X-Men: First Class
Jun. 23rd, 2011 01:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ishtar79I finally (FINALLY) saw X-Men:First Class!
There was so much hype and squeeing about this around fandom, I was worried it would not be as good as I'd built it up in my head. And it wasn't.
It was better.
I knew going in that the thing I would be most picky about would be Magneto. Not only have I been a huge fan of the character for close to two decades now, but I was especially enamored with Ian McKellen's take. In other words, Fassbender had some pretty big shoes to fill. And man, did he ever!
His Erik was just flawless. There was something inherently menacing about him, a threat of violence and undercurrent of barely suppressed rage...and the moments when he did unleash it, it was both “fuck yeah, Magneto” and kind of terrifying, because I could really believe he turns into the villain capable of committing some downright horrifying acts in...well, any X-canon. But while the need for vengeance is a major aspect of the character, it is by no means the defining one. Above all, what drives Erik is fear and a need for control. He may start off the movie chasing Nazis around the globe and Shaw in particular for what he did to his mother and him, but as the movie progresses his agenda becomes much larger than that. He won't allow history to repeat itself for his fellow mutants, and in order to distance himself as much as possible from the helpless victim he once was, he attempts to make himself bigger, more powerful, untouchable. Which is why him making declarations like “we are the better men” (or my personnal favourite line of Magneto's, from X2: “You are a God amongst insects”) aren't just hubris (though there's plenty of hubris in the character), but a defense mechanism.
And the charisma, oh, the charisma. Magneto might be one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvelverse, but the real threat comes from the fact he inspires people to follow him. In comics canon, Magneto has had loyal minions, an honest-to-God religious cult worshipping him, and even a pop culture following based around the “Magneto was right” premise. And this film did a brilliant job of showcasing why. He finds just the right buttons to push depending on who he's talking to, whether it's compelling arguments, inspirational rhetoric, the right application of fear and, of course, his other superpower of the intense, smouldering gaze. It doesn't ultimately work on the person he's most interested in bringing over to his side, but given Charles' lingering affection for his old friend and the multiple second chances he's given Magneto in the comics despite everybody's advice (fun comics fact: at some point in the 80s, he left Magneto in charge of his students), you'd have to conclude it kind of works on Charles too.
On the topic of Charles, and before this post turns into a giant love letter to Magneto in any medium, McAvoy's Xavier was kind of a revelation for me. I have plenty of affection for Professor Charles Xavier, but something about the him always made me unable to adore the character on the visceral level I do others. Possibly the young age I got into the X-Men, which meant that I always referred to him as “Professor Xavier” in my head and the thought of him in any sexual way was like thinking of my parents having sex. And while Patrick Stewart imbued his character with the appropriate dignity, compassion and gravitas, McAvoy brought something entirely new to the table-he made him fun. There was something about happily enthusiastic geeky, unapologetically arrogant (Charles knows he's the smartest/most powerful person in the room, and he's not shy about sharing that) and incorrigibly flirtatious young Charles in that pun scene I found so disarming. Not that the character lacks the inherent Xavier qualities I described before, along with an almost naïve youtful optimism, but they're complemented with a playfulness that makes him just as charming as Erik, albeit in a different way, and demonstrates why people live and die by Xavier's dream.
As for their relationship...you know, I have so much legitimate love for the expanded X-Men canon, I was ready to write a review focusing on their friendship and its fallout without my slash goggles, except for the life of me, I can't figure out how to talk about the movie without assuming that they are utterly and hopelessly in love. There's slashiness and fanservice, and then there is this (somewhere, even S1 Smallville Clark and Lex are going “Wow, turn it down a notch!”). It's not that comics canon doesn't often treat those two as former lovers, both visually and thematically (Erik holding Charles in a tender embrace of love and desperation? Was how the whole “Magneto in charge of Xavier's students” 80s storyline was set up). It's just that in comics, those moments were spread out over decades of drawn-out plots, retcons, ressurections, alternate universes and some truly unfortunate fashion choices. Put back-to-back in one movie makes the subtext so blatant, it is visible from space.
