A while back we went to see the newest X-men movie.  In keeping with tradition, I liked it.


I was a bit concerned going in that the movie wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but I could not have been more pleased.  The previous four X-Men movies (including Wolverine Origins) are some of my favorite movies.  Each one was done so well and each character was played so well that I was worried about going the prequel route with this movie.  Do I really care what Professor X was like as a young man?  Do I care what Mystique was like as a moody teenager?  Not really.  Am I interested in a good story that is told well?  Of course!

The story was told well, the characters were interesting and the actors were brilliantly cast.  Setting the movie during the Cuban missile crisis was a genius move.   Watching the characters find each other and seeing what drove their lives to where they will eventually end up was fun and engaging.   Do I want to see X-Men: Second Class?  I’ll watch it.  But I’m not waiting for it or even asking for it.  I’d rather see X-Men movies with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Iam McKellen, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin than Zoe Kravitz, January Jones and Alex Gonzalez.

Don’t get me wrong.  All of the actors did an great job.  James McAvoy did an amazing job as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender more than holds his own as Erik Lehnsherr and makes the Magneto story line totally believable, but once the Origin Story is done . . . it’s done.  Let’s continue the adult adventures of the X-men and focus on where they’re going not where they’ve been.

Most reviews you read will tell you that January Jones can’t act.  I know that this is a common critique of her (on Mad Men as well as in this movie) but I just don’t see it.  As far as I can tell, Emma Frost works perfectly as an ice cold bitch.  From the little I’ve seen on Mad Men it works for that character as well.  I’d be interested in seeing her play a vastly different character, but from what I’ve seen she’s a fine actress.

The best part of this movie is Kevin Bacon.  Kevin Bacon is the best villain you can get for a movie.  That greasy, manipulative awful thing he does as a villain is fantastic.  He’s exactly who you want to hate during this film.  His interactions with Michael Fassbender are exactly what the story needs to move along, and you find yourself rooting for the guy you know is going to be a bad guy to do the things that make him the bad guy because this other bad guy is sooo bad!  Beautiful.  Critics of Kevin Bacon’s performance have called him out for the silliest thing.  The movie opens in a concentration camp (Magneto is established as a Holocaust survivor in X-Men 3: The Last Stand) and Kevin Bacon is the Nazi who ‘helps’ him develop his power.  The next time you see him; WWII is over, Erik Lehnsherr is (relatively) grown-up (but has not yet taken on the Magneto name nor the implications the name brings with it) and both have gone on to new endeavors.  Is it  really so surprising that a Nazi who survived the end of WWII and is ‘on the lose’ has no discernible German accent?  If I had been a Nazi (god forbid) I’d have started practicing accents long before I took the job at the Death Camp.

Bonus info – Rebecca Romijn and Hugh Jackman make cameos in this movie.  Both are hilariously perfect.

Four out of five stars for X-Men: First Class.  Good movie.  Probably won’t watch again anytime soon, but good movie.