Like all good prequels, First Class manages to be a good film in its own right, while at the same time giving the other films in the series an added depth. I will be interesting to rewatch X-Men and X2 (or possibly even watch X3 for the first time) with this back story now part of the mix. The idea to set the X-Men in the 60s is so obvious, it's crazy no one had thought of it before. The X-Men ARE, after all, children of the decade. The comic was a product of its time, set against the paranoia of the Cold War, the Fear of the Bomb, and a budding human rights movement. (It's in fact harder to understand how the franchise thrived only much later.) First Class is a very modern production, with a well-juggled cast and memorable action/effects sequences. But it's also given a 60s spin, with groovy splitscreens and credits sequences, and a frankly Bondian spy-adventure-around-the-world feel set against real world events (the Cuban Missile Crisis). If I have one complaint, it's that the cast was so Americanized (Moira and Banshee in particular) when it could have been just as international as the film's locations. Interesting reinventions across the board though. Hoping a sequel would make good use of historical events too (I suggest the Million Man March or the Space Race)
When this movie came to the cinemas I did not want to watch it because I thought there was no way I'd like it with "those new actors". Well, that was before I knew James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender! Their chemistry and the relationship between Professor X and Magneto in this movie is amazing, their scenes were fascinating. I'm glad I incidentally saw the movie on TV one day - meanwhile I even own the DVD. An awesome film - looking very much forward to "Days of Future Past"!
everything in this movie just came together seemlessly, and it was a great ride. the friendship of magneto and xavier was thankfully believable, and the development had enough depth for everything to have a dramatic amount of weight.
if you ignore the first 3 xmen movies, you'll find an absolutely pristine action movie. 8/10
Unfortunately (though this isn't picking this movie out specifically from the series) the writers have done a dreadful job at maintaining continuity in this series to the point where this movie should just have been a complete reboot. By that I mean ignore the other movies entirely.
I know there's going to be a sequel tying the movies together, probably some mumbo jumbo time travel to fix stuff, but I think it's too far gone. Continuity!
I did enjoy the performances of Bacon and Fassbender, and the portentous ending was just right. The score was godawful and ruined a lot of the action scenes for me.
I can't really forgive the repeated invocation of evolutionary theory. The mutations portrayed in the film are exactly not evolution. It's one thing to have scientific inaccuracies for the sake of story, it's another to spread misinformation about a topic that the public are already dangerously ignorant about.
Oh, it also bugged me a bit that the helmet always seemed a bit askew on Fassbender's head. Trivial, I know.
Great special effects, and awesome sets (albeit several anachronisms) ! There is just no excuse for bad script writing though. Also the social commentary was aggravatingly forced. Not impressed by the performances of most of the actors either. However, this is definitely the best movie I've seen in theaters this summer, hope that doesn't stay that way.
I think this movie was pretty bad. Straight forward story line. Weak characters. The only good part was some of the action scenes. Pretty mediocre in total in my opinion!
6/10 - fun origin story, but let's not kid ourselves that this is anything but a summer popcorn flick. some pretty laughable moments, but Fassbender and McAvoy do well in their roles.
Great movie, just watched it for a second time to be prepared to the promising upcoming movie Days of the future past. This X-men Universe is really something amazing, mutants and more mutants, a sweet to comic book movie lovers.
4.25/5
In my eyes it's not a prequel. Prequels usually suck and this doesn't. Not only that, but also it's much better than the original movies (in my opinion).
What made the movie so special? The performances. I loved: Xavier, Mystique, the crystal lady (not for her acting though), Magneto and Kevin Bacon.
I found it heart breaking that magneto and Dr. X, Dr. X and Mystique, such lovable characters, such convincing friends will turn into enemies. An even more heartbreaking fact is that this truly great film is supposedly a prequel to some mediocre forgetable trilogy. They should have called it a reboot. That way they would have avoided some plotholes too.
