The one thing I find kind of curious about the X-Men is an awful lot of their random mutations seem to be themed.
Like one of the guys is basically a devil. Pointy tail and everything. I'm no scientician, but this strikes me as an unlikely route for a sudden mutation to take. It would be similar to getting exposed to radiation and waking up the next day to find you have become a Godzilla or a Rescue Ranger. Highly suspicious. A dude growing hand-feet makes perfect sense, but the guy who has somehow managed to mutate into a fictional creature -- now that is a stretch.
Of course, in one sense that's much cooler than jamming several unrelated mutations together, like the girl who has giant dragonfly wings and spits explosions for some reason. That's just confusing. But all of that is beside the point, which is this: X-Men: First Class is awesome and you should probably quit work early to go see it without telling anyone.
Kevin Bacon isn't just working for the Cold War Russian enemy -- he's using mysterious new mutants to help him. When CIA operative Rose Byrne discovers this, she heads for the help of evolutionary expert professor James McAvoy (as Charles Xavier).
Meanwhile, Michael Fassbender (as Magneto) is seeking revenge on Bacon for his Nazi war crimes. But even after he teams up with McAvoy, they may not be able to stop the world-altering plans of Bacon, who has mutant powers of his own.
For the last decade or so, it's usually been the case that the first installment of superhero movies isn't as good as the sequel. The main reason for this is there's a lot of back story to get out of the way, the radioactive spiders, murdered parents, microscopic brain-dinosaurs, or whatever else that turns your average Joe into a tights-wearing crime-fighter. Once that's established, the second movie can turn to the business of badasses whaling the tar out of each other.
If the same tendency holds true after X-Men: First Class, we'll be looking at a sequel so good that Hollywood will simply nod in satisfaction and retire after a job well done.
A clear violation of the stripper theory of screenwriting, in which any more than two writers turns a movie into a big hot confusing mess, First Class, despite four writers and two reported rewrites, is in command of every thread of its big, big story. Seriously, there are enough characters here to fill out a baseball league, and all of them are up to something. Sometimes several things. Remarkably, even the minor characters have distinct personalities, helping to create an expansive, colorful world.
Also, it is funny. Obviously, the first thing you would do if you learned you could fly is go spit on your high school enemy. If you found out you had the power to become a car, you would immediately drive to Lover's Lane and leave your doors open. Having super powers would be really, really fun. First Class gets that, dedicating time to jokes and horseplay as the young mutants figure themselves out. While the dialogue deserves credit, too, Matthew Vaughn is proving himself to be a pretty funny director. This is just his fourth movie since 2004. He needs to direct more. My arrogant demand to the world: let/make Matthew Vaughn direct more movies.
First Class just gets better as it goes along. For me, at least, it's easy to overrate movies like that, so take what I say with a grain of salt. A small one, however (just in case you have any suitcase-sized salt grains lying around). With loads of action and humor, and commanding lead performances from McAvoy and Fassbender, First Class is exactly what a summer blockbuster should be.
Grade: A-
* Contact Ed Robertson at edwrobertson@gmail.com. His fiction is available on Kindle, Nook, and through Smashwords.
