Balanced review of an unbalanced film

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2011)

If one will like or dislike this film should first depend on if one generally likes or dislikes comic-book superhero flicks.
When the subject matter is super heroes with powers that seem like physics-defying magic, but are supposedly just mutations of the human genome, one HAS to suspend disbelief. For instance, one character can shoot what appears to be laser hoopla hoops from his belly, and yet in every other aspect his body functions like any normal human. So is the laser hoopla hoops produced by severe belly ache (in turn caused by anxiety over failed physics exams)? I think not. But as it is the nature of these kinds of movies never to explain such things, any guess is as good as mine, really.
Yet, even if you do suspend your belief in physics, some scenes may still appear outright silly (every one including Banshee). Other scenes seem to suffer from poor execution (SPOILERS: Magneto seems more interested in staring at a wall than turning his attention to his mom after she is shot, kid Xavier and Mystique meet and within seconds they are pals and Xavier decide he can adopt her, basically all military commanders are dumbed down and reduced to props). These issues could be partly caused by time contraints, as it would take more time to play out scenes in a more natural way.
However, the performances of the key actors and the main elements of their stories are what carries this movie. Sure, it may not follow the continuity of the series, but it tells an interesting story. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence are all excellent. The rest of the cast do not need to be (to me none of the others were remarkably good nor bad).
The heart of this movie is really the interplay and friendship between Magneto and Professor X, and the relation of Mystique and the men in her life. Professor X is played as an intelligent, empathic and humoristic smooth-talking 20-something, perhaps more care-taking than he is bad-ass. This leaves room for a slightly older, darker and avengeful Magneto, who is all cool (perhaps too much so, as he is later supposed to be the immoral bad guy). The interplay between these two characters will make the movie for you, or break it.
The other thing to pay attention to is Mystique's relations with the men of the cast. She is looking for someone to love her, and she has self-esteem issues because of her appearance, much like many young women, and even worse as she is blue-skinned. (SPOILERS ahead) Professor X sees Mystique more as a sister, despite the fact that she constantly hints she wants more than that. Beast seems to be more interested in her DNA than her person, and both him and the professor assumes that Mystique would be better off looking like a "normal" person. Despite Mystique's efforts, the only man that seems to accept her for what she really is (in appearance at least) is Magneto, who she therefore grows attached to.
Yet even as I felt genuinely touched by the three characters of Magneto, Prof X, Mystique and their interplay, the other plot and character elements of the movie added very little to the experience or even interfered with it. The movie seems mired with holes or inconsistencies, yet for this type of film that is the rule rather than the exception. Some of the special effects scenes were very entertaining (Azazel's and Magneto's particularly), and even if the placing of the events during 1960's cold war was not perfectly executed, it made an interesting element.
Taken for what it is, a comic-book hero flick, the special effects are pretty standard, but the acting of the main leads are high above expectations.