Knowing how the story ends made watching their developing friendship bittersweet at times, because Charles and Erik together are truly a force to be reckoned with. They complemented each other in every way, from their personalities to their power set, down to to Charles helping Erik learn better control through the power ofslash telepathy. Really, there was no chance in help prospective students could say no to these two (with one noteable exception). It was never going to last, of course-their philosophies are fundamentally different, though the tragedy of it all is they're both wrong. Charles' faith in the good in humanity was disproved the moment the fleets turned their weapons against them, but neither is Erik's megalomaniac rhetoric and tactics the answer (though Charles actually trying to stop him from exploding said fleet by using that old “just following orders” chestnut had me wondering when exactly during the battle he hit his head). So yes, absolutely DOOMED, though I loved that even after they had turned on each other, it didn't change how they felt: Erik rushing to Charles' side when he fell, all else forgotten, and Charles pointing out what Erik did to him without accusation and giving Raven permission to go with Erik-not exactly convincing as arch-nemeses, were they? And I'd like to thank the film makers for bookending the relationship with Charles holding Erik underwater and Erik holding Charles at the end-because the undertones were clearly a bit subtle otherwise.
Some random thoughts on the rest of the movie:
-I don't think I'll ever love any incarnation of Mystique as much as I did Raven here. I'm so used to seeing her as this badass, in charge, extremely competent assassin, watching her be at turns insecure, posturing and hungry for acceptance from others and ultimately herself (and satisfyingly watching her achieve the latter) was very interesting. Little!Raven and Little!Charles were the CUTEST, and I loved their pseudo-incestuous vibe throughout, though her ultimate decision to throw her lot with Erik was understandable (and not just because of that kiss). While there's no denying Charles genuinely loved her, he clearly failed at providing her the unquestionning acceptance that Erik did (though depending on whether you place this in the same continuity as X3, joining Erik will eventually bite her in the no-longer-blue ass).
Also, I need some Charles/Erik/Raven fic in my life, because all the combinations of the above have mad potential.
-I'm still not sure how I feel about them making Moira a) an American and b) a CIA agent, but Rose Byrne's performance definitely sold this Moira for me. I loved how she refused to be especially impressed by Charles, whether it was her rolling her eyes at his seduction routine or accepting his abilities in a matter of fact way.
-Sebastian Shaw was...odd. Nothing against Kevin Bacon's perfectly serviceable performance, but something about the character, his motivation and power set made it impossible for me to do the usual ignoring of comics canon to enjoy the film. I think it was that it had just enough similarities to canon (the name Hellfire Club, his relationship with Emma complete with casual sexism, his power set to an extent) that it made the glaring differences (Seriously, Nazis? Nuclear Holocaust? And since when does Shaw's power mimic Bishop's?) hard to ignore.
-I cheered when Erik killed him (with that coin) and rolled my eyes at Charles' dissaproval. Seriously, the man tortured him and killed his mum, to say nothing of almost brought on a nuclear winter, let's step off that high horse for a second, shall we? I did notice that despite his protests, he didn't exactly release Shaw while Erik did his thing.
-January Jones was sadly disappointing in this role. Emma Frost might be icy, but she's also devious, sharp-tongued, and extremely, blatantly sexual in a way she consciously uses to achieve her ends. Even back in her Hellfire days, before she became a free agent and truly stepped into her own, the woman was never not menacingly seductive. What we got onscreen was essentially Betty Draper in lingerie.
-And now I see what the movie racefail I've seen references to comes from. Seriously, out of the two members first class of color, one of them dies in five minutes and the other inexplicably joins Shaw in a heartbeat (though my personal crack theory is that poor Angel clearly thought the recruitment scene was a set-up to some threesome fun, and felt cheated when it didn't).
-And seriously, why go through all the trouble to dig up such relatively obscure characters (Darwin has only been around since the mid-00s, and it took even a huge Marvel geek like me five minutes to place Angel, since she was only a bit player who was in X-MEN for five minutes in the early 00's before going on to join the all-around bad idea and shortlived New Warriors. And she was a teenage runaway, not a stripper).
-Speaking of obscure, I actually had to look Riptide up. Seriously, this movie felt like a geek test I failed.
