X-Men: First Class takes a cue out of the franchise handbook like STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE and BATMAN BEGINS and returns to the story's beginning; the formation of the X-Men and how the future Proffesor X and Magneto met. The movie gets crazy dark & dramatic (which is why I believe it's being compared to Chris Nolan's "DARK KNIGHT" film) with minimal comedic dialogue and one cameo. Great effects and top-notch art direction (especially costumes; it's a period piece) made this a slick, glossy X-men film, unlike the dull, pathetic X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE that will probably go down in history as the worst MARVEL spinoff ever, next to (ex-lovers) ELECTRA & DAREDEVIL.
Talk about your super cast: Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), Dr. Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), Darwin (Edi Cathegi), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), Emma Frost (January Jones), Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Havok (Lucas Till), and Riptide (Alex Gonzalez).
Kevin Bacon does an ok job as laid-back villain Sebastian Shaw but the acting kudos mostly go to the awesome chemistry between James McAvoy & Erik Lehnsherr for their portrayal of Prof. X & Magneto's alliance and later separation of ideals. Notable mention go to Nicholas Hoult's Beast and Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique. played with charm & honesty.
This is not your average, teeny-bopper, popcorn flick full of fart jokes & homoerotic pranks. This well-groomed MARVEL epic is rife with the American politics of the 1960's; intercut with vintage TV footage of the cuban missile crisis (ask your parents, K?). I rather enjoyed the blending of historical fact and comic book fiction history as in the opening title sequence of Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN (which coincidentally was released early in 2009 to make way for other blockbusters like "STAR TREK" & "UP").
One thing I didn't like was how television commercials give visual spoilers of the finale action sequences. It makes me feel like I've seen the film already. It just sucks. Even so, I still thought it was badass. Hope you like it.
Running time: 2 Hours, 12 Minutes.
MOVIE WORTH: Full price
RENTAL? : Hell yes!
BUY THE DVD? Hell yes again!
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