Review of Xmen: First Class (2011) by Mike

Title: X-Men: First Class

Original UK Release Date: 1^st June 2011

Original US Release Date: 25^th May 2011

UK Rating: 12

US Rating: PG-13

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Genre: Action

Plot: The first mission for the X-Men who team up to prevent World War III



Mike's Review

I am a huge fan of action and comic book movies. The first X-Men films were great, I even liked the third one. I had very high expectations for this one. Fortunately I wasn’t disappointed.

The film is about the first meeting of the mutants and the struggle they face in the world. Sides are chosen and teams are formed. What makes this film work so well is the cast. They portray the characters in the early stages of their lives so well. Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy) & Eric Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) are great first as friends and then against each other. But they are not alone. Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) makes a great villan .The rest of the characters are portrayed well and the turmoil each of them face acted out well but the stand out performance for me is Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholm/Mystique. All she wants is to look normal and to be accepted and you see and feel her pain and anguish.

There are a few plot discrepancies if the film is to fit in to the established X-Men of the movies, but most of these can be explained away. However it looks like this could be a complete reboot of the franchise. Either way, the next film should answer this. Hopefully Brian Singer will return to produce it as his versions of the X-Men are far superior to anyone else’s efforts.

I was fortunate to know one of the camera men working on this, Martin Hume. He is a veteran camera operator working on films for many years including Aliens, First Knight, The World is Not Enough & The Bourne Ultimatum. He said it was one of the more challenging films he had worked on, but also one of the most visually amazing. What I found out was many of the scenes that I thought would have been CGI were in fact filmed on location. For instance the beach scene climax was filmed on location and not in a studio or green screen. This for me gave me a new perspective on the film and a new respect for the makers of the film.

If you are a fan of comic movies this is one not to miss.

10 out of 10



Additional Information



Stand out performance: Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholm/Mystique



Trailer