-I did like what they did with the rest of the students. I have to know, are the kink memes filled with “Hank/Alex, footjob” prompts? I'll feel oddly let down by fandom if they're not. And Sean as a teenager was kind of hilarious, considering that he's older than Xavier in his first Uncanny X-Men appearance (fun comics fact: Banshee canonically dates Xavier's ex Moira in the comics, and then has drawn-out UST with Emma Frost. Yes, that Emma. No wonder the kid was so cheerful!)
-I guess now that Azazel and Mystique are both on Team!Magneto, they can get with the business of conceiving Nightcrawler. /comic geek>
-I have to say, linking Hank's Beast transformation to Mystique was one of the changes in the movie that made a lot of sense. In the comics, Hank messing around in the lab causes his furrification, but involving Mystique was a stroke of genius-BLUE FUR!
-Erik's homicidal rampages were sexier than they had any right to be.
-Favourite visual gag: the Russian military officer unknowingly starring in a one-man lovefest while Emma has a snack while looking bored. And Charles and Erik's initial “...” reaction to the sight was the cherry on that cake.
-Funniest overall moment: “Go fuck yourselves”. ILU, Wolverine, never change!
There was so much hype and squeeing about this around fandom, I was worried it would not be as good as I'd built it up in my head. And it wasn't.
It was better.
I knew going in that the thing I would be most picky about would be Magneto. Not only have I been a huge fan of the character for close to two decades now, but I was especially enamored with Ian McKellen's take. In other words, Fassbender had some pretty big shoes to fill. And man, did he ever!
His Erik was just flawless. There was something inherently menacing about him, a threat of violence and undercurrent of barely suppressed rage...and the moments when he did unleash it, it was both “fuck yeah, Magneto” and kind of terrifying, because I could really believe he turns into the villain capable of committing some downright horrifying acts in...well, any X-canon. But while the need for vengeance is a major aspect of the character, it is by no means the defining one. Above all, what drives Erik is fear and a need for control. He may start off the movie chasing Nazis around the globe and Shaw in particular for what he did to his mother and him, but as the movie progresses his agenda becomes much larger than that. He won't allow history to repeat itself for his fellow mutants, and in order to distance himself as much as possible from the helpless victim he once was, he attempts to make himself bigger, more powerful, untouchable. Which is why him making declarations like “we are the better men” (or my personnal favourite line of Magneto's, from X2: “You are a God amongst insects”) aren't just hubris (though there's plenty of hubris in the character), but a defense mechanism.
And the charisma, oh, the charisma. Magneto might be one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvelverse, but the real threat comes from the fact he inspires people to follow him. In comics canon, Magneto has had loyal minions, an honest-to-God religious cult worshipping him, and even a pop culture following based around the “Magneto was right” premise. And this film did a brilliant job of showcasing why. He finds just the right buttons to push depending on who he's talking to, whether it's compelling arguments, inspirational rhetoric, the right application of fear and, of course, his other superpower of the intense, smouldering gaze. It doesn't ultimately work on the person he's most interested in bringing over to his side, but given Charles' lingering affection for his old friend and the multiple second chances he's given Magneto in the comics despite everybody's advice (fun comics fact: at some point in the 80s, he left Magneto in charge of his students), you'd have to conclude it kind of works on Charles too.
On the topic of Charles, and before this post turns into a giant love letter to Magneto in any medium, McAvoy's Xavier was kind of a revelation for me. I have plenty of affection for Professor Charles Xavier, but something about the him always made me unable to adore the character on the visceral level I do others. Possibly the young age I got into the X-Men, which meant that I always referred to him as “Professor Xavier” in my head and the thought of him in any sexual way was like thinking of my parents having sex. And while Patrick Stewart imbued his character with the appropriate dignity, compassion and gravitas, McAvoy brought something entirely new to the table-he made him fun. There was something about happily enthusiastic geeky, unapologetically arrogant (Charles knows he's the smartest/most powerful person in the room, and he's not shy about sharing that) and incorrigibly flirtatious young Charles in that pun scene I found so disarming. Not that the character lacks the inherent Xavier qualities I described before, along with an almost naïve youtful optimