After an extended hiatus recent events have moved me to restart The Salsa Shark and practice my hand at reviewing mainstream cinema, and it doesn’t get more mainstream than X-Men. X-Men isn’t just a comic book franchise it’s the original comic book franchise, it’s the reason we’re inundated with two hours of spandex-clad CGI every other week. As such the name carries enough brand recognition to guarantee a box office return and the source material has the room to be action-packed but emotionally weighty. The X-Men films have always been solid, entertaining stories but only X2 has risen above average and unfortunately X-Men: First Class just doesn’t match up.
The primary reason for this it is an inherent lack of focus, obvious enough when you consider this was supposed to be a Magneto’s origin but later changed to encompass the X-Men as a whole. It doesn’t cost the film any of the central themes of isolation or segregation and turning the Cuban Missile Crisis into the climax plays out surprisingly straight. Chock full of camp straight from the sixties spy genre makes it feel like a comic book come to life without undermining the emotional weight.
It’s a shame that the change in direction hits Magneto (Michael Fassbender) the hardest given his place as one of the most fascinating antagonists in the Marvel mythology. Despite an early scene made unintentionally hilarious by one of the worst performances I've ever seen from a child actor, his vendetta oozes badassery. In the end though, his journey loses its emotional weight because we never fully experience his relationship with the two men that created him. Villain Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who brought him to the lows of the Holocaust and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) who showed him his potential. Both men had a hand in what Eric Lehnsherr would become but sadly the film doesn’t have time explore this.
Fortunately its failing are overcome thanks to a strong central cast. McAvoy conveys all the intelligence of Patrick Stewarts Xavier, without any of the wisdom. His is a flawed Xavier, one who still believes mutants should hide their abilities and puts his faith in the very people that want to hunt him. Fassbender is electrifying as a vengeful Eric Lehnsherr, like a spy gone rogue with a cause you can sympathise with. Finally Kevin Bacon steals every scene as Shaw, giving this one-note villain a surprising amount of depth. The amount of energy he brings to the performance could easily be harnessed into a weapon.
However the supporting cast does not fare so well. January Jones delights as Emma Frost but utterly fails to intimidate and CIA agent Moira MacTaggart is utterly forgettable(pun not intended). Mystique (Jenifer Lawrence) and Dr Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) are the exceptions, compelling but undermined by shoddy make-up or clumsy dialogue. If the screaming child Magneto doesn’t prove that the film treats subtlety as a foreign concept then the ham-fisted ‘Mutant and Proud’ declaration will.
While it’s hard to contain my disappointment at X-Men: First Class the good still far outweighs the bad. With a recognizable conflict and entertaining cast of characters the film keeps the momentum all the way up to the impressive climax. The special effects on the lifting of the submarine give a real impression of mass that really communicates the danger of moving such a large object. Made all the more impressive by how much you care about the people in danger. By the end a single bullet has more impact than a hundred missiles but the tragedy still leaves you hopeful for the future of X-Men
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