Review of X-Men: First Class (2011) by Mikey M — 22 May 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

I came into this film, thinking maybe, just maybe, I would finally find a film from this franchise that I would adore. Sadly, this film felt a bit short in reaching that goal but it is definitely one of the better attempts within the franchise.

The film shows the beginnings of two of the most important figures in the series, while wrapping it around a tale of conflict and war between cultures who have different views on humanity's future. The premise does seem very engaging, and the plot does play out in an interesting way; keeping me in wonder just exactly how it would play out and how the relationships in the film become what they are in heading towards Singer's films. I was most interested in the internal battle between the humans and mutants, mostly shown in the perspective of the latter, for the future of civilization. I am aware that this idea have been explored before in the previous X-Men films but the opportunity to see the conception of this war made it a much more pleasing experience. Also I thought the idea of having the film's story be wrapped around the Cuban Missile Crisis was quite clever and made the film's characters and their intentions to feel essential. My main issue in the film is found in it's characters, with the bulk of them being quite dull and their abilities lacking any reason to get excited about; this wouldn't be so bad if it was mostly found in it's supporting players, but it's also found in the film's main antagonist. Sebastian Shaw just didn't prove to be the kind of threat I expected him to be, physically and mentally; even if his aim was quite interesting. It was during the third act, after the fighting between Shaw's and Xavier's posse, where the plot and characters did grip me. The film also featured a romantic story line between Hank and Raven, which I felt was forced in order to appeal to the audience that buy into these kind of stories. A similar problem was also found in the relationship between Raven and Charles, as they seem to move it forward at the start of the film, then suddenly placed it at a halt, only to progress again hastily during the final moments of the third act. I think it wouldn't be such crutch for me if the film placed a deeper emphasis on it, but it would have completely changed the tone of the film, which most people would be upset with.

I found the film's dialogue to be a hit and miss for me. There were at times where the dialogue really hit their marks, but as I started to enjoy the words that are coming out of the character's mouths, they go on and say something incredibly predictable and conspicuous; a clear example of it would be the final shot of the film, which left me cringing and annoyed.

The film's action sequences were overall satisfying but overall, could have been executed with more grace. A few of the sequences in this film relied too heavily on visual effects, which is definitely something of common usage today, but was handled in a way that looked and felt really poor. The effects lacked texture and at times felt too ambitious for the team to actually accomplish. Even some from Singer's previous films looked and was handled better.

The film's photography and score was slightly disappointing. The cinematography felt simplistic, lacking in any sense of style and unable to provide the characters any sense of texture that emotional scenes with certain characters definitely needed. The action sequence could have definitely been executed much better, as there were multiple moments where I was aware that it was done with a green screen. The film's score was definitely an improvement when compared to the photography but it's still far from perfect. The score sometimes lacked originality, playing cues that felt similar to other big budget films that came out around it. I may be a bit harsh, as there were a couple of moments that did have me feel immersed in the tension that the director was trying to create.

I don't wanna go into heavy detail on each individual actors in this film as there are just too much of them to praise. Almost all of the actors in this film were fantastic in their role, really capturing the essence of their characters. The actors really held the film up high throughout, elevating the film's slightly texture-less story. I want note that McAvoy and Fassbender, as Charles and Erik, really gave it their all; showcasing strong emotions for their characters and wonderful chemistry between the two actors.

X-Men First Class definitely showed a lot of potential but again, like the previous X-Men films, fails to have me be fully invested in this world and the problems found in it. Luckily this film featured wonderful performances from it's actors and some clever elements found in the film's writing.