X: First Class

Plot synopsis:
At a German concentration camp in occupied Poland during 1944, young Erik Lensherr is separated from his parents by Nazi guards. The child's desperate mind remarkably bends a metal gate until a guard knocks Lensherr unconscious (a recreation of the opening scene of the first X-Men movie). Scientist Sebastian Shaw, who has observed this incident through a window, calls Lensherr up to see him. Placing a metal coin on a desk, he orders Lensherr to use his power to move it. When Lensherr cannot, despite his best efforts, Shaw shoots and kills Lensherr's mother in front of him. In his rage, Lensherr's out-of-control magnetic power kills the two guards and destroys two rooms, to Shaw's delight. Shaw tells Lensherr that they will "have fun" developing the boy's power.Around this same time, in a Westchester County, New York, mansion, young Charles Xavier is awoken when he thinks he hears a burglar break in. He heads down to the kitchen and finds a young, shape-shifting girl named Raven Darkhölme, disguised as his mother, who is looking through the fridge for food. Using his mind to talk to Raven, Xavier accuses his "mother" of being an imposter, and asks what it has done with his real mother, as she would not make him a sandwich or hot chocolate. Raven shifts back to her normal, blue-skinned form. Overjoyed to meet someone else "different" like him, Xavier invites her in.In 1962, Lensherr goes to Switzerland and forces a banker (by ripping out one of the metal fillings in his mouth) to trace a bar of Nazi gold to Shaw's address in Argentina. In a tavern there patronized by former German soldiers, Lensherr kills three men as he learns that Shaw owns a yacht in Florida. Meanwhile, in England, Xavier has graduated from Oxford and is publishing his thesis on mutation; Raven is now his foster sister and works as a waitress. Simultaneously in Las Vegas, Nevada, CIA agent Moira MacTaggart follows U.S. Army Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club, where she sees Shaw, Emma Frost, Riptide and Azazel. Shaw calmly threatens Hendry, telling him that the Colonel should reverse his position on advocating that the U.S. install nuclear missiles in Turkey, a move the government had previously avoided so as not to provoke war with the Soviet Union. When Hendry refuses, Shaw has Riptide demonstrate his power to conjure tornadoes from thin air and hurls Hendry into a wall. Convinced, Shaw has Azazel teleport Hendry to the President's War Room, where he supports the missile placement in Turkey.Shaw later meets with Colonel Hendry on his yacht, and refuses to give Hendry his money, at which point Hendry pulls out a grenade and threatens to pull the pin and kill himself and everyone on the boat's deck. Shaw takes the grenade and pulls the pin himself, and absorbs the blast -- Shaw is a mutant, and absorbs energy, which also keeps him young, then taps Hendry, expelling the grenade's energy into the Colonel, destroying him.MacTaggart seeks Xavier's advice on mutation, and takes Xavier and Raven to the CIA to convince the chief that Shaw is a threat. After convincing them that mutants exist, they are to be taken to a covert facility, but first Xavier insists they track down Shaw. Shaw is aboard his yacht relaxing with Frost and Riptide when Lensherr appears. Frost uses her telepathy to pacify Erik and pushes him overboard.Lensherr attacks Shaw, using the anchors and chains of the yacht to tear the boat apart. When Shaw escapes in a submarine hidden below the upper decks of the boat, Lensherr tries to stop him, his ability to control metal pulling him along in the water. Xavier stops him so that he does not drown, speaking to him telepathically and telling him it's useless to follow Shaw. Lensherr joins Xavier and Raven at the CIA facility, where they meet Hank McCoy, another mutant that Xavier accidentally outs. McCoy and Xavier use a prototype Cerebro to locate mutants and recruit several of them to train to stop Shaw. During the recruiting process, we also see Xavier and Lensherr trying to talk to Logan (Wolverine) in a bar. He promptly tells them to go to hell, and they walk off.Shaw plans to meet with a Russian general, but sends Frost instead, who is then captured by Xavier and Lensherr. Lensherr tortures her briefly and Xavier taps into Frost's mind and finds out that Shaw plans to start a nuclear war between the US and Russia in order to wipe out all normal humans. Back in the US, the CIA facility is attacked by Azazel, Riptide and Shaw, who kill all the guards and agents present. Shaw offers the new mutants to a place on his side, but most of them refuse. He recruits Angel and kills Darwin by forcing him to ingest a massive amount of energy when he tries to fight back. When Lensherr and Xavier return they all go to Xavier's mansion and begin to train, though Raven is conflicted about hiding her natural form. Hank creates a vaccine that is supposed to turn his and Raven's appearance normal, however, when Hank takes it there are unexpected side effects: his mutant physical features are enhanced; he now has blue skin, blue fur and is several times stronger. The newly assembled X-Men team boards a specialized SR-71 Blackbird jet modified by Hank and fly out to the Caribbean.President Kennedy institutes a blockade of a Russian fleet in the Caribbean Sea. Shaw travels with the Russian fleet to ensure that the missiles get to Cuba. Xavier, MacTaggart and Lensherr fly to the blockade to stop the fleets from engaging. Wearing a special helmet given him by the Soviets that blocks out telepathic interference, Shaw uses the sub's nuclear core to charge himself up. While Azazel kills the crew of the Russian missile ship, Xavier uses his powers to make a Russian officer on one of the escort ships fire a missile and destroy the cargo ship carrying the Soviet weapons before it crosses the demarcation line established by the United States.With Xavier's help, Lensherr pulls Shaw's submarine from the water, but an attack by Riptide forces the X-jet and submarine to crash on a nearby beach. Xavier desperately tries to locate Shaw with his telepathic ability but is unable while Shaw is in the reactor room of the sub and wears his helmet. Lensherr goes after Shaw and finds him in the sub's reactor room. The two battle furiously and the shielding around the chamber cracks, allowing Xavier to locate Shaw. Lensherr tries to overcome Shaw with the metal in the room but Shaw counters with his own telekinesis and pins Lensherr to the wall. Suddenly, Lensherr plucks Shaw's helmet from his head with a length of cable and Xavier is able to freeze Shaw in place. Lensherr puts on the helmet to block out Xavier's telepathy and admits that he agrees with everything Shaw believes about mutants and humans and how he never would have developed his power if Shaw hadn't forced him to. Eric, however, is still vengeful about Shaw's murder of his mother and kills Shaw by slowly forcing the coin that Shaw taunted him with as a child through his brain while Xavier screams, experiencing the act himself. Eric exits the wrecked submarine with Shaw's body and announces to his fellow mutants that the humans in both fleets are their real enemies and that the mutants should band together to fight them. Xavier pleads with Eric to end the campaign but he fails.The two fleets fire their missiles and shells at the mutants on the beach, but Lensherr, now fully in control of his abilities, stops the projectiles in mid-flight and then turns them on the fleet. In the ensuing fight Xavier manages to distract Lensherr, but when MacTaggart fires at Lensherr he deflects the bullets, with one striking Xavier in the lower spine. The missiles and shells all fall into the ocean or explode. Lensherr removes the bullet from Charles' back but, more furious than before, begins to choke MacTaggart with the chain holding her ID tags, blaming her for Xavier's injury. Xavier tells Erik that Moira is not the one responsible and Erik relents, realizing he injured his friend. Erik releases Moira, who rushes to Xavier's side.Lensherr takes Raven, Angel, Riptide and Azazel and leaves, having convinced them that humans are their enemies. Xavier, now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and his fellow mutants return to the mansion, where he will open a school. He wipes MacTaggart's memory. MacTaggart reports to her superiors but has nothing to tell them, knowing that Charles had erased her memory of all recent events.At CIA headquarters, Emma Frost sits alone in a specialized holding cell. The door is suddenly ripped from it's frame and Erik walks in, his new recruits waiting just outside. He is wearing a new uniform and a newer version of the helmet he'd stolen from Shaw. He tells Frost to call him "Magneto."

