A comic movie for the non-comic viewer

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2011)

What do you do when Bret Ratner crash lands the last in a great set of films? Well, first you make sure he has nothing to do with any more of them and second you want turn back time and hopefully reset the X-Men clock to before Ratner passed X-Men: The Last Stand onto a film reel. Comics are all about alternate universes – let's enter one where the directors, actors, and storyline are thought out and entertaining.
Just with the folks involved, this movie had a great chance of being at least good. I have thoroughly enjoyed every one of Matthew Vaughn's films from Layer Cake to, most recently, Kick-Ass. Given a bigger budget, I knew he would be capable of more. Two of the writers were also on Thor (uh-oh), but I'm sure Vaughn and Jane Goldman reeled them back to reality. Top off the talent with James McAvoy as Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. There was a brilliant mix of established talent and new faces. Nobody was a nobody, but I'll bet this is the first time since Mad Men that you recognized January Jones on screen.
So we're back in time with the start of X-Men. Sure they've been around, but they didn't get their catchy nicknames or skin-tight suits until this moment. Speaking of skin-tight suits, it's amazing how every movie tries to justify with a scientific explanation why the female characters need super-cleavage inducing suits. Can't we just gloss over a reason and all get along? I'd rather leave the cool action to the big screen – I really can't describe how nice everything turned out. Great explosions, very nice period settings. We get requisite TV shots of Kennedy saying "Cuber" so we all know what year we're in. What I can talk about (since this is a critical critics review) is character development.
If I had any complaint, it would be wanting more character growth. By this point we know a lot about Prof. X and Magneto. Don't twist my words in your angry mind, comic-book reader, I liked seeing that initial relationship and falling out. I also loved seeing Mystique's beginnings (played by the crazy-talented Jennifer Lawrence), but there were so many other characters that seemed to be begging for more back story. Even Sebastian Shaw – obviously a very talented mutant – was assumed to just be the evil guy who needed getting. Little was revealed besides his early ties to Magneto. I know it's hard to have a film under 4 hours long with as many characters that populate a mutant environment, but I was left wanting more. It's really a pitiful complaint against an enjoyable film.
While X-Men: First Class had it's little comic-type jokes, it generally avoided the cheese factor enough to create a world that us non-comic watchers didn't feel lost in the little inside jokes. With a $65 million opening, I'm hoping Vaughn and the rest of the crew return for more retro-styled X-Men adventures very soon.