X-Men: First Class is arguably the best of the X-Men series which comes as a relief. Part of the reason why First Class is so successful is that it places emphasis over the characters rather than plot. At the heart of the movie is the relationship between Professor Xavier and Erik Lensherr. And since the characters are played by good actors you come to care about these characters. The film starts in a concentration camp circa Poland 1944 Sebastian Shaw is trying to coerce young Erik Lensherr into moving a small coin on his desk.
Shaw gives Erik an ultimatum if he doesn’t move the coin his mother will be executed in front of him. Alas, poor Erik is unable to move the coin and as punishment Shaw executes his mother in front of him. Enraged over the death of his mother, Erik unleashes his latent mutant powers, the power of magnetism. This is a pivotal scene in the film since it shows that Erik's powers are triggered by pain and anger. The film then cuts to a young Charles Xavier living in an affluent mansion in upstate New York.
Xavier is strolling in the kitchen looking for a late night snack and he runs into his mother. However, Xavier is a telepath and he knows that this creature is not his mother but an imposter. Charles invades the imposter’s mind and the imposter shapeshifts into a young blue mutant named Raven. From this moment on Xavier takes Raven in as his sister. The film then cuts to 1962 Erik Lensherr has become a rogue Nazi Hunter, whereas Charles Xavier has become a Professor of Genetics. Later in the film, Xavier is recruited by a female CIA agent, named Moira MacTaggert who studies genetic mutation.
Unbeknownst to Moira, Xavier is a mutant which he reveals to her in front of her superiors. Needless to say, Moira’s superiors are apprehensive about letting mutants help them in their quest to combat Shaw and the Soviet Army. However, a CIA officer by the name of Man in Black persuades the CIA directors to let him take Charles and Raven in. Along with Agent MacTaggert, the Man in Black creates a special mutant division funded by the CIA. This is where the film really takes its stride.
Charles Xavier meets Erik Lensherr for the first time in Miami, and the rest of the film showcases them recruiting other mutants. Unfortunately, the film has X-Men in the title, so there are other supporting mutant characters integral to the film as well. Alas, most of these characters are underdeveloped, and because of this, you come to know them by their powers instead of their personalities. However, the performances by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are good enough to anchor the film. Fassbender, in particular, is a standout he plays Erik Lensherr as a charismatic James Bond type with a real chip on his shoulder.
His performance as Erik Lensherr is absolutely magnetic if you forgive the pun. Xavier, however, is a little bland, but this is due to no fault on McAvoy's part. The writers obviously couldn’t figure out how to make Xavier a more compelling character. Fortunately, McAvoy’s performance is good enough to make up for this oversight. Jennifer Lawrence is good as Mystique/Raven she gives Mystique a certain naive sweetness.
Kevin Bacon is also excellent as the sociopathic mutant Sebastian Shaw. Unfortunately, his character is never really given any real depth, he's simply a one-dimensional villain. The film also would have benefited from exploring the creator/monster dichotomy between Sebastian Shaw and Erik Lensherr a bit further. It was one of the more intriguing ideas in the film that was left unexplored. Overall, X-Men: First Class is an entertaining action film with good performances from its two leads, and it has some pretty kinetic action sequences scattered throughout the film. The film is definitely a must see for those that were disappointed with the last two X-Men films.
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