Tags: fantasy, murder, cult, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, action, revenge, entertaining

Review:
There came a point, about half way through this film, when I emerged from the world of wonder on screen, took stock of my emotions in that instant, and realized that yes, by God, I am LOVING this movie.I didn't really expect to, of course -- although certainly, I hoped for it.
Offering up plenty of surprises, some kickass action sequences, mighty fine special effects, sly humor and a killer cameo, it is without doubt the best comic book movie of the year – nay, decade – thus far.
Just like the young cast of Godfather 2 was legendary, the young cast of First Class has many great days and projects ahead of them.Love this entire cast but Michael Fassbender delivers the best performance with an amazing presence and command of the screen.
It's intelligent, enthralling, well-acted, stylishly directed, and most importantly by focusing heavily upon the relationship between the two central protagonists, it does not feel like a conventional super-hero film.Set within the political context of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960's, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is an up-and-coming Professor whose life is drastically altered when he is introduced to the other members of society who also share the same mutant gene as himself that supplies them with super-human abilities and traits.
But, once his plan for world domination is revealed, they find that it far exceeds the constraints of humanity, and Xavier, Erik and a rag-tag band of young, hide-away mutants (Havok, Beast, Darwin, Angel and Banshee) who were discovered by Charles, must combine their powers in one last attempt to stop Shaw from destroying the planet and humanity as a whole.Instantly where 'X-Men: First Class' works is in regards to its two central characters; Charles Xavier played by an incredibly affluently sounding James McAvoy and a rage-fuelled Erik Lehnsherr played by a stern-faced Michael Fassbender.
This heavy-set contradiction in ideologies allows their relationship to be imbued with pessimism, while they may be shown as friends and fighting together initially, fans of the comic books and films in general know this does eventually turn into a bitter rivalry and it's this development which drives the plot forward.Aside from the script, it would also be rude to not praise the action-sequences which take place within the confines of the 1960's X-Men universe.
This therefore accounts slightly for the lack of depth that has been attempted in these secondary characters due to the time and story constraints.While it is a very good and accessible comic-book/super-hero movie, 'X-Men' does also contain two central flaws.
The other flaw has to do with a minor aspect of the production itself, as the non-diegetic music, most notably during the action sequences, begins to diminish in its impact as the film carries on, leading to it eventually becoming the generic, genre-related fanfare associated with the conventional comic-book films.'X-Men: First Class,' is not your typical comic-book movie, it may contain certain elements associated with the comic-book genre, but by placing a heavy emphasis upon the strength of the plot and the script at the film's core instead of the action-set-pieces taking place, Vaughn has intended, and succeeded, in transcending the stereotypical conventions of the genre and has created a film which will appeal to a wide range of audience members..
Resulting in a more complete movie experience.The leading cast do a brilliant job in giving you a sense of their conflict with ingredients such as prejudice, ignorance, a sense of belonging and bitter revenge giving the film a more humane feel than a lot of dramas allowing you to connect with the characters more easily.The special effects- lets not forget, are top notch as expected, but surprisingly very in-keeping with the film and doesn't take away from the other elements of it.
Of the original trilogy, the first X-Men movie still rates the best.....until now.This prequel is an absolute stunner - from storyboard, script, mutant characters, pace, cinematography, Foley FX, VFX....you get the picture.
The energy is fast and relentless and the action sequences blend in with the dialogue sequences seamlessly.The acting is very good, though Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen are definitely missed, McAvoy and Fassbender do excellent jobs and really are in keeping with the characters you already know and love.
It has a compelling storyline chronicling the adventures of Professor X and Magneto, or should I say, Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr before they became enemies, as depicted in the three movies that form the original "X-Men" trilogy.
