Of the major superhero film franchises, X-Men hasn't had a universally acclaimed groundbreaker like The Dark Knight or a unmitigated stinker like Spider-Man 3 or either Fantastic Five movie. The X-Men movies have been continually solid, sometimes leaning towards excellent (X2) while other times dipping to just merely okay (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) while always remaining entertaining and watchable. I've never left an X-Men movie disappointed, though I admittedly enter with the expectation of being entertained and that's it. For a comparison, if I got an X-Men type experience when seeing The Dark Knight Rises, I'd be disappointed because I expect more than just entertainment from that franchise. X-Men: First Class continues this trend of singles and doubles without swinging for the fences.
The differences between First Class and the other X-Men movies is clear by just looking at the cast list. Past X-Men movies have featured such stars as Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Liev Schreiber and even early roles by young future stars Anna Paquin and Ellen Page while the biggest star in First Class is arguably Kevin Bacon. This actually works to the movies advantage, instead of reacting to a new character by saying "oh hey it's Halle Berry!" you think "sweet, it's Havok!", making the movie a more engrossing experience and less of a E! red carpet special. But the cast of First Class is B-list in fame only, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender both give excellent performances as main characters Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) respectively, while Jennifer Lawrence (Raven), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), and Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy) all shine in supporting roles. Kevin Bacon, as usual, is great as main villain Sebastian Shaw, though he isn't given a death worthy of the performance (more on that later). The one flaw in the cast is January Jones, she's a pretty face to be sure, but to call her flatter than a piece of paper is an insult to the acting skills of paper. She just shows no life at all, even when she's being choked by metal bars and quizzed for information she can't muster up much more than a pout. It doesn't help that she's given some of the worst dialogue in the movie ("Oh, and I wouldn’t call it a war, since that suggests both sides have an equal chance of winning.") or that her character is little more than eye candy in many scenes.
Story-wise, First Class suffers from the same problem almost all origin films do: too much to tell and not enough time to do it. The main plot revolves around the discovery of mutants by the C.I.A. and Xavier's attempt to bring together mutants to fight Shaw's "Hellfire Club", which wants to destroy all non-mutants. Other storylines include Lehnsherr's quest for revenge and the struggles Raven and McCoy face with mutations that make them stand out from normal humans. All of this is entertaining, but it takes up too much time and distracts from the heart of the story. What is the heart of the story? It's the same thing that makes all X-Men stories great, the friendship and rivalry between Xavier and Lehnsherr and their neverending debate about how mutants and humans should co-exist (or in the case of Lehnsherr, not) but we don't get much of the friendship aspect because things are rushed so much in the early stages. In a matter of minutes, their relationship goes from first meeting to fast friends with only one scene with them in between. This would have been a much better movie if more time had been spent on their relationship and less on the Lehnsherr/Raven/McCoy love triangle, which not only isn't really resolved but doesn't really carry any emotional weight. That's the other problem, because there are so many characters and storylines, the truly emotional scenes like Lehnsherr facing off with Shaw, who killed his mother are rushed and he dies with hardly a fight despite spending the previous 15 minutes to his death building up vast amounts of nuclear energy to power his mutation. There are other missteps along the way, such as despite the movie being set in 1962, little to nothing of the world at that time is shown. If not for some Russians, short dresses, and an occasional "groovy", the movie could be easily set in modern time. But the core problem with First Class is the core problem with all X-Men stories, we don't have a strong emotional response to the prejudice against mutants because we're not mutants and there's no such thing as mutants so it doesn't, deep down, ring true. Sure, you feel a little pang when the young mutants are called "freaks" but it doesn't grip you the same way say, To Kill A Mockingbird does.
With all that said, however, First Class is an enjoyable summer movie that you can go see with little chance of feeling like you wasted your money while being thoroughly entertained throughout. If you're expecting a movie that will challenge you mentally and emotionally, you'll be disappointed, but if you go hoping to be entertained by (mostly) great acting with colorful characters, action, and the nostalgia only superheros can bring, you'll be happy.
3/5
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