X-Men: First Class...

[fajrdrako]

I loved this movie. I watched it smiling. I loved it on more counts than I can name. I loved the way it was true to the X-Men story, and yet didn't repeat stories I'd already seen, and provided a number of interesting characters. It relied more on character and story than special effects, and yet I liked the special effects as well.

It wasn't perfect. In fact, there wasn't a character in it that I thought was well cast in terms of looks, except maybe Moira McTaggart. And there was probably no one in it that I found attractive - except Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Stamos, in their so-brief appearances. It was cast with an aesthetic eye totally contrary to mind, but I don't think they should have case for looks. No, they cast for acting skill, and they got it. Jennifer Lawrence doesn't compare to the gorgeous Rebecca Romijn Stamos, but that really didn't matter - and made that wonderful visual joke with the more mature-seeming Mystique possible. I don't want another depiction like Halle Berry as Storm, who was beautiful to look at but as bland as a buttercup in the role.

I had been careful to avoid spoilers beforehand, and I had naively thought the story would be set around the events of X-Men #1, around the time when Scott Summers, Jean Grey, and Warren Worthington became X-Men. Nope! That ground has been covered often enough in the comics, and here we get a time before that... before there even was a school. Of course timeframe in the Marvel universe is always vague, but I was trying to guess - at least to my mind - how many years before X-Men #1 this story was set. Five years? Could be less, could be more, depending how you interpret the chronology.

The best moment was the brief appearance of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Wolvie is in a bar, smoking a cigar. Magneto and Xavier are just discovering new mutants with Cerebro, and coming to recruit them. They come up behind Wolverine to talk to him. Logan growls, "Fuck off!" and they go away, leaving him in peace.

Hugh Jackman is so good.

I saw the movie with lunacy_gal and though we got there in plenty of time, we missed the beginning because somehow we ended up in the wrong theatre - we should have been in the next room. By the time we discovered our mistake, we'd missed the first bit, and I was struggling to figure out who was who and what was what. Which was fun. I couldn't guess who the young blonde was... until I found myself wondering where Mystique had gone. Hah! That was brilliant.

Other thoughts:

1. The 1960s setting thrilled me. So retro. Of course Emma Frost made me think of Emma Peel.
   
   
2. Slashy, slashy, slashy. And so it should be. I thought it had the perfect tone in the Xavier-Magneto relationship, of mutual love and respect but differing background, politics, and goals.
   
   
3. James McAvoy gave Xavier a lot of charm. I don't think I've ever liked Xavier quite so much. It isn't that I don't love Patrick Stewart - he was wonderful as Jean-Luc Picard - but I didn't love his Xavier nearly as much as McAvoy's. McAvoy's Xavier seemed more nuances, more human, more vulnerable - innocent, even. Just starting out on a series of hard lessons.
   
   
4. I didn't recognize Kevin Bacon. I never recognize Kevin Bacon. I thought he looked nothing like Sebastian Shaw from the comics, and I missed the 18th century attire, but then... it's Sebastian Shaw before he became Sebastian Shaw.
   
   
5. So that was Riptide? I couldn't figure out who Shaw's lackey in the suit was. Mostly because I'd practically forgotten Riptide.... I'd better watch it, or my street cred as an X-Men fan will slip. I'm already angsting because I couldn't remember the name of the first Black King of the Hellfire Club we met in the Dark Phoenix Saga. It was, of couree, Jason Wyngarde, Mastermind. How could I forget that?
   
   
6. I thought they implied that Xavier and Mystique were lovers. I don't remember that from the comics - though Xavier did have an interesting series of girlfriends over the years. And I'm a fan who believes he was in love with Jean Grey. Along with Scott and Logan.
   
   What I liked best about putting Xavier and Mystique together here is that there was no rivalry with Magento for her affections or her loyalty; it was delightfully polyamorous. And then at the end... the field is open for a relationshp between Moira and Xavier. Was there anything about their prior relationship at Oxford in the part I missed? Never mind, I'll see it eventually.
   
   
7. When Hank McCoy was working on the serum to make himself appear more 'normal' I wanted to scream at him, "Don't do it! Don't!" because I knew what would happen and, of course, I loved every moment. Geeky young Hank was perfect. Well, too skinny. But still perfect. I liked his relationship with Mystique, and found myself at a loss to remember any interaction at all between Hank and Mystique in the comics.
   
   
8. It was interesting the way they messed with people's ages. Banshee, Darwin, and Alex Summers all being about the same age? How odd!
   
   
9. Nice parallels between Mystique and Emma Frost. Both attaching themselves to potentially powerful and wealthy mutants. Both pretending to be different than they were - Emma working at the sexpot thing, with died hair and sexy slothes, Mystique pretending to be far younger than she actually was - it was clear that Magneto didn't know her real age; did Xavier? If he didn't read her mind (and they stated that he didn't), perhaps not. It was clear that he preferred her 'normal' human looks, rather than her natural appearance. See why I love Magneto?
   
   
10. Loved the scene where Shaw asked Emma Frost to get him ice.
    
    
11. I didn't much like the special effects by which Emma took diamond form. I did like Magneto tying her up with the bedstead. Also loved her pretending to seduce the Russian General when she never even touched him.
    
    
12. Who was the CIA man who befriended Xavier and gave him facilities? The one played by Oliver Platt? Does he have a counterpart in the comics?
    
    
13. Loved it that Stryker was there.
    
    
14. I don't remember Azazel - could I have missed him entirely in my X-Men reading? That must have been through the (brief) period I wasn't reading Uncanny. If we assume that in the movie universe Azazel and Mystique are the parents of Nighcrawler, and that this was their first meeting... does that help me figure out when it relates to X-Men #1? Not really. Different continuity, given that Mystique wasn't married to any German barons. I should stop trying to build connections.
    
    
15. Angel was a sort of precursor of Pixie?
    
    
16. I thought, I really thought, that at some climactic moment Charles Xavier was going to lose his hair. Instead at the climactic moment he lost the use of his legs. In Magneto's arms.
    
    
17. Loved seeing the submarine flying through the air. Did I say I wasn't interested in special effects? Not always. Loved that one, loved the teleportation effect with Azazel, and quite liked Shaw's odd quantum force powers.
    
    
18. Loved how Banshee looked when flying.
    
    
    
    
19. Michael Fassbender reminded me of Mark Valley, whom I do not like, but I very much liked his depiction of Magneto. Strong, stubborn, but with a touch of vulnerability there, too.
    
    
20. Will there be a sequel?

Now I want to sit and read X-Men comics all night.