X-Men: First Class (2011) Review

We now get to the first attempt to reboot the X-Men franchise. I have intentionally skipped over X-Men Origins: Wolverine as I only plan to cover the core six films, which means no Deadpool or Wolverine solo films, at least for now...

     X-Men: First Class was released on June 1st, 2011. It is directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Vaughn, Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman from a story by Sheldon Turner and Brian Singer. A prequel to the previous X-Men films, it tells the story of Charles Xavier's first meeting with Erik Lehnsherr and their forming of the X-Men set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

     The idea for a prequel X-Men film had been floated around since before the release of X2. The script went through many revisions and the film's production was put on hold as the studio hoped to pursue a Magneto origin picture instead. When this idea was scrapped, Fox went ahead with First Class and, initially, Brian Singer was set to direct it. When Singer backed out due to his commitments with Jack the Giant Slayer the studio went to Matthew Vaughn, who had at one point been considered as a director for The Last Stand. Vaughn, who had also wanted to direct a 60's spy thriller and an X-Men movie, jumped at the chance to combine both ideas into one.

     X-Men: First Class is a really great prequel. It succeeds where so many other films have failed in telling a really compelling backstory for it's main characters. It is easy to believe that Charles and Erik become the men we know from the earlier installments after the events of this film. There's a lot of good character work here and the friendship between Xavier and Erik is well developed considering how little screen-time is actually devoted to it. Xavier guides Erik and helps him become a better person. Erik, at the beginning of the film, is driven only by personal revenge. Charles helps him to see a bigger cause and helps him to hone his powers, which he struggles to control because of his anger.

     As in X2 Xavier and Erik's worldviews are contrasted with that of the villain, in this case Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw. Here, Erik has a much less extreme worldview then he does in X2. There, he is in favor of wiping out all of humankind but here that position is represented by Shaw, who believes that mutants should rule over humans and he, as the most powerful mutant, should rule over everyone. Though Magneto chooses, in the end, to violently oppose the humans who oppress mutant-kind he is not a genocidal maniac but he has a more cynical viewpoint then Xavier, who believes that mutants can show humans a better way. Raven is trapped between these two viewpoints and she ultimately sides with Erik. Her relationship with Hank mirrors that between Charles and Erik, and each person chooses a different side in the end. Mystique position is not as extreme as Erik's (something that will be further explored in the sequel) while Hank actually goes further then Charles and tries to suppress his mutant powers so he can blend in with humanity.

     It's definitely not a perfect film. There's some retconning (which seems almost impossible to avoid in prequel films). In the first movie, we learn that Professor X and Magneto built Cerebro together but here it is built by the Hank McCoy working for the U.S. Government without either man's knowledge. Magneto's helmet was built by the Russian Government rather then by Magneto himself. Finally, Mystique's childhood friendship with Xavier doesn't really seem to mesh with original three films, where the two characters don't seem to share any connection.

     Vaughn's direction is a little so-so, it lacks the energy of Singer's films and is a little bland visually, especially considering the colorful sixties setting (though the costume designer's do a great job especially compared to the ugly and uncomfortable looking black leather of Singer's films). The supporting characters are also given a bit of short shrift. Outside of Mystique and maybe Beast, I don't really understand why some of them choose to go with Erik and some with Xavier at the end.

     X-Men: First Class is a fine prequel, one that deepens the mythology and relationships of the characters while telling it's own, compelling story. It is not perfectly consistent with the earlier films and lacks some of their energy and flair but it's still a worthy entry in the series overall.

Score: 8/10