The beginnings of the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters aka the home of the X-Men. You get to see the relationship between Eric (Magneto) and Charles (Professor X) and the foundations for their ideas. There are deviations from the actual comics but it's probably the best "X" movie to date and enjoyable even to newcomers.
Stars: ★★★★☆
Full Review (SPOILER ALERT)
Prequels have a tendency to suck. They're usually an excuse to cash in on a known name or beloved franchise. We all know this movie never would have happened if Fox didn't want to squeeze every dime out of anything that starts with an X but at least it was done properly. I was quite pleased even with variations in the original storyline.
Hands down the raddest part of the movie was watching Eric Lehnsherr evolve into who we currently know as Magneto. He was ruthless towards his enemies yet you could completely understand why and still root for him. He was creative with his powers and it was awesome seeing him hone them. I would totally watch a Magneto only TV show with Michael Fassbender at the helm.
That leads me to what I enjoyed the most about this flick, the creative ways everyone used their super powers. From Eric yanking metal fillings in an interrogation to Charles making people forget that they were even there. I've seen this before in the comics as a kid and it's nice to finally see the movies start using their true potentials.
Charles, played by James McAvoy, filled the Professors shoes commendably. But without Eric to tango with, he wouldn't have had a leg to dance on. They played off each others traits, abilities and ideals so well. The supporting "good" mutants I really could have lived without along with a couple of the "bad" ones. Shaw and Frost on the other hand, played by Kevin Bacon and January Jones, were rousing and fit nicely into their roles. They were good choices for solid enemies to counter the Prof and Mag.
I would like to briefly mention the fantastic outfits and sets. Everything was appropriate for the time period of the 60's and it didn't look too over the top. The sets were very James Bond like but cool as hell. It was also a fun twist that they tied in real events and historical videos surrounding the Cuban missile crisis.
In conclusion, I was considerably absorbed and unequivocally gratified by this newest installment in the X-Men line up. I'm very harsh on adaptations of my cherished childhood comics and this met and surpassed my standards. So all you X fans… run to the theaters while you still can.
Poster Analysis
Everything I saw in regards to the graphics used for advertising was really really poopie. All their posters, save for one, made me not want to see the movie. I feared if they sucked so badly at their promotional work then the film itself would be terrible. But luckily I was wrong.
The first poster in my line-up might have been cool if the whole silhouette bit would have been used properly. But one uber lame issue strangled it, that stupid floating face. *sigh* The second poster is decent and it should have been the only poster released considering how bad the third one is. It sucks so terribly that it's flaws require a bullet point list.
- Over Photoshopped with horrible reflections
- Corny and homo-erotic facial expressions
- Bad posing
- Over all it doesn't tell you anything
- Why are some people in uniform and some aren't… it's confusing
- Average title font but with a cheesy lens flare
- The tag line needed rethinking and made more to focus on the X-Men
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