Period.4) The villains, without exception, were hard to watch because they were all acted poorly and given very little exposure.Sidenotes:-The wolverine cameo was stupid and gimmicky.-The beach scene was anticlimactic.Magneto blaming Moira for Charles' injury lasted about 30 seconds and either needed to be elaborated upon or cut entirely.Charles telling Raven to go with Eric was indefensibly stupid, uncharacteristic and again, in no way relevant to the story of the trilogy.-Who chose the lineup of mutants here?
I'll admit I'm kind of excited see if Mystique and Azazel's affair and Nightcrawler are incorporated in the future though.Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and James McAvoy gave the only good performances in this movie, and even then (with he exception of McAvoy, who seems to genuinely be trying to squeeze water from a stone here) the performances are brought down by the story, screenplay and generally poor filmmaking.This is a really successful franchise...like really very successful.
Wolverine might be the most popular character from the "X-Men" world, but the story of how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr developed two different ideologies and became Professor X and Magneto encapsulates the comics' core.
Fassbender will continue to be an acting force to reckon with in the future as he brings incredible depth to a character already written so well."X-Men: First Class" has to be the best-written superhero film since "The Dark Knight" and maybe ever behind the first two "Spider-Man" films.
The fascinating complexity of Magneto and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) gets abundant attention and even the minor characters exude that feeling of learning to embrace and understand their powers and differences for the first time.The film opens with a scene directly from the original "X-Men": a young Erik at a concentration camp gets separated from his mother and bends a metal gate.
As it happens, Shaw's plan is to incite the Cuban Missile Crisis and start a nuclear war, setting the stage for mutant supremacy.Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart are tough shoes to fill, but Fassbender and McAvoy make those characters their own while commanding the screen much like those venerated talents.
As young people, they wrestle with questions of fitting in or embracing who they are, which echoes the larger Erik/Charles storyline on a smaller scale.Regardless your thoughts on "X-Men: First Class" as a stand-alone film, it unquestionably does great justice to the power of the "X-Men" story as a whole and reminds us why this message has universal qualities that all can identify with.
Although we've been trained to agree with Charles since Bryan Singer's first film in 2000, "First Class" helps us come to realize the power of Magneto's argument, proving he's not so much a villain, but a character with a darker and perhaps more realistic world view.The talent runs very deep in this retro-fitted backstory to the "X-Men" universe that refocuses the franchise for the better.
Although not all of First Class's villains are convincing, Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw is casually brutal which really works for a threatening bad guy, and the bright red teleporting Azazel (yes, he is pretty much a red Nightcrawler) is pure ninja in a fight.Moving on to the action, the fights between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club are brilliant and even the training is great to watch.
But I would say it has better continuity than the Star Wars prequels.There was just so much joy to be had in this film that I feel rather overwhelmed by it as I was not expecting a superhero movie with this kind character depth.
Whether such background material is suitable for a pure entertainment film, is perhaps debatable but the opening scene is strong and very effective.Perhaps anything that makes a new generation hit Wikipedia to find out more, is no bad thing.Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Fassbender) has every intention of enjoying his revenge stone cold and follows the ex-Nazi trail through South America and ending with an early standoff with his nemesis.
There follows a very effective SFX scene with a quite spectacular use of a super yachts anchor chain, possibly the most realistic CGI sequence in the film.The story switches to Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), initially using his telepathic powers to seduce women in leafy Oxford, whilst attempting to persuade his sister Raven/Mystique (Lawrence) that turning blue occasionally is really not the end of the world.Charles and Erik come together in an uneasy friendship, following Erik's doomed attempt to kill Sebastian and his henchwoman Emma Frost (January Jones), a character that struggles to keep her clothes on throughout the film.The pair come to the attention of the CIA via agent MacTaggert (Rosie Byrne), who discovers mutants led by Sebastian, are keen to push both the USSR and USA towards World War III.
A task made easier as the Cuban missile crisis looms large with the very real possibility of nuclear Armageddon.The CIA initially are somewhat reluctant to trust the mutants, but subsequently realise their potential and place them under the very loose control of MIB agent (Oliver Platt), who happens to have a ready built facility for just such an eventuality.The team recruits more mutants and soon we have, Beast (Hoult), Havoc (Lucas Till), Darwin (Gathegi) and Angel (Kravitz) in training for the coming battle ahead.The film is a risky move, prequels or reboots are not always successful; certainly we have a talented cast, good script and competent director in the form of Matthew Vaughan.
X-Men never intended to emulate the moral complexity and darkness of the Batman franchise, the series always represented a brighter, more colourful world and that tone generally continues here.There are certainly plenty of scantily clad women to attract the target audience but they do get some decent screen time and something to do, notably Jones and Byrne.There is occasional humour to lighten the mood and Fassbender and MacAvoy make a good job of recreating the characters we already know.
Most loose ends are tidied up and the stage is set for X-Men the "middle years".Whether audiences need another rebooted comic book franchise, remains to be seen but this is quality fare and certainly no quick cash in.Summary Yet another comic book blockbuster but representing solid entertainment, with some fine character recreation, excellent effects and an unusually strong storyline.Recommended http://julesmoviereviews.blogspot.com/.
I mean sure there are mutants with powers but this movie puts way more emphasis on the story and the main characters as opposed to nonstop action or way to many mutants with powers like in X-Men The Last Stand.
Director Matthew Vaughn is back for a more conventional super hero movie after wowing audiences with last year's "Kick Ass." He has redefined the "X-Men" series with a very stylish work of cinema as attempt two at creating a prequel is successful with "X-Men: First Class." Like "Origins" there are a plethora of characters that the audience has to worry about, however, with the smart use of time and space Vaughn develops the roots of various mutants with a fluid pace.
James McAvoy ("Wanted", "The Conspirator") and Michael Fassbender ("Inglourious Bastards","300") set up the best on screen matchup of the year with their respective portrayals of Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto).
Combining the classic feel of the 1960s and the Marvel comic book guise with McAvoy's ingenious, sexy interpretation of Professor X and Fassbender's rugged vindictive portrayal of Magneto makes this the best superhero film of the year.
To me, an entertaining movie is one that leaves the viewer with some form of contentment after it ends; characters develop, plots and subplots merge, and there is a cohesive quality to the thing that makes it one whole film and not just a bunch of scenes thrown together in a somewhat logical manner.
Come on, you don't have to make a POV mind bullet to let us know what's going on, and you don't need to do a slow zoom in on a character for 3 full seconds to hint at a possible love interest (Mystique).I'm rambling here, but I don't feel like planning out an essay for this review because this movie doesn't deserve it.
Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (a five-star performance by Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier/Professor X (a jolting James McAvoy) join forces to defeat the energy absorbing antagonist, Sebastian Shaw (an evil-intent Kevin Bacon) and his squad of mutant baddies with mutant domination on their mind.
Although X-Men: First Class, plays fast and loose with not only the comics' continuity but the previous movies as well, I suggest checking that simple fact at the door when seeing this film.
Watched X-Men :First Class Featuring Featuring James MacAvoy(The Conspirator) as Charles Xavier,Michael Fassbender(300 )as Magneto,Nicolas Hoult(Clash Of The Titans) as Hank McCoy/Beast, Lucas Till( Battle Los Angeles) as Havok .Rose Byrne(Knowing) as Moira McTaggert , Caleb Landry Jones(The Longshots) as Banshee , Jason Flemying(Kick-Ass)as Azazel .
January Jones(Mad Men) as Emma Frost, The Stunning Jennifer Lawrence(Winters Bone)as Mystique, Ed Gathegi(My Bloody Valentine) as Darwin, Zoe Kravitz(No Reservations) as Tempest, Alex Gonzalez(Inocentes) as Rip Tide, Oliver Platt(Year One) as The Man In Black and Kevin Bacon(Super)as Sebastian Shaw The films Main Villain.
Narrating the origin story of the many significant characters in the X-Men universe & set in the 1960s during the Cuban missile crisis which put the entire world on the verge of a nuclear Armageddon, X- Men: First Class mainly concerns the close friendship between Charles Xavier & Erik Lehnsherr before they turned into archenemies and adopted the names of Professor X & Magneto, respectively.Director Matthew Vaughn brings an entirely fresh approach & style in almost all filmmaking departments here and succeeds in balancing its quality action with impressive storytelling without ever letting down the entertainment factor.
James McAvoy plays Charles Xavier aka Professor X while Michael Fassbender is in as Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto, and the performance as well as chemistry between these two is what makes this film work so wonderfully along with the fine input coming from the rest of its supporting cast.On an overall scale, benefiting greatly from its brilliant direction, strong script, magnetic performances from McAvoy & Fassbender, terrific visual effects, tight editing & a marvelous score, X-Men: First Class comes out as a highly potent package that guarantees a cinematic experience which is surely going to entertain & astonish its viewers in more ways than one..
It also has some great performances from James McAvoy as Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, and Kevin Bacon as the villain, Sebastian Shaw.The film also has some great action and interesting character's like Azazel, Mystique, Emma Frost, and Darwin.Overall, if you're a fan of X-Men or someone that enjoy's comic-book movies, this movie is definitely worth watching..
It is certainly a group effort and it is superb.Every scene and every actor delivers a deeply satisfying film that perfectly prequels and expands the X Men series.For this reviewer, this was easily the best film of the series so far - the script has real purpose and drive - and the action doesn't kick in too soon - we get tons of back story and character development, something of a rarity in action summer blockbusters.All in all, probably will not best Transformers or Pirates at the box office, but it certainly deserves to - hugely better than expected - and a good film all over..
The stylized action and class we saw in Vaughn's impressive 'Kick-Ass' is replicated here in a James Bond like epic, set during the cold war with super heroes who save the day.Kevin Bacon plays the doomsday villain, Sebastian Shaw, whose abilities can harness any energy around him.
Outstanding performances with the sheer intensity of Michael Fassbender and composed intelligence of James McAvoy delineate the determination and ambition of their younger characters whose friendship will be forced to the other ends of morality when they grow into Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Sir Ian McKellan's Magneto.Even though in shorter roles, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Rose Byrne are impressive.
You could almost forgive this if th movie were good but ...Second - how cheesy is the acting, how wooden are the characters and how by the book and unoriginal are the script Also if anything needs a REBOOT ..it isn't Spider-Man ..it's this whole FOX X-Men series ..it stinks and its all over the place.
I have been skeptical about XMFC,since I heard they were going to pre- boot it,but yes Bryan Singer raised my eyebrow even more(even though he was in the story department).I can never forgive him for f**king up Superman big time,but somehow he gets XMen.I came to the theater with minimum expectations to say the most.First Class really catches momentum and some surprises really work.But I think what can make an XMen movie work is the momentum and not the story,as the story is always the same(People hate mutants,good mutant wants to prove otherwise,bad mutant is conflicted,both part ways in the end tragically...WTF??) and Vaughn disappoints in this regard.Fassbender & McAvoy really did justice to their parts and I would give this a 5 only for that.If you have nothing to do and are not sick of another XMen flick with the whole Human-Mutant dynamic,then you should go for it..
They also spent too much time focusing on how the characters' names get made up, a now tiresome comic book movie cliché.Other than Xavier, Magneto and Mystique's story lines, which are largely rehashed from the previous films, there's almost nothing that works as drama here.
God knows both movie and director deserve it.What makes X-Men First Class really work is the great story.