While not as great a success as the second X-movie (yet far more satisfying than the third), the long-awaited X-Men prequel provides enough sturm und drang to keep fanboys hungry. The casting - and recasting - works wells. Michael Fassbender's Magneto could easily develop into Ian McKellan's calculating antihero (plus "he's a hottie", says Louise) while James McAvoy shows flashes of the intensity Patrick Stewart brought to Professor X, if slightly less wisdom. Kevin Bacon slices the ham as oily villain Sebastian Shaw and January Jones reprises her Mad Men role - down to the 60s fashions (albeit somewhat racier) as the ice cold Emma Frost. Winter's Bone Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence is excellent as Little Miss Mystique, bringing a vulnerability to her character that reminded me of Anna Paquin's Rogue. Nicholas Holt, meanwhile, is Nicolas Holt. As Beasts go, I'd still rather have Frasier.
There are some surprising cameos from Michael Ironside, Ray Wise and Oliver Platt - surprising in how little they're used. Given actors of this calibre, you'd expect to allow them a little more scenery to chew. I'd rather have watched them than the bland young non-entities drafted in to play Havok, Banshee and Angel - though to be fair, none of these characters is given a whole lot in the way of development. As in previous X-films, you get the feeling they're only there to sell toys. (And don't even start me on Sebastian Shaw's henchmen - an unrecognisable Jason Flemyng as Nightcrawler's dad and another character so obscure I didn't even know who he was after I'd looked him up on wikipedia.) Still, at least we avoided any casting calamities of the Vinnie Jones / Juggernaut variety. Oh, and expect some kind of backlash over the fact that of the two black mutants featured, one dies a horrible death while the other turns traitor.
The story rambles in set-up - intriguing for X-fans, but I wonder how it'll play to less devoted audiences? The set pieces, when they do arrive, are worth the wait, particularly the Cuban Missile Crisis climax. (Best of all - it's not in 3D!) The 60s setting made the film for me, particularly Bacon's classic Bond villain / Dr. Evil turn, complete with lavishly decorated submarine. But again, I did wonder how well these stylings would go down with younger audiences.
There is, however, one moment that makes the whole film worthwhile. It's about 10 seconds in duration, occurs approximately halfway through, and came as a complete surprise. No spoilers, but I'm still cheering 24 hours later.
It's X-Men First Class week over at thoughtballoons this week. My script goes live tomorrow, but pop over now to see what kind of 60s spin the other guys are putting on our merry mutants.
