09/24/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

The mutant saga only gets better as it goes along!

Yet another fantastic 2011 summer release! I have yet to see a bad movie about Proffessor Xavier and his band of mutants. Not only were they the #1 comic that i reached for as a child they are also the most exciting. The thing i most like about this franchise as it seems to get better and better as it progresses. This instalment being a prequel tells us alot about the origins of our favorite mutants. and how both of the good and bad alliances were originally formed. This is also packed full of CGI (CGI filled films will make me want to spend my hard earned dollar more then lets say a run of the mill basic action film. The story here begins with the clocks turning all the way back to the 60's during the missile crisis between US and Russia. As WW3 seems eminent both Magneto( Michael Fassbe...

Rating of
4/4 

03/27/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

"X-Men First Class" by Yojimbo

A young post graduate with the power to read minds joins with a holocaust victim with powers of magnetism to found a CIA sponsored training program for newly empowered mutants in the 1960s. X-Men: First Class is really what the first film SHOULD have been. Instead of the clumsy and constant exposition of the original, it expands on the best scene of the film featuring the first manifestation of Magneto's powers and shows the origins of his relationship with Xavier and how their ideologies and methods diverged. Not only that, but it does it with wit and style and the 60s setting gives it an epic quality that plays out on a world stage in history as well as some very cool old school Bond imagery provided by SFX legend John Dykstra. The only real weakness lies in its being the victim of the ...

Rating of
3.5/4 

03/18/2012 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

X Marks the Beginning!

Eric: “Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster. And I'm looking for my creator.”

Eric: “Honestly Charles I don’t know how you survived living in such hardship”

I am a huge fan of X-Men series, and I must say that X-Men: First Class is my favorite of them all. It completely held my interest throughout, mostly thanks to Michael Fassbender (Erik aka Magneto)and James McAvoy (Charles Xavier) who were perfectly cast as the friends who would one day lead separate factions of mutants. The past of Professor X and Magneto was so interesting especially Magneto who steals every scene he is in. The tragic past of Eric makes me understand why he so hates normal humans and how the figure Magneto was created. Meanwhile McAvoy brings a charming playfulness to Professor X that you never saw coming...

Rating of
3.5/4 

10/30/2011 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

The best X Film

The best of the "X" movies. Michael Fassbender is great as Magneto. James McAvoy, like Alex also wrote, gets a little annoying at the end, but is good as Professor X. It's a really well told story, that slightly changes the history surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, maybe for the better, if only that would mean that mutants actually exist.

My one problem with the film, is this, if you're going to do a true origins story, I would like them to get their facts straight, or in this case stick to the source material. They tried to please fanboys of all ages and incorporate characters from every generation of the X-Men franchise. But, since we're going back to 1962 and the original Uncany X-Men #1 was released in September of 1963, I believe that they should stick to that timeline. ...

Rating of
3.5/4 

10/22/2011 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

Prequel or Reboot? You be the judge!

This latest film to join the X-Men franchise injects new life and vigor into the saga. It is as much of a prequel as it is a reboot. From a strictly time-line point-of-view it is a prequel, being set in the early 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But from a storyline point-of-view, it is very much a reboot, with a whole new younger cast along with whole new interesting stories and relationships to involve them in. The film goes all the way back to the beginning in 1944, in Nazi occupied Poland (as it did in the 1st Xmen movie). Here, we are introduced to young Erik Lensherr. Erik is forced to watch his mother be shot right in front of him by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). The uncontrollable rage Erik then feels unleashes his powers and he then goes on to trash every metal object in th...

Rating of
3.5/4 

08/02/2011 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

X-Men: First Class

Sometimes being a DC guy, you tend to become biased in terms of watching marvel related flicks. Yeah I like Hulk and Spiderman, that’s it. I’ve seen X-Men2 and 3, and have tried viewing First Class to see their “history.” I was not disappointed, the story was engaging from the very beginning with Charles Xavier, Raven and Erik Lensherr. The character back-story was well thought of, the cast was efficient enough to deliver the lines and pace of the film was just right. Injecting historical footage of Reagan and the “nuclear war scare” was a plus for me. The only minor blotch I noticed was the effects and some characters. When Banshee flies, you definitely notice it is unrealistic. Some characters were decent like Havoc, but Cyclops was just cooler. You have the adroit blue Beast, ...

Rating of
3.5/4 

07/03/2011 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

The Best X-Men Film Yet

I'm going to say it: the best of the X-men series, narrowly outdueling the first film. It shows what can be done when you have a talented new face at the helm. Matthew Vaughn makes all the right choices here - not overpopulating the film with dozens of pointless mutants, creating genuine tension and emotion between the two leads of Professor X and Magneto, and crafting action scenes that are coherent and well-placed in the film. The mutant vs. human rhetoric is still present, but doesn't feel as silly or like it is snarkily trying to draw some real world comparison because it sits well within the paranoid historical climate the film recreates. Plus, there is one awesome cameo that you don't see coming and is easily the film's single best moment.

Rating of
3/4 

06/05/2011 (0 of 0 found this helpful)

First Class Almost Makes the Grade

A successful reboot - a good example being the Batman franchise - requires you take familiar characters and present them in a new light. Batman took a much grittier, darker tone and it worked. Likewise, X-Men First Class moves away from the straight-up action of the previous films and presents a much deeper story that brings out much more personality from its characters.

I have to hand it to Matthew Vaughn - he did get a great cast together. While the names are familiar, there are no huge stars here - which means for me you get a much more nuanced performance from everyone. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender turn out to be perfect choices for the younger Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. McAvoy has the intellect and the compassion - Fassbender wrestles with anger, pain and revenge - ...

Rating of
3/4 

06/04/2011 (1 of 1 found this helpful)

where it all began

This is the very definition of beginning. A reboot is sometimes a good turn for a franchise so big because it doesn't get any bigger nor higher. Scaling it down to its roots adds a more refreshing tune to it. This one has the perfect lead characters to do it. When it all comes down to it, Charles and Erik are the epitome of the X-men series. One represents reason and the other represents logic. McAvoy seems flawless, reasonable and believable as Charles Xavier on the other hand Fassbender's equally balance dark and lighter side adds the perfect combination between what each of them represents. What i like about the whole reboot is that it somehow refreshes my vision. Vaughn adds a new dimension to the franchise that you normally expect big explosions and flashy superpowers, what he does i...

Rating of
3.5/4