Ok, I'm praising the movie too much. It's far from perfect (it felt a little too long and it had some moments of bad writting), but it is definitelly worth a watch.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 85
Siskoid
Like all good prequels, First Class manages to be a good film in its own right, while at the same time giving the other films in the series an added depth. I will be interesting to rewatch X-Men and X2 (or possibly even watch X3 for the first time) with this back story now part of the mix. The idea to set the X-Men in the 60s is so obvious, it's crazy no one had thought of it before. The X-Men ARE, after all, children of the decade. The comic was a product of its time, set against the paranoia of the Cold War, the Fear of the Bomb, and a budding human rights movement. (It's in fact harder to understand how the franchise thrived only much later.) First Class is a very modern production, with a well-juggled cast and memorable action/effects sequences. But it's also given a 60s spin, with groovy splitscreens and credits sequences, and a frankly Bondian spy-adventure-around-the-world feel set against real world events (the Cuban Missile Crisis). If I have one complaint, it's that the cast was so Americanized (Moira and Banshee in particular) when it could have been just as international as the film's locations. Interesting reinventions across the board though. Hoping a sequel would make good use of historical events too (I suggest the Million Man March or the Space Race)IreneAdler
When this movie came to the cinemas I did not want to watch it because I thought there was no way I'd like it with "those new actors". Well, that was before I knew James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender! Their chemistry and the relationship between Professor X and Magneto in this movie is amazing, their scenes were fascinating. I'm glad I incidentally saw the movie on TV one day - meanwhile I even own the DVD. An awesome film - looking very much forward to "Days of Future Past"!Jinkla
unexpectedly good.everything in this movie just came together seemlessly, and it was a great ride. the friendship of magneto and xavier was thankfully believable, and the development had enough depth for everything to have a dramatic amount of weight.
if you ignore the first 3 xmen movies, you'll find an absolutely pristine action movie. 8/10
Oneironaut
Great watch, very good casting.Unfortunately (though this isn't picking this movie out specifically from the series) the writers have done a dreadful job at maintaining continuity in this series to the point where this movie should just have been a complete reboot. By that I mean ignore the other movies entirely.
I know there's going to be a sequel tying the movies together, probably some mumbo jumbo time travel to fix stuff, but I think it's too far gone. Continuity!
Marasmusine
I did enjoy the performances of Bacon and Fassbender, and the portentous ending was just right. The score was godawful and ruined a lot of the action scenes for me.I can't really forgive the repeated invocation of evolutionary theory. The mutations portrayed in the film are exactly not evolution. It's one thing to have scientific inaccuracies for the sake of story, it's another to spread misinformation about a topic that the public are already dangerously ignorant about.
Oh, it also bugged me a bit that the helmet always seemed a bit askew on Fassbender's head. Trivial, I know.
coral_ck
Great special effects, and awesome sets (albeit several anachronisms) ! There is just no excuse for bad script writing though. Also the social commentary was aggravatingly forced. Not impressed by the performances of most of the actors either. However, this is definitely the best movie I've seen in theaters this summer, hope that doesn't stay that way.swtimmer
I think this movie was pretty bad. Straight forward story line. Weak characters. The only good part was some of the action scenes. Pretty mediocre in total in my opinion!computer
pretty generic superhero movie, unremarkablefilmistruth
6/10 - fun origin story, but let's not kid ourselves that this is anything but a summer popcorn flick. some pretty laughable moments, but Fassbender and McAvoy do well in their roles.RoastMutton10
And oh yeah, Wolverine's cameo is one of the best I've seen, won't ruin it here.filmyjo
I was pleasantly taken by surprise of how good the movie was.. Loved the acting of Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence...xnn
Amazing .Just big fan X men movies!!!Joker of Gotham
Great movie, just watched it for a second time to be prepared to the promising upcoming movie Days of the future past. This X-men Universe is really something amazing, mutants and more mutants, a sweet to comic book movie lovers.4.25/5
Earring72
Never a big fan of the earlier movies.......really enjoyed this James Bond feel X men movie. Fun!!!!!jktomas
In my eyes it's not a prequel. Prequels usually suck and this doesn't. Not only that, but also it's much better than the original movies (in my opinion).What made the movie so special? The performances. I loved: Xavier, Mystique, the crystal lady (not for her acting though), Magneto and Kevin Bacon.
I found it heart breaking that magneto and Dr. X, Dr. X and Mystique, such lovable characters, such convincing friends will turn into enemies. An even more heartbreaking fact is that this truly great film is supposedly a prequel to some mediocre forgetable trilogy. They should have called it a reboot. That way they would have avoided some plotholes too.
Ok, I'm praising the movie too much. It's far from perfect (it felt a little too long and it had some moments of bad writting), but it is definitelly worth a watch.
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