David O'ConnellX-Men: First Class
May 30th 2011 06:26
From Kick-Ass to X-Men First Class: tackling another comic book adaptation would surely be a daunting task for director Matthew Vaughn, especially one with such a rich lineage and requiring multiple strands to be conjoined coherently. But this origins story has been placed in extremely safe hands: First Class is an unequivocal success, neatly encapsulating the factional beginnings of the world's most notorious mutants and their fight for recognition and liberty from prejudice.
In the film's favour is the manner in which it economically assimilates the story of the X-Men to the point of familiarity - the place where the majority of people (outside of hardcore devotees) will have long had the characters suspended in their mind.
A prologue takes us to an Auschwitz concentration camp and the first explosive burst of mutant ability provoked from a young Eric Lehnsherr (and future Magneto) by the murder of his mother at the hands of arch Nazi villain Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). Then we’re transported to the 1960’s and the deep end of Cold War tensions between the Americans and Russians which the evil Shaw is trying to manipulate to bring about maximum destruction whilst allowing he and his mutants forces, including icy love interest Emma Frost (January Jones) and devilish henchman Azazel (Jason Flemyng), to assume world domination.
Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is the London ethics professor sought out to make sense of the strange data uncovered by agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) during her investigations into the dubious Colonel Hendry (Glenn Morshower). All fingers point to the involvement of Shaw, now regularly rubbing shoulders with various world powerbrokers.
Eric has a personal grudge he wants to settle with Shaw but Xavier is fortunately able to intercede before Eric experiences a potentially fatal rage-fuelled implosion. Convincing him of the wisdom of seeking justice through the weight of numbers, the newly constituted gifted are able to take advantage of a secreted CIA compound overseen by a long derided agent (Oliver Platt) with special interests to send out feelers to others with ‘special’ talents that remain mostly dormant out of necessity in needing to assimilate with society at large.
From these fruitful endeavours a crew of talented young mutants is assembled with the hope that their talents can be practised and utilised for the good of their kind, to bridge barriers to understanding with a sure to be prejudiced human populace.
Xavier’s charges are the pacifists determined to instigate change for the sake of their cause - but in accordance with humans who they would rather accommodate than defy by exploiting their power to decimate any contrary motivations. On the other hand, Magneto’s disciples are the rash, provocative extremists, ready to wager war at the slightest provocation.
With First Class, Vaughn, his regular writing partner Jane Goldman, and further contributors Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz have brilliantly revived the brand after the flat spot that was Wolverine (2009). The shrewd casting is a huge part of the reason why this film is likely to be lauded and become the instigator of renewed interest in future volumes that expand upon the philosophical differences that split the mutant groups down the middle.
McAvoy and Fassbender make great allays and future sparring partners; they’re fresh faces to big budget films of this ilk and, especially true in Fassbender’s case, prodigiously talented. Indeed, the Irishman, whose reputation has grown rapidly since Steve McQueen’s astonishing Hunger (2008) has a couple of scenes that are carried through with a conviction that few actors could have mustered without raising howls of laughter.
The support crew, whether significant or bit players, all contribute to tapestry of characters set to be fleshed out in future instalments. In the case of Bacon, well, he hasn’t stepped into the shoes of such an evil bastard since Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man (2000). Byrne is unfortunately relegated to bystander and becoming a nearly mute accessory once the powers around her are unleashed but Jennifer Lawrence, so astonishing in last year's Winter's Bone (2010) makes a successful, if unspectacular transition to studio features as the shapeshifting Mystique.
Replete with generic but muscular motifs Henry Jackman’s score is suitably grand and dense when the occasion calls for it, though it tends to waver close to what seems to have been an obvious temp-track in Hans Zimmer’s The Thin Red Line (1998) for some of the big operatic moments in the final act.
First Class (2011) is a spectacular action film that will have special significance for fans of the legendary, decades-spanning comic books. Both respectful of its origins and yet unafraid to embrace fresh takes on its interwoven stable of stars and anti-heroes, this is a rewarding, entertaining kick-off point for what will surely be a revitalisation of the X-Men brand.
X-Men: First Class opens in cinemas on Thurday, June 2.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
A rather flat trailer left me uninspired but the fact Matthew Vaughn saw the story as a James Bond style espionage yarn kept me from writing it off.
Your review now makes me a little more intrigued.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic