I wish they could have given more time for Charles to decide he would help Logan and all. I agree that it was rushed. But from all the transitions, that one was the worst.
I mean, Charles made it very clear that his problems with Erik were set on a personal level, and not really the whole "you killed the president I hate you". It was a "you shot me, paralyzed me, abandoned me and took my sister away" hate. In return for opening up his heart and soul, Charles got a dramatic tantrum from Erik, who was essentially blaming him for the deaths of other mutants. I mean, that would be enough to cement the hurt even deeper. But as soon Erik approaches Charles with the chessboard, the first thing he says is "I didn't kill the president". So he kept on ignoring whatever Charles told him. Which would be perfectly fine for Magneto, who's essentially a very self-absorbed person with his own agenda, so it's not like he would care that much about Charles' feelings. But why Charles accepted his so-called friend back so quickly, when in fact he didn't give a damn about the president when he punched Erik or when he told him he had been abandoned? And to top it all he went all "oh you must think I'm foolish!" I was like "Nooooooooooo Charles! You're not foolish! Give him bad place!"
Erik then said a weak "sorry", but it's not like he needed to, because Charles had already warmed to him again as soon as he knew Erik hadn't killed the president. It was all incredibly abrupt.
Charles is incredibly forgiving--we see this numerous times--but when he finally gives Erik just a little moment of well-deserved rage, Erik twists the argument around, deflecting what he did to Charles (which was, essentially, what Charles was angry about). What made the scene work for me was that, even though Charles didn't get the last word, Logan stood up for him, calling Erik an a-hole, and telling this master of magnetism to clean up the mess he made.
But Charles' forgiveness did feel rushed. Even if he didn't know about JFK, he isn't foolish to think that Erik would be capable of murdering someone for his own agenda--we've seen this many times before. I did like that Erik said he was sorry for what happened to Charles and felt he was genuine with his apology. I didn't like how easily Charles brushed it off, like it was all in the past when it certainly wasn't.
I think this is why I value James' acting even more. Because even though Charles' arc wasn't really developed as Erik's arc was in First Class, he gave such earnest, intense life to young Charles that it felt like he had lived through each and every nuanced aspect of his story - it's like his acting gives the arc its full circle. Outstanding.
I usually don't give props to actors just doing their job--if you can't embody a character, don't be an actor. But God...I gotta hand it to James. He just owned every scene he was in, and even if the script was a bit wonky at times, he really got the best out of what it could be. It really says something when Hugh Jackman, who is another astounding actor, repeatedly compliments James on how amazing he did in this film on every dang interview.
I will say this--I didn't like Charles letting Magneto go that easily, either. And I do find it odd that, with all the other mutants that have been captured and experimented on...why was Magneto not handed over to Trask Industries as well? Was his profile too well-known at the time? Was it the fact that the government got to him first, before Trask could try? Stryker almost got his hands on Havok and the other soldiers in Saigon--why not Magneto from the Pentagon?
So the idea that he'd be "as good as dead" doesn't really fly with me. But we have seen what does happen to Magneto when he is captured in the future, with Stryker forcing him to tell him everything about Xavier's school and Cerebro. Having Erik in custody does put others in peril, but at this point, Charles doesn't really know this yet. It feels like a small plot hole to me.
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