Movie Review: X-Men First Class

X-Men First Class 

Directed by Matthew Vaughn 

Written by Matthew Vaughn, Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman 

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, 

Release Date June 1st, 2011 

Published May 29th, 2011 

It's not a reboot or a re-imagination. Nor is it a sequel. "X-Men: The First Class" is that rare breed known as the prequel, a recap of events set prior to a previous story. In this case fans of the 'X-Men' movies get to go back in time and see where Professor X and Magneto came from and why they developed into mortal enemies.

A Traumatic and Dramatic Childhood

"X-Men: The First Class" takes us back to 1942 and recalls for us, as previous 'X-Men' installments have, Erik Lehnsherr's torturous childhood in which he survived a Nazi death camp. We've seen what happened when his parents were torn away from him, 'The First Class' shows us what happened next and the traumatic experience that created the monster Magneto.

Meanwhile, also in 1942, a young Charles Xavier, tucked safely away in his parents' upstate New York palace, begins to discover his talent for reading minds. It's a trick that comes in handy when a burglar somehow invades the home pretending to be Charles's mother. The intruder is actually a young mutant named Raven but we will come to know her as the assassin Mystique.

Erik Lehnsherr Nazi Hunter

Cut to 20 years later, Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is a Nazi hunter torturing and killing his way up a list of Nazis on the run on his way to his long time tormenter, Dr. Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon.) Naturally, his search leads to Argentina, often thought of as a haven for ex-Nazis, and a scene for the former "Inglorious Basterd" Fassbender that evokes a little violent, Tarentino nostalgia, with the gore dialed down just a tad.

Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his adopted sister Raven (Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence) are together at Oxford when Charles is approached by a CIA Agent named Moira (Rose Byrne) who accidentally stumbled across Dr. Shaw and his assistant, a telepath named Emma Frost (January Jones), plotting the start of World War 3 and a worldwide nuclear annihilation that only mutants could survive.

A Nod to the Faithful Fanboys

It would take far too long to detail what comes next with the discovery other mutants and their powers and the founding of the first X-Men team and to be honest, none of the young mutants is remotely as interesting as Professor X, Mystique or Magneto. This is their origin story and it doesn't help that of the other mutants in 'First Class' only Beast plays a role in the sequels and that is only a minor role.

The main flaw of "X-Men: The First Class" is too many characters and not enough interesting things to do with them. Director Matthew Vaughn in a nod of faithfulness to X-Men comic book fans, I'm guessing, has kept these peripheral young mutants in the story because they were part of the first troop of X-Men in the comic but the reality of the movie is, these kids only seem to get in the way of the action and bloat the film's run time to a butt-numbing two hours and 25 minutes.

Putting aside the film's flabbiness, there are enough effective scenes and compelling performances in X-Men: The First Class for me to recommend it. I mentioned earlier Fassbender's scene in Argentina, an effective and exciting bit of violence. Also excellent is the scene of Kevin Bacon's malevolent Dr. Shaw forcing young Erik to use his talent through torture and the astonishing aftermath of his cruelty.

McAvoy and Fassbender

Those and just about every scene between James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender elevate "X-Men: The First Class" above many other comic book movies. When these two exceptional actors stare each other down the air around them is charged, even during a friendly exchange. McAvoy's Professor X and Fassbender's Magneto are so perfectly matched that a whole movie of them talking to each other about revenge, morality and murder could be worth the price of a ticket.

I am recommending "X-Men: The First Class" for McAvoy and Fassbender and for the terrific atmosphere of early sixties paranoia and excitement created by director Matthew Vaughn. Yes, Vaughn should have been a little less faithful to the fanboys and spent a little more time in the editing bay but what he captured in the history of the 'X-Men' movie universe and in the relationship between McAvoy and Fassbender is really really terrific and highly compelling.