With the popularity of comic book properties spilling over into movies, TV, and other forms of entertainment, the @$$Holes of AICN COMICS thought it might be interesting to offer our own take on these things. So while some of the other reviews on AICN come from aficionados of film, the @$$Holes are reviewing from the perspective of the rabid comic book reader. With the number of comics being adapted into film ever rising, look for more AICN COMICS BEYOND! in the future.
 

Hey folks, Ambush Bug here. There’s a lot to like about X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. The film has a likable and talented cast (for the most part) and honors a lot of things well from what I remember from the comics. I say “from what I remember from the comics” because although X-MEN was probably one of the main reasons I got into reading comics almost 30 years ago, I stopped reading them about five years ago because I felt that the comics line had become a bloated monster, diluting all that was special about the X-Men in the first place. Plus to be quite honest, the movies, which tried to incorporate too many storylines in too half-assed a way (especially the awful X-MEN 3 THE LAST STAND and WOLVERINE), left a sour taste in my mouth the comics couldn’t wash away. The best thing about X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is that, being a prequel, I could imagine X3 & WOLVERINE didn’t exist and just enjoy the film as it was.
 

The film starts out rocky. For some reason, Matthew Vaughn decides to begin the story in the same manner as Singer’s X-MEN with the origin of Magneto. I don’t know if this is a shot for shot recreation or just the same footage (I’d have to rewatch to make sure), but I remember being moved by the original footage and this one seemed to lack the intensity of Magneto’s first manifestation of his power. A quick swipe to a young Charles Xavier’s home and we see the fully haired head of the youngster awoken from a dream to find a night visitor. Though this is a change to continuity from the comics, the fact that Raven Darkholme is much older than she appears is established as well in the comics, so this change didn’t ruffle too many feathers. There is the lapse of any inkling of explanation how Charles was able to keep Raven (the future Mystique) hidden in the mansion all those years (I imagine his parents were present some time, though they are never present) or possibly they adopted her. Nevertheless, Charles and Mystique grow up as brother and sister and both James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence do a pretty good job making it believable (McAvoy, of course, doing a much better job in the acting department, but Lawrence holds her own). McAvoy actually is one of the reasons I am recommending this film because though Xavier in the comics often comes off as the preachy, schmaltzy father figure, the actor adds a youthful pluck to him and is able to deliver even the most sugary sweet lines between Erik (Magneto) and Xavier in a believable manner.

But the true highlight here is Michael Fassbender’s Erik Lensherr, the man who would become Magneto. This is, for the most part, his story from start to finish and every time he is on the screen his magnetic and electric personality shines. Unlike Christensen’s wooden Anikin Skywalker where we can’t wait until the mask goes on and the evil starts, Fassbender offers a complex look at where the evil mutant master’s polarizing viewpoints of mutant and human coexistence took root. Behind his eyes is power, sorrow, rage, and weakness all at once. My favorite moments (the bar scene with the Germans and the scene where Xavier helps Erik expand his powers) were where the camera settled close on Fassbender’s eyes, which metamorphize between complex emotions like a real mutant shapeshifter. Every step of the way, you know who Erik will become, but Fassbender makes the character so likable, you will find yourself rooting for him to turn his back on the dark side.

Director Matthew Vaughn does a pretty good job of cramming a whole lot of stuff in this movie without it bursting at the seams as Ratner’s X3 did. Though it skids the story momentum to a halt, the scene where the new mutants gather in the rec room to relax and show off their powers is gone through quickly and only taps the story-brakes slightly. Vaughn does a much better job of showing how each mutant develops their power in a nice montage sequence that shows Erik, Charles, and Hank McCoy (played to nerdy perfection by Nicholas Hoult) developing tech to help each of the mutants hone their powers. What I think Vaughn did most effectively was use comic book logic in a cinematically believable manner. Is it possible for Banshee (played decently, by THE LAST EXORCIST’s Caleb Landry Jones, though he’s not Irish in the film) to use a specific frequency in his voice for him to propel his glider wings to fly? Hell no. But it’s matter of factly explained by Xavier in a few seconds and McAvoy does it with such confidence, we believe it. We didn’t need a thirty minute discourse on sound propulsion and manifestation of power and the like. It’s just said and done and the audience buys it because the characters do. Vaughn does this throughout the film to perfection. Too many times, superhero films explain each power and leap in logic ad nauseum, which 1) talks down to the viewer, and more importantly, 2) makes the film a special effects highlight reel and slams the story into an expositionary brick wall. Here the various powers are introduced through story and are used to push it along, not hinder it.

This isn’t a perfect film. The aforementioned Nicholas Hoult’s performance as Hank McCoy is fantastic as the hairless Beast, but once he gets his blue fur, the whole thing flushes down the toilet. The use of practical effects for the Beast is ok. It was one of the few things that worked decently in X3. But they should have gone the CGI route with the Beast here. Sure it would have cost a couple of thousand dollars, but honestly, he looks ridiculous and the make-up is so bulky (especially the fake teeth) that the actor can hardly make facial expressions. Plus the reveal of the Beast in blue fur form with him walking slowly toward the camera out of focus was a complete missed opportunity. Imagine how powerful the scene would have been if the Bombastic Beast would have been flipping and bouncing around the hanger with the new mutants being astounded by his new form and bestial agility. Instead, he walks out and stands there like the blue toolbox he looks like.

Kevin Bacon does a decent job here as Sebastian Shaw. Not too over the top, but he lacks the sleazy, bloated swagger a Brendan Gleeson would have captured in the role. His power manifestation again is expository, but Vaughn flits past it quickly and the creative way is it depicted in the film through CGI is a nice touch. January Jones on the other hand is miscast as Emma Frost. You might as well have used a mannequin for the role and does not do the complex comic book character justice. She’s there for eye candy and not much else. Talented actor Jason Flemyng is completely misused as Azazel, who could have been anyone under all of that red makeup. And I don’t think Riptide even gets one line in the film, he just saunters around in a purple suit and shoots tornados at folks.

Though not perfect, it lacks the bloat of X3, the amateurness of WOLVERINE, and the awkwardness of Singer’s original X-MEN. I rank it right up there with X2 which is decent company. Jones, crappy blue Beast, and occasional expository speedbumps aside, Vaughn pulled of a pretty pleasing film (with a pair of cameos that are sure to make you smile). The crowd I saw it with seemed to dig it and as a recovering X-fan, I think we’ve definitely seen worse films with X in the title. For Fassbender’s pitch perfect performance alone (amplified by McAvoy’s charismatic presence), this film is definitely worth viewing.

Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole / wordslinger / reviewer / co-editor of AICN Comics for over nine years. Support a Bug by checking out his comics (click on the covers to purchase)!