Continuity and Magneto

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2011)

Well I still think its a good film because the script wasn't corny, the acting was terrific, and the story itself is actually solid. However being a fan of the comics and the previous films, I can't help but shake myself of the fractures in continuity.
OK fine, I very well know it's a very loose prequel, granted that. I don't care how for the most part it doesn't fit into the X-Men films of the 2000's, that's not it. I care because it really hindered Magneto's character development.
Magneto is one of the greatest villains of all time and you can even check that on IGN.com. The reason why is because of his convictions and how he was strongly imbued with them. Having survived the Holocaust, Magneto becomes convinced that his fellow mutants could suffer the same fate as the Jews, hence he becomes the terrorist that he is.
In this film however he meets the film's villain, Sebastian Shaw, in the death camp. Shaw wanted Magneto do display his power by moving a coin, and to provoke him he shoots his mother right in front of him and yes he triggers Magneto's powers in the process.
So basically, Magneto's initial intentions are revenge against a single person rather than humanity. So you can see how the scope is lowered. Only until the end we see Shaw tell him that when the Cold War ends, humans will turn to mutants and hunt them down. That's when Magneto becomes Magneto. I think that's too cheap. It seriously spoiled the modus operandi of one of the greatest comic book characters.
However it's still a good film. Better than Thor. I don't think it's better than the original X-Men films however, X2 was brilliant. I like how Professor X became a paraplegic in this film than in the comics. In the comics his legs were crushed by a boulder where in this film a bullet hits his spine.
It's still worth a $10 ticket.