X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011 - Cert 12A)

Reboot time again folks. Sorry, prequel, origin story, something like that. X-Men: First Class is the second attempt at looking at what happened before the three X-Men films released during the last 10 years. The first was imaginatively called X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I've got to admit I've not seen it, the poor reviews put me off, but also I seem to recall the first X-Men film being about the origins of Wolverine and how he went from nutcase with an a metal skeleton to hero with a metal skeleton - do we really need to do that again? First Class is a very different beast, stepping away from the era we already know, it's seeks to be part of the 'Grown Up' canon of superhero films and comic book adaptations, more Nolan's Batman than Ghost Rider.



After an unsettling opening to the film in a Nazi concentration camp in the Second World War, First Class takes us bto the sixties, which does feel like an interesting novelty, all polar necks and Chelsea Boots, and shows us how the X-Men really started and more specifically how Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor X (James McAvoy) went from being friends fighting a common foe, Kevin Bacon's enjoyably over the top Sebastian Shaw, to becoming the enemies that we know so well. It is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, which admittedly is an idea 'borrowed' from Watchmen but quickly becomes increasingly interesting as it gets closer and closer it's finale at the setting of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cold War, Nazis, concentration camps, missiles. Even for X-Men, which has always sought to try and tackle important issues in a relatively serious way, this is clearly an ambitious attempt at some serious, hardcore stuff.

Matthew Vaughn (his second crack at an X-Men film having originally been in place for The Last Stand only to pull out late on) got the gig on the back of the success of Kick-Ass and he is reunited with his writing partner for that film Jane Goldman who is quickly becoming a hot property on the screenplay front. A fine ensemble cast of respected actors was put in to place. As well as Bacon, Fassbender and McAvoy, there is also Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, Jason Flemyng, January Jones and Nicholas Holt. Everything seems to be in place for a superhero classic, and it really does almost get everything right. Only almost though.

It's becoming the norm now to have fine actors in these types of film, but even with that the case, you do almost feel spoilt for choice with what First Class serves up. James McAvoy is as superb, and plays the Professor X role in exactly the way that Ewan McGregor should have played Obe Wan in the Star Wars prequels. Wisdom and wit without being patronising or irritating, he also somehow manages to remain watchable and likeable despite spending a lot of the time with fingers on his temples (the standard visual portrayal of mind reading). Fassbender is pure class and as Magneto clearly has the best role of the film, dark edginess and full of vengeance. He avoids the temptation to simply mope about looking hacked off, there is a wry dryness to the way he plays it, adding extra layers of depth that make the character far more interesting. It reminded me of Christian Bale's Batman, serious but only in a knowing melodramatic, comic book kind of way. Kevin Bacon relishes being a villain dressed in flashy, disco-like suits and Pat Sharpe mullet, kind of Ming the Merciless crossed with Beatlemania. The smaller roles support ably with Nicholas Holt and Jennifer Lawrence standing out of the pack in the roles that get the most freedom to be more than just a mutant causing damage/saving the day (see poor old Jason Flemyng).

Another positive is that the film knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything more than that. Yes it does want to be taken seriously but it also knows that it's about mutants in silly costumes and big blue and red monsters. It fits the tone of the previous X-Men films perfectly, not a comedy but playing it's content with it's tongue knowingly but gently poking into it's cheek. There are the usual moments of humour where our characters try to harness their powers to slapstick effect, but there is also playful banter between the characters that echoes the Kick-Ass script (perhaps one of the ingredients that Goldman brings to the table) and a great gag poking fun at the Wolverine character.

One of the things that can be so enjoyable with a prequel is discovering how we get to an ending that we know must happen. The joy is seeing how the blanks are filled in, kind of like algebra on the big screen. We know that Professor X is wheelchair bound, we know that he and Magneto don't continue to be friends, but how do we get from them meeting, becoming united, to that tragic position. It asks us to invest, using our knowledge and the affection held for familiar characters, in what is happening on screen and to get sucked in. I graciously accepted, with bells on. It's also worth saying here that as we reached the conclusion, and what a conclusion, a tremendous cocktail of action, conflict and drama, I was so engrossed in it that I forgot how it had to end and was shocked, and genuinely moved, when it came to a close as it did.

Unfortunately it's not all praise. The main problem with the film is that I think it is a victim of it's own ambition. You have Nazi concentration camps, you've got the Cold War and The Cuban Missile Crisis, Russian leaders, footage of JFK, not to mention the usual themes associated with the X-Men, what it means to be 'normal', racism, society, all of this alongside friendships and relationships. Plus it's a superhero film as well, and there are more than the average amount of characters to include. The concept of taking a real life historical conflict and suggesting that mutants were the cause and the saviour is an interesting one and one that worked very well, but with everything else its all just too much. All of the ideas are touched upon, glossed over, the viewer can do no more than just dip their toes into it.
All of the elements deserve much more time, arguably their own films. It's all results in it feeling crowded and a little more shallow than it should do. I wanted it to have more substance, but it just didn't, like Watchmen, but the difference with that was that it really was style over substance, well all style, no substance. First Class just has too much content, the depth has become diluted. A watered down version of what it set out to be.

I shouldn't dwell on that though, because Vaughn has created a very good film, probably one of the best summer blockbusters of the year. Splendid action sequences (most notably the finale and also Magneto destroying a boat with his powers and a massive metal chain and anchor -he really is making a name for himself, this, Kick-Ass and The Layer Cake) well acted, emotional, and most importantly it's fun. Everything a superhero film should be.