X-Men: First Class
"Kevin Bacon plays a Nazi version of Kevin Bacon (who knew he could speak German) and everyone learns that in order make the most of their talents they must accept what they are and use it..."
Matthew Vaughan helms this latest direction into the superhero sub-genre that X-men is fast becoming. It deals with the early years of the mutant group, but is really about the friendship and subsequent fall out between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (latterly to become Professor X and Magneto) who are played magnificently by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. The film then rolls along explaining how it all came about, what happened next and then why they all started shouting at each other and whilst that all may sound a bit generic, you have to respect Vaughan for knowing that this is the kind of genre where fans will rip your arms off if you try to stretch the accepted back story too much in order to spice things up a bit.
The supporting cast of mutants is always the other thing that fans crave, and this instalment delivers on that with early appearances for Mystique and Beast and new mutants such as Banshee and Havok, however a ten second cameo from Wolverine will prove to you that all the best characters really have already been used. The special effects look suitably expensive, Kevin Bacon plays a Nazi version of Kevin Bacon (who knew he could speak German) and everyone learns that in order make the most of their talents they must accept what they are and use it. A bit like the acting camp that some of the younger actors were found in, I would imagine. “Er, excuse me, do you have a teenager that looks like he’s a proper geek, but may have hidden depths when pushed?” “Yeah, I’ve got one here, he was mostly only used in one film as a child and then stropped around in an adolescent huff on a channel four teen-drama for a couple of years, will he do?” “We’ll take him – can we dye him blue?”
In all this film handles the central argument that preludes all the other films very well, looks great and is one of the best this franchise has to offer.
