The Official X-Men: First Class Rate and Review Thread: Second Edition

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

7/10

- Movie, eh

- James McAvoy was awsome, better Patrick Stewart and pretty much lifted the entire movie

- The guy playing Magneto was crap, dodgy accent all over the place, hammy. Crap compared Ian Mckellen

- Keven Bacons character felt wasted, he seemed interesting, I wanted to see more of him but he seemed to barely be in the movie

- The problems of the mutants coming to terms with being mutants contrived and hollow

- The Cameo scene was awsome

- The side characters (I don't follow the comics, the demon guy and the Hurrican guy) could have at least got a tiny bit of character development, they were more or less thugs outside of hot baps January Jones

Overall, alright, not amazing movie, could have been alot better imo.

[Sweet Xstacy]

Originally Posted by Compi716

This thread needs a poll, so I can give this film my 9. I freaking loved every second of it, particularly Erik's Nazi hunting plotline, but small details (Beast's makeup, lack of romantic development between Charles and Moira) prevent First Class from being a perfect 10.

There is a thread with a poll: Have you seen X Men First Class?

That's where you can find the poll. This thread was originally created for critic's reviews. But it's all good.

[Brawl]

please allow me to retort...

Originally Posted by Figs

Originally Posted by Brawl
It was good shooting at time and at other times it reminded me of the 60's campy Batman TV series.

How did it remind you of the campy Batman series?? When you say something extreme and incredibly off like that, I can only guess that you're one of the fanboys that are still bitter that they didn't go with the original team.

One scene that comes to mind is when CIA Agent Moria decides to strip to her "Just happened to wear my sexiest lingerie on a stakeout garter belt combo" and walks in to see White Queen disappear behind a velvet purple curtain that hides a booth that spins around into what looks like Commissioner Gordon's office. I mean I was waiting for Bat-Girl to pop out.

One issue as well is the god awful portrayal of Emma Frost. She looked like a former go-go dancer coming along for a thrill ride. Emma Frost the White Queen is a force to be reckoned with. She is not going to climb out the top of a sub like some hand maid to get Sebastian Shaw some dirty ice off the side of the ship.

I have to agree that she should have been written a tad better.

The major problem I see is will people line up to see Prof. X/Magneto and some other people. In the X-Men movies you Had Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, and James Marsden. They are big time actors with the chops to give life to comic characters.

No they were not. I guarantee you that when the first X-men film came out, a large amount of the general audience didn't know Jackman and Marsden by name. Stewart had his stint on Star Trek(even though that's not something the "majority" were into) and McKellan was in a lot of movies, but until McKellan did X-men and Lord of the Rings, well...see what I said about Jackman and Marsden. The main reason people went back in droves to see X2 was because they liked X1, the overall movie, not because they fell in love with the actors really.

What I am saying is that they are great actors, the parts in X1,X2 did not make them great. Can you honestly say other that McAvoy/Fassbinder any of the rest fo the crew that can return is worth laying down $15 to watch? Dude who played Beast might as well been a Power Ranger for all the serious acting he did. Banshee was a fun kid that belongs on Disney channel for a cool kiddie series. The girl who played mystique looked like she belonged on some teen angst movie opposite of Michael Cera. The seem like standard decent actors but not noteworthy and certainally not in the same ballpark as any of the actors I mentioned above.

Now that Prof. X is sidelined what do we have left? Banshee, Beast and Havok. Not a real fun team to watch.

That all depends on the writing, also pushes me towards what I said above, that you seem the type that is bitter you didn't get the original five on the team. Or you missed Wolverine being in the film.

I love the X-men comic book series and I support most comic book to movie ventures. I am a grown A$$ man and not some fanboy that you keep referring to. As to being bitter I am not bitter, it was a good movie just not as good as it should or could have been. Since I love the comic book series I do not understand the need to flip all the characters around and make the series stand on it's head. The great thing about comic movies is thta the hard part of creating the saga is already done! The first team of X-Men is a classic. Its like when they changed Coca Cola to "New Coke" WHY?!? It was perfect the way it was. Then they had to bring back Coke Classic and then just lose the new coke all together.

As far as missing Wolverine on the screen, why? I am again a comic book fan. He was not in the first class. He came in the 70's with Storm, Warpath, Banshee and all the rest. I think also mystique would be better just painted blue and not all the dammn warts on her, and put some dang clothes on her!

I do not mind a reboot but if you want to make a "Twilight" X-Movie, cast it during modern times and get the original crew. Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Beast, and Marvel Girl.

[Tony Starkk]

I loved FirstClass but did anyone else wish the chess scene would be longer? It was great with the time it had but i was expecting a really long extended scene. I hope there is an extended cut that comes out on the dvd/blu-ray.

[SentinelMind]

I gave it 7/10...it was good..interesting concept storytelling adding WW2 - Cold War History to the mutant/superhero drama. Overall, I didn't feel the acting was good, imo, except for Bacon and McAvoy. Bacon gave his typical smarmy/sleezy villain portrayal, which was entertaining...but the other actors didn't leave a lasting impression. Magneto was hit or miss some scenes, imo..I felt the childhood scenes were too forced and melodramatic. The movie relied too much camp/sex appeal/deus ex machina for me to take it too seriously, including Emma Frost and that CIA agent chick was not credible in her role at all. Not as good as X-men and X-men 2.


BTW...where was this Rebecca Romijn cameo? I didn't recall seeing her in the film. Was it in the bedroom scene with Magneto?

[NewYorkSpider]

9/10

Loved this movie from beginning to end.

[BMM]

Originally Posted by SentinelMind

BTW...where was this Rebecca Romijn cameo? I didn't recall seeing her in the film. Was it in the bedroom scene with Magneto?

Yep, right after he says "Maybe in a few years."

[LostSon88]

Originally Posted by SentinelMind

BTW...where was this Rebecca Romijn cameo? I didn't recall seeing her in the film. Was it in the bedroom scene with Magneto?

When she's in Erik's bed, he says "Maybe in a few years...". So she transforms to make herself appear older (Rebecca Romijn) and says, "How's this?".

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

They did seem to do a good job with the Camero's.
Made sense in the context of the movie than just jammed in.

[Genosha]

Originally Posted by Nell2ThaIzzay

Why would I want to? The 3 Spiderman films we got were just fine. Why do I need to see the *SAME* stories told again?

I agree. Not a fan of reboots. I, also, will not be rushing out to see the new Spider-Man film. I'm fine with the 3 they made and not really interested in starting over again, especially this close to when the Raimi films ended.

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Originally Posted by Figs

I can only think that some of you are still bitter we never got an X4 when it comes to not wanting a reboot. I don't mind that we never got an X4, especially since I've said in the past that I've been tired and bored of the previous cast. Well...some of them at least, primarily Halle Berry and Anna Paquin.

I know you didn't love First Class, but at least it's not technically a reboot, so you may not have your X4, but you do have a fourth film in continuity.

How did I not "love" First Class?

See, this is another thing that's been annoying me. I had issues with certain stylistic choices made for this film, and a few of the creative choices. Because of that, I've been accused of having an anti-Vaughn bias, not giving this movie a fair shot, and "butting heads", simply because I didn't have a flawless review of the film. Despite the fact that I love this movie, and despite the fact that I have pointed out many areas where Vaughn (a director I admit I do NOT like) succeeded and got it right, and gave him the credit where he deserved it.

Here's a few quotes from my original review - in this VERY thread (it's on page 9, post #214, if you want to see the entire review):

-"The rest of it was pretty on point. And like I said, when Matthew Vaughn actually allowed the movie to be an X-Men movie, it was incredible."

-"My jaw hit the floor from the opening moments. When young Erik Lensherr was face to face with Schmidt / Shaw, and watched his mother get shot, and then flipped the hell out on the torture room, that was remarkable. I was literally stuck in awe."

-"Also, here's will I will give credit to Matthew Vaughn: For all the talk that previous post-Singer directors have had of "not being a slave to the previous movies", I think Gavin Hood could learn a lesson from Vaughn about how to recreate moments from a prior movie and use them as part of your story line." ..."Kudos to one of my most despised directors for pulling off something I didn't really think was possible, and making it work brilliantly."

-"I also must say, Banshee flying around, fighting off enemy mutants, catching Havok in the air, carrying him... that made me feel like I was watching "X-Men" in ways the other 4 movies never came close to."

-"I guess again kudos has to go to Vaughn for drawing out the pure emotion from me in 2 particular segments - Xavier trying to get Magneto to turn the satellite dish, and reading Magneto's memory of he and his mother; When Moira came out firing at Magneto, and Magneto deflected the bullet into Xavier's back, paralyzing him. Those 2 moments brought out some very real emotion."

Do those sound like the words of someone who didn't "love" it? And my reviews since then have only gotten better. Many of my complaints I had from my first viewing don't bother me as much after my 3rd. Some of them still exist. The movie is far from flawless. But recognizing that the movie has flaws is a lot different than not loving it. X-Men: The Last Stand is the most flawed movie of the entire series, and it still might be my favorite of the bunch as well.

Yes, I have my issues with this movie. Yes, I still stand by them. There are parts of the movie that drift too far into wanna-be-Bond and take me out of feeling like I'm watching an X-Men movie. There are characters who got completely neglected in the character development department, I feel worse than characters previously in the franchise. There were some elements of heavy cheese, I wasn't a fan of Xavier and Mystique having such a close relationship, and I didn't feel Angel's motivations for turning her back on the X-Men and joining the Hellfire Club.

There are also moments in this movie that literally had me in the theatre, mouth wide open in pure awe. There are moments in this movie that literally have me tearing up at how powerful and well executed they were. I'm probably the only one that actually liked the portrayal of Emma Frost in this. Hard to say that's a person that didn't love the movie.

And speaking of X-Men: The Last Stand - due to the way that it handled much of the story and characters, and brought it all to conclusion, I've *NEVER* been a proponent of a post-The Last Stand sequel. So I have absolutely no bitterness towards X-Men: First Class for being some non-post Last Stand installment.

[X-Maniac]

Well, I've seen it three times and I like it better each time!

First time was at a media screening, everyone there seemed to like it, it got a round of applause at the end (which is rare in the UK), lots of enthusiastic laughter at the humour...

I wanted to see it again so I went the following week, on June 4, and liked it more.

This weekend, a friend wanted to go and see it, so we went early on Saturday evening (to avoid the crowds, although it was pretty full). I wasn't sure if I'd just be spotting flaws and getting jaded with it, but I liked it even more. Some of the humour didn't work with the audience, oddly - I think you need a packed primetime screening to get that sort of reaction.

I found it far more gripping and deep than Thor, with more heart in it than Source Code, far deeper than Pirates. Not sure where I'd rank it with all the X-Men movies. I almost went back to see Thor again but didn't in the end and I don't think it has enough to offer to make me want to do that. This did have enough to offer.

I might even go to see it again, with a friend from work who would like to go.

[Figs]

Originally Posted by Nell2ThaIzzay

How did I not "love" First Class?

I know you liked it a lot, it just didn't seem like you loved it, and there's nothing wrong with that of course.

And speaking of X-Men: The Last Stand - due to the way that it handled much of the story and characters, and brought it all to conclusion, I've *NEVER* been a proponent of a post-The Last Stand sequel. So I have absolutely no bitterness towards X-Men: First Class for being some non-post Last Stand installment.

Well now I know.

[Prison Mike]

I was amazed at the cameos and how it wasn't leaked. I didn't follow the spoilers for this movie when it was being filmed so it could have been spoiled but I love being surprised.

[Figs]

Originally Posted by Brawl

please allow me to retort...


One scene that comes to mind is when CIA Agent Moria decides to strip to her "Just happened to wear my sexiest lingerie on a stakeout garter belt combo" and walks in to see White Queen disappear behind a velvet purple curtain that hides a booth that spins around into what looks like Commissioner Gordon's office. I mean I was waiting for Bat-Girl to pop out.

I never got that feeling and think it's a bit of a stretch simply because the booth spun around.

What I am saying is that they are great actors, the parts in X1,X2 did not make them great. Can you honestly say other that McAvoy/Fassbinder any of the rest fo the crew that can return is worth laying down $15 to watch? Dude who played Beast might as well been a Power Ranger for all the serious acting he did. Banshee was a fun kid that belongs on Disney channel for a cool kiddie series. The girl who played mystique looked like she belonged on some teen angst movie opposite of Michael Cera. The seem like standard decent actors but not noteworthy and certainally not in the same ballpark as any of the actors I mentioned above.

Maybe so, but I have to disagree with Berry being a good actress. She's subpar in my eyes and I never truly cared for her portrayal of Storm.

I love the X-men comic book series and I support most comic book to movie ventures. I am a grown A$$ man and not some fanboy that you keep referring to. As to being bitter I am not bitter, it was a good movie just not as good as it should or could have been. Since I love the comic book series I do not understand the need to flip all the characters around and make the series stand on it's head. The great thing about comic movies is that the hard part of creating the saga is already done! The first team of X-Men is a classic. Its like when they changed Coca Cola to "New Coke" WHY?!? It was perfect the way it was. Then they had to bring back Coke Classic and then just lose the new coke all together.

Fair enough, but I still don't think havine the original team wouldn't have necessarily made the movie better. It would have been nice, but wasn't a must for me. Also, sorry about the fanboy comments, but I don't get why it's a must have to have everything exactly like the comics. Some changes are perfectly fine, like having a different team instead of the original five.

As far as missing Wolverine on the screen, why? I am again a comic book fan. He was not in the first class. He came in the 70's with Storm, Warpath, Banshee and all the rest. I think also mystique would be better just painted blue and not all the dammn warts on her, and put some dang clothes on her!

I was just guessing that it might have also been because of the lack of Wolverine. Then again you seem to want the movies to be just like the comics in regards to which characters came first in the timeline, so that makes sense I guess. I agree about Mystique. Although I liked her in First Class, I thought it was lame to have kept the scale look.

[Hunter Rider]

I saw it today and really enjoyed it, I'm not very familiar with the series of books it is based on so I can't speak to how faithful it is, but as a film I thought it was very good.

Vaughn's use of the period setting really elevated the film I felt, it was great to experience a sort of Connery Bond movie with powers. The story and it's reinventing of history was one of the best any CBM has had so far, and made the film an engrossing thriller with added superpower elements, as opposed to a tonne of SFX with a story loosely tacked on.

The acting was pretty good right through, the young actors did well with what they were given, Jennifer Lawrence obviously getting the most, Bacon was just on the right side of scenery chewing and Rose Byrne brought empathy and spunk to Moira. Both leads were excellent but Fassbender stole the show, such an intense and enigmatic presence.

The SFX in the film were of mixed quality, as was the action, but the finale set piece was satisfying, especially the way Magneto took out Shaw, and Vaughn's inter-cutting was superb, keeping the tension just right on each individual battle.

As an origin movie movie for the X Men and more pointedly Professor X and Magneto, this couldn't have been much better, the bond and the ideals conflicting between the two was perfectly crafted, it's just a shame they had to become enemies before a sequel.

8.5/10

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Originally Posted by Hunter Rider

I saw it today and really enjoyed it, I'm not very familiar with the series of books it is based on so I can't speak to how faithful it is, but as a film I thought it was very good.

The First Class comics have nothing to do with the movie.

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Originally Posted by Figs

Well now I know.

I called First Class my least favorite of the series after my first viewing, and in ways, it probably is, but considering how highly I rank ALL of the movies, even being my "least favorite" still puts it at being a great movie.

After watching it a 3rd time (as well as having marathoned the entire series) I don't know if I can really rate a least favorite, or a favorite. All 5 of the movies bring something to the table that the others don't. X-Men has the least thrilling climax, so perhaps in that element it lacks compared to the others, but I also feel it has some of the deepest character moments in the entire series, so it still has something to offer over the other movies also.

In the end, I love all 5 of these movies, and I consider them all roughly about the same in terms of quality and enjoyability. I might give a slight edge to a certain movie here or there, but on my terms, rating a movie in this series as "the best" doesn't place it significantly higher than the others, and labeling an installment as my "least favorite" doesn't mean it sucked. Most people around here hate the 3rd and 4th installments, so placing a movie as "least favorite" or "worst" means they didn't like it. Not for me, as I love all 5 of the movies.

The worst thing I can say about X-Men: First Class is probably that I didn't feel it was needed. In the grand scheme of things, I feel it added the least to the series. But that gripe is more along the lines of Fox and the producers greenlighting a movie that was nothing more than a money making endeavor, than anything the film makers did. The film makers told a brilliant story. I just don't think that given the rest of the series, it was a story that was needing to be told.

[Parker Wayne]

With that logic, Wolverine didn't really need to be told either as his story arc in X2 told the story much better than the spinoff ever did.

[GhostPoet]

First Class easily blew away the other X-Men films...I really wish they would just forget the other X-Men films and from from there, starting over. The only bad thing I found about this movie was it not being connected to the marvel movieverse...but it was still an amazing film.

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by Nell2ThaIzzay

I called First Class my least favorite of the series after my first viewing, and in ways, it probably is, but considering how highly I rank ALL of the movies, even being my "least favorite" still puts it at being a great movie.

After watching it a 3rd time (as well as having marathoned the entire series) I don't know if I can really rate a least favorite, or a favorite. All 5 of the movies bring something to the table that the others don't. X-Men has the least thrilling climax, so perhaps in that element it lacks compared to the others, but I also feel it has some of the deepest character moments in the entire series, so it still has something to offer over the other movies also.

In the end, I love all 5 of these movies, and I consider them all roughly about the same in terms of quality and enjoyability. I might give a slight edge to a certain movie here or there, but on my terms, rating a movie in this series as "the best" doesn't place it significantly higher than the others, and labeling an installment as my "least favorite" doesn't mean it sucked. Most people around here hate the 3rd and 4th installments, so placing a movie as "least favorite" or "worst" means they didn't like it. Not for me, as I love all 5 of the movies.

The worst thing I can say about X-Men: First Class is probably that I didn't feel it was needed. In the grand scheme of things, I feel it added the least to the series. But that gripe is more along the lines of Fox and the producers greenlighting a movie that was nothing more than a money making endeavor, than anything the film makers did. The film makers told a brilliant story. I just don't think that given the rest of the series, it was a story that was needing to be told.

I think they wanted to get back to basics. The existing films became more and more expensive and problematic, with a huge and costly cast that had to be signed and available. You can't keep adding new characters that fans wanted without taking some out, or sidelining them - which also annoys fans. They were screwed whatever they did.

That's why X3 was fairly dramatic with its story. It was, at the time, intended to end the forward movement of the stories for good. They're now talking about an X4/X5 but I've no idea what the vision is for that.

For the moment, First Class is the way they want to go.

[Parker Wayne]

Originally Posted by GhostPoet

First Class easily blew away the other X-Men films...I really wish they would just forget the other X-Men films and from from there, starting over. The only bad thing I found about this movie was it not being connected to the marvel movieverse...but it was still an amazing film.

Meh at it being connected to Marvel movieverse. Mutants are more or less divided from the Marvel universe save for a few members being part of the Avengers.

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

I think they wanted to get back to basics. The existing films became more and more expensive and problematic, with a huge and costly cast that had to be signed and available. You can't keep adding new characters that fans wanted without taking some out, or sidelining them - which also annoys fans. They were screwed whatever they did.

That's why X3 was fairly dramatic with its story. It was, at the time, intended to end the forward movement of the stories for good. They're now talking about an X4/X5 but I've no idea what the vision is for that.

For the moment, First Class is the way they want to go.

I get that First Class is their current direction for future X-Men films, and I agree with that direction, as I think that X-Men: The Last Stand made it virtually impossible to continue the franchise beyond that while keeping quality.

However, when I say that First Class wasn't needed, what I mean is that I don't watch the original trilogy and feel like something is lacking because we haven't explored Magneto and Xavier's early relationship, or that we didn't know exactly what circumstances the X-Men were formed under.

With X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I can at least say that X2 opened up a huge can of worms that left something of a void in the X-Men story, now feeling like I needed to know what happened between Wolverine and Stryker.

First Class was great, and I'm glad it got made, I just don't feel that it's story that it told was something that filled in gaps with the rest of the series. All the other X-Men movies offered that to the series. This one didn't.

But like I said, I blame Fox and the directors for feeling the need to juice the franchise for all it's worth. I credit the film makers for making it work well. But if the film had never been made, I wouldn't feel like I was needing to know more about the history of these characters. And if the franchise ends with First Class, I don't feel like I'll be missing anything.

However, that said, a sequel to First Class can certainly be quality, as there is a lot to build off of.

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by GhostPoet

First Class easily blew away the other X-Men films...I really wish they would just forget the other X-Men films and from from there, starting over. The only bad thing I found about this movie was it not being connected to the marvel movieverse...but it was still an amazing film.

There are enough X-Men characters to juggle without thinking of connections with other characters - that would make it a jumbled mess...

[The Squirrel]

I don't know, the movie was good. Better than the last two films, but something just doesn't sit right with me. 7/10.