film is contradicted so much seems to say that Marvel has kind of discredited it. Not sure if it's even meant to be counted as part of the canon anymore. I'm okay with leaving it out. Especially since that film messed with some characters as well, like Sabretooth, who went from a cool, wise-cracking Liev Schreiber to a mute wrestler/actor Tyler Mane.

I am sure I missed some issues, but the point is this film stands on its own in many ways, including it's place in the canon.

Finally, I am serious. I want to see Michael Fassbender in Erik Lehnsherr: Nazi Hunter.

"The Conspirator"

The Conpirator - Directed by Robert Redford, written by James D. Solomon, story by Solomon and Gregory Bernstein, starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, and Danny Huston - Rated PG-13

"In times of war, the law falls silent."



Historical dramas are a bit rare in the blockbuster era. Movies that deal with the non-violent aspects of history aren’t easily marketable and don’t appeal to younger audiences. Thankfully a movie like The Conspirator can still sneak its way onto the big screen. (Unfortunately, though, it has been largely ignored by the movie-going masses since its release a couple weeks ago.)

The Conspirator tells the overlooked story of Mary Surrat (Robin Wright), the boarding house owner who was accused of conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln and others (Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward were targeted as well, but were not killed). The film is basically a courtroom drama set during the angry months following Lincoln’s death. That is the most important factor in the film, the main theme being law vs. vengeance.

Surrat is defended by Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), a former Union soldier who doubts his own client’s innocence. Of course as Aiken starts to investigate Surrat’s involvement his mind starts to change. The story really picks up as Aiken finds the deck stacked against him. It seems that everyone (particularly Secretary of War Edwin Stanton [Kevin Kline]) wants a quick trial that ends with death sentences for as many defendants as possible. The main conflict of the movie boils down to this: should due process be followed even when the nation is in a crisis?

That conflict makes the movie a bit political. But The Conspirator is still a movie first and a statement second, so more on the politics later. As a movie, The Conspirator manages to be entertaining. There is a wide cast of characters portrayed by an impressive cast. Mainly, though, the film works if you have an interest in history. There is much effort to give the film an 1860s look from the costumes to the locations and, more importantly, to the lighting of the film. Normally lighting isn’t an element that jumps out at the viewer but here the reliance on sunlight and candles gives the film a distinctive look. Director Robert Redford also tries to spice the courtroom proceedings up with pans and zooms, but these little touches ended being a bit on the distracting side.

The camera movements were a slight annoyance because they were unnecessary. If you’ve paid to see this movie you know what you’re in for: a courtroom drama in which most of the action consists of dialogue. The Conspirator succeeds because the court case is riveting and, especially if you’re not very educated about the event, it maintains a bit of suspense throughout.

The performances help out quite a bit as well. James McAvoy does a fine job of first showing contempt then compassion for his client. And he handles the typical courtroom speeches quite well. Robin Wright adds a nice steely resolve to Surrat. Kevin Kline shows equal parts patriotism, gravitas, and self-righteousness as Stanton. There are many other examples since the cast includes small roles from the likes of Shea Whigham, Stephen Root, James Badge Dale, Evan Rachel Wood, Norman Reedus, Danny Huston, Colm Meaney, Tom Wilkinson, and Justin Long.

That last name might throw you off a bit and it should. Long is a decent enough actor and he’s fine in this film, but he’s just a distracting presence here. Some comedic actors are just too typecast to make the foray into dramatic roles. But that’s not even it. Justin Long can’t pull off a period piece in which he has a big moustache. He just looks goofy.

Long shouldn’t have been there and there are other things that could’ve been cut from the film. The locations are nice and all, but there are far too many establishing shots in which McAvoy rides up to a location and makes his entrance. Once is fine to establish the location, but after that it’s okay to simply cut to him at the location rather than make the audience watch another minute roll by in which a character approaches a place he has been multiple times before.

The above problems are miniscule, though. Overall, The Conspirator is an entertaining historical drama. It’s fairly accurate as well. Of course there are some instances where the film moves away from history (some people are cut out, etc.) but if you want a complete historical account you should read a book about it anyway.

What makes a movie like The Conspirator truly work isn’t exact historical accuracy anyway; it’s the ability to apply past events to current ones. The whole idea of the law being suspended a bit in times of great stress can be applied to multiple scenarios: the treatment of Japanese in America after Pearl Harbor, or the stereotyping of Muslims after 9/11. Some may cry “Liberal!” at that notion but regardless of your politics you can’t deny parallels to history. It is possible you will disagree with the statement this film makes, though. There are certainly people out there that feel our laws shouldn’t completely apply to all citizens depending on our country’s situation.

There may be some who disagree with the film’s statements, but it would be hard to deny that The Conspirator is a well made film that can spark conversation. With the summer movie season about to kick into high gear, you would do well to check this out, because there aren’t many thought-provoking movies hitting the multiplexes in the near future.