It’s clear that director Matthew Vaughn and scriptwriter (one of many) Jane Goldman are the perfect mutation when it comes to comic-book adaptations. After manipulating the rules to comedic effect with 2010’s OTT Kick-Ass, they have now strictly adhered to them, confining the justifiably maligned Last Stand (on which Vaughn quit during pre-production) and Wolverine movie to the scrapheap, and dialing down the kitsch and overly colorful costumes. The results are truly first class.
Charting the evolution that saw Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) become Professor X and Magneto, First Class reboots all the way back to the Nazi concentration camp origins that were glimpsed in Bryan Singer’s heralded installments, right up to the formation of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. We get to see how some of the series’s most iconic mutants came to enroll – Beast (Nicolas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) – as well as finding out what created the divisions in mutantkind to motivate their archenemies Azazel (Jason Flemyng) and Emma Frost (January Jones). Throw in Kevin Bacon’s mysterious Sebastian Shaw, a megalomaniac mutant that wronged Erik in the past and the DNA is there for a potential franchise invigoration.
With actors already so intrinsically linked to this Marvel universe, casting was always going to be a major challenge for Vaughn, so for all of the minor niggles you might have with X-Men: First Class, you can guarantee that this ensemble of extraordinary beings won’t be one of them.
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The core relationship of Xavier and Lensherr anchors and dominates the movie successfully thanks to the assumed knowledge of the majority of the audience, but largely due to McAvoy and Fassbender as the ethically conflicted friends. The latter builds on some certificate testing set-up in the concentration camp to strike the perfect balance between unhinged madman and loyal brother. But it’s McAvoy’s Xavier that wheels off with the honors; cocksure, frequently hilarious, especially during his Oxford campus flirtations, but always with the air of calm authority to make you believe that he will one day grow up to become Patrick Stewart.
Always difficult to stand out within such a large cast, Hoult, Lawrence, and the ever dependable Bacon succeed despite the need to keep the momentum fast for the summer audience. It’s the villains that make the weakest impression; none are recognizable to the armchair X-Men fan, and even then they are reduced to posturing behind Bacon’s bad guy. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this is Mad Men’s January Jones, whose one-note turn hints at a better performance on the cutting room floor.
Requisitely spectacular when required, notably during the missile juggling finale, but just as impressive in its stripped back 70s influenced set design and wardrobe, First Class is also refreshingly light of touch in this world of moody caped crusaders and a need to go “dark”. The “meet the gang” and training montages are both very funny, and include a hilarious cameo from a mutant you might recognize.
The themes may not be new in the X-Men universe – the whole Mutant vs Mutants vs Humans debate has raged since the first installment and could test the patience of anyone not willing to sit through the necessary origin story once again – but this is a welcome return that promises greater things ahead.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
