Post by Torgo on Jan 5, 2012 14:33:22 GMT -5
Best Superhero Film
Bronze Award
X-MEN
FIRST CLASS
Bronze Award
X-MEN
FIRST CLASS
Diving into X-Men: First Class, I was prepared to be disappointed. Reviews online compared the movie favorably to X2, quite possibly the most overrated superhero film ever made (then I remember the abysmal Batman Returns existed). My experience with the X-Men franchise has been lukewarm at best, as each film after the truly exceptionable original all had their merits and demerits, with the silly, video game-like X-Men Origins: Wolverine proving to be the most enjoyable, while the bloated X2 wandered around aimlessly in search of a plot and X-Men: The Last Stand was promising ideas drowned in special effects.
My fears suddenly realized when I came face to face with some of the most blatant overacting I had ever seen, as the awful child actor playing Magneto as a young lad watches his mother murdered, scrunches up his face, and screams “NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!” for minutes at a time. I kind of slouched down and told myself “Okay, this is going to suck,” and waited for the film to dazzle me with superpowers but leave me empty.
Then the film defied anticipation and got better. It got a lot better. 2011 will prove to be a memorable year for the superhero genre for bringing the refreshing change-of-pace period pieces to the table, and between X-Men: First Class and Captain America: The First Avenger, I don’t know why there hasn’t been more (let us ignore Bloodrayne: The Third Reich, shall we?). The superhero movie wasn’t taken seriously until the late 1970s, when Superman made us believe a man could fly. We can all appreciate George Reeves’ Adventures of Superman and Adam West’s Batman, but it’s hard to call them inspiring sagas here in the wake of the 21st century superhero boom. Going back to elder decades with a more modern approach makes for some inspiring storytelling.
In the case of X-Men: First Class, the entire production lies on the shoulders of two gentlemen: James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. These two are fantastic as they bring to life younger and relatable incarnations of these long established comic book legends. One can’t help but smile as McAvoy’s Xavier is introduced doing something you wouldn’t normally expect from the character he’s playing: trying to get laid. You have to wonder if Professor X getting the most out of his libido before being paralyzed from the waist down. Fassbender’s Magneto is a man on a mission, borrowing a bit from Hannibal Rising, he is a World War II orphan getting revenge on those who took his family from him.
The film revolves around their friendship and their efforts to unite mutant-kind. They gather a group of talented individuals for their own group of mutant G-men for the government (which they evolve into the more privatized X-Men as a gag toward the end): Mystique, Beast, Angel, Darwin, Banshee, and Havok (the only mutant of which was actually a member of the original comic X-Men being Beast). They challenge Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and the Hellfire Club to prevent an outbreak of global war.
In its delivery the film gets almost everything right. The tone is dramatic but never boring, the characters are lively and engaging, and the pacing is more solid than any film the franchise has offered thus far. It’s almost the perfect X-Men film.
Almost.
If I had to pick something that really bugs me about the film, it’s that the story, while fantastically written, tells too much. The film almost seems to have too much determination to get as many origin points out of the way as possible, possibly out of its own fear that a sequel might never surface (even though the rumors state that it’s very much on the way). Ideas of Xavier’s paralysis and Magneto forming the Brotherhood of Mutants would have been best left to a future film. Instead they’re all crammed into one, as if we’re expected to believe everything happened at once. Some of it feels forced, but by the time the cracks show, the movie has fully engaged its audience, so the issue becomes minor.
But finally the franchise is beginning to reach its full potential that was promised 11 years ago. X-Men: First Class is a wonderful re-establishment of more engaging ideas of one of Marvel’s biggest franchises. It almost breaks my heart that I have to wait for a sequel as Hugh Jackman brings Wolverine back to dice up some bad guys in his second prequel before we can see the future of Xavier and Magneto, but I’ve been patient with this franchise so far, why stop now?
Awards
Best Performance by a Superhero
Silver Award
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
Best Performance by a Superhero
Silver Award
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
X-Men: First Class probably shouldn't be a film defined by performances, as most of them range from passable to below average. The two leads, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, prove to be exceptions to this, however. The better of the two? Fassbender, no doubt.
I struggled to figure out what to define the character of Magneto is in this film and where I should honor him. Traditionally Magneto is a supervillain, but First Class takes place in a time where he was helping Xavier and technically is an X-Man in this film, so I'm going to rank him as “hero,” even though his attributes call that into question.
But the fact that I'm questioning it at all just proves just how good this performance really is. It brings to light the ideas of what makes a hero, his ideals or his actions, something about Magneto that has always fascinated me. By the time Ian McKellan's Magneto walked onscreen in the first X-Men movie, he was full blown villain. His ideals were noble, but his actions were deplorable as he had already been reduced to a terrorist.
Fassbender's Magneto has done some vile things as his quest for revenge drives him to murder, but Xavier sees he is not beyond redemption. It is Erik's choice which path he wants to walk, and the story of that choice is a compelling one. In the hands of a lesser actor, we probably would see Magneto's ultimate choice coming (and since it's a prequel, we admittedly already know what it is), but there surprisingly is that doubt in the air. That's kind of an awesome achievement.
Marvel's casting of Magneto in these films has been out of the park. Between McKellan and Fassbender, I can't figure out who I like better.
Best Director
Bronze Award
Matthew Vaughn
Bronze Award
Matthew Vaughn
Vaughn's name has been attached to various superhero projects over the years, starting with X-Men: The Last Stand, which he dropped out of. He was also was going to tackle Thor at one point, but that ultimately never happened either. Finally he got his chance to make his mark with Kick-Ass gave us a film worth remembering.
Vaughn's given a second shot at the X-Men franchise and thankfully sees it through to the end this time. Lots of great camera angles are at use and clever effects, making the viewer long for the version of X3 that didn't get made. But if First Class is a consolation prize, one couldn't ask for better.
Best Screenplay
Silver Award
Ashley Edward Millar & Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
Silver Award
Ashley Edward Millar & Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
There's one defining scene in this film that I've adored since I first watched it and continue to to this very day, and that's the scene where the new X-Men recruits think up cheesy code-names for each other and screw around with their powers. It very much brought back memories of the first X-Men movie, where all the mutants had thought up some nickname for themselves for reasons that weren't entirely explored.
Here, it's just because they think it's awesome. They're apart of some secret organization to save the world, so they decide to live it to it's fullest.
The entire script is full of little moments like this that make the character interaction about as quirky as can be. It's wild and fun, but still dead serious at the same time. Unlike the previous two X-Men films or even Michael Bay's Transformers movies, the script uses humor without becoming somewhat of a self-parody, and the dramatic tone isn't lost. This is exactly the type of script an X-Men film needs. Let's hope it's used as an example in the future.
Best Score
Bronze Award
Henry Jackman
Bronze Award
Henry Jackman
No relation to Hugh Jackman, I'm sure.
Jackman's jazzy score enhances the look and the tone of the film, placing it very much in the 1960's. It's definitely one of the better X-Men scores (the only ones that were worth a damn up to this point were the original and X-Men Origins: Wolverine).
There's definitely something groovy going down in the music studio during this recording. And Magneto's theme rocks.