X-Men: First Class Review
We’re making our way through the X-Men movies, today we’re talking about X-Men: First Class. A movie that kicked off this prequel franchise, how is this one? Let’s get started!
The Good:
One of the things that really makes this movie unique amongst the franchise is Matthew Vaughn’s direction. For lack of a better phrase, a lot of the X-Men franchises have a sameness to them. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way, but they all feel the same. A large portion of them were directed by Bryan Singer, he’s a solid director but they all feel the same. Matthew Vaughn has a very distinct style to the way he does movies and he brings those skills to this movie. Matthew Vaughn has said he pulled a lot of inspiration from the Sean Connery era of James Bond movies and you feel that. It very much has the feeling of those movies, it stands out compared to other great X-Men movies. Even the plot and what Kevin Bacon’s plan is, feels like it could have come from a James Bond movie. In the movie you get two different montages, on recruiting montages and one training montage. The way it transitions is very unique, only somebody with the style of Matthew Vaughn would be able to do these types of montages. A common word used in 2023 and 2024 for comic book movies is fatigue, comic book movies feeling the same. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie and saw a movie that doesn’t feel like other comic book movies. Even though the score feels like James Bond, it’s so different from the other scores of the franchise. There’s so much about this movie that feels unique to the franchise and genre. Matthew Vaughn has said he’s talked with James Gunn about making a DC movie, I’d be totally down for it. I think the genre needs something fresh and unique and Vaughn can bring that.
Another great thing about the movie, it nails the friendship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehenseer. Of all the films of the franchise, this is the movie that best captures that dynamic. They really explore the different world lives and lifestyles of both characters. Where Charles Xavier is this mutant that lived a good life, he wasn’t burned by humanity the way Erik was. He loves humanity and wants mutants and humans to live together. Erik grew up in a life where humans were not kind to him, his mom was killed by a Nazi. He was involved with the concentration camps, he believes mutants are the next stage of human evolution. While there is a respect and friendship between the two of them, we also see why they became enemies. They created a villain with Kevin Bacon, who has the same goal and motivation of Magneto. But in the beginning of the film, Bacon kills Magneto’s mom and that’s why he doesn’t side with him and why he kills him. It just came together very nicely in the finale. I keep on saying this in my reviews but it’s been a while since I’d seen this movie and I sort of forgot how well all of the themes and ideas came together in the finale.
It’s not just Charles and Erik that explore this idea with a lot of the characters having that arc in this movie. Mainly with Mystique and Beast in some very interesting ways. The X-Men lore going back to the comics has always had some messaging about acceptance and finding your place in the world. I forgot how much of those ideas and themes are present in this movie. Mystique has this unique ability where she can shapeshift into anybody, but she’s different in her true form. She’s torn between Charles’ worldview and Erik’s worldview. She’s established as Charles’ childhood friend; he calls her his sister in the movie. She obviously cares about him and in a sense wants to side with him. But she also listens to Erik’s worldview of wanting to live a world where mutants rule and where Mystique, Raven can be who she wants to be. It’s very interesting, it’s layered and it makes the character dynamics more complex. Even with Beast, his hero name tells you that he turns into a beast. So they have this interesting dynamic where they both want the same thing, but they go in two different directions. As I was watching this, I was thinking this is some of the most interesting themes and ideas explored in the X-Men franchise.
The casting from top to bottom in this movie is great, the two ones to talk about would be James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Both of them are great in their roles, they feel like younger versions of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. They have a nice chemistry with one another, you believe them as people that have mutual respect and understanding for each other. But at the same, we know they turn into enemies. You have a young Jennifer Lawrence, this was her last movie before The Hunger Games. This movie was right before she became an A-lister. Nicholas Hoult as Beast has always been a casting I’ve enjoyed. He’s not one of the best comic book movie castings out there, but he fits the role really well. I actually really like Kevin Bacon as our villain, I kind forgot just how interesting of a villain he is. And Kevin Bacon is great, he’s apporaptetly intimidating and villainous. When you get somebody like Kevin Bacon who brings a gravatose to the movie because he’s Kevin Bacon and he’s a legend. Like I said, they use his villain in a very interesting way that helps with the characterization of Magneto. I’ll be doing a bunch of X-Men related rankings once Deadpool 3 comes out. One of them will be a villain ranking, Kevin Bacon’s villain will be very high up on that list.
Finally, I appreciate this film doesn’t have the issues that most prequels have. Most prequels try to answer every question. They answer questions we weren’t asking with answers we don’t want. The Star Wars prequels I think fall into that a bit, the way they answer questions…not great. This movie is a prequel, but it also works on its own. It works as an origin story for Professor X and Magento. We were wondering, how did Charles be put in a wheelchair, that’s answered here. Even with the way it’s answered it makes sense, it ties into Erik’s arc in the movie. It works within the narrative they’re telling, it doesn’t feel forced.
The Bad:
This movie is said to be the origin story for the X-Men hence its title. Part of the movie is Charles and Erik recruiting mutants to fight against Kevin Bacon. But the recruitment elements and the characters are the least interesting stuff about the movie. The recruitment doesn’t start until 45 minutes into the movie, with a great cameo from Hugh Jackman. They have a couple of scenes back at the facility, then we go on missions with Charles and Erik. The first class team feels like it’s on the backburner, they don’t do much in the plot. One character is killed off in like the third scene in the movie. One of the mutants turns to Kevin Bacon’s side in the movie, it comes out of nowhere because we don’t know the characters well enough. This movie really could have just been about Charles and Erik. Find a way where you don’t need the team to stop Kevin Bacon, the three of them can do it. It’s frustrating in that regard, I still really like this movie but it would have made it better. What’s fun about some of the casting for the first class. One is Zoe Kravitz who later played Catwoman in The Batman. The actor who plays Darwin is Edi Gathegi who’s going to be in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy next year as Mr. Terrific. Plus, Nicholas Hoult, Beast is Lex Luthor in that same movie. Just fun casting, I found interesting.
The other problem here, it can be a bit clunky in the first 20-25 minutes of the movie. The movie is constantly moving between Erik’s childhood to adulthood and Charles’ childhood to adulthood. The way it’s done is clunky and it doesn't go together as well. I know this movie was designed where both of them are the leads, but I wish there’s a way they could have done it that wasn’t as clunky and weird. It’s not really until the boat sequence where Charles and Erik meet, when the movie comes together becomes great. The first act isn’t bad, it’s still good. But the middle and third act are great.
Final Thoughts: After two lackluster films in the franchise, X-Men: First Class is a return to greatness. There’s so much about this movie that I love, there’s a lot that makes it stand both in the franchise and genre. The casting of McAvoy and Fassbender is fantastic, they have great chemistry. The movie explores its themes and ideas very well. This is one of the best X-Men movies to date, it’s pretty great.
The Score: 8.9/10 (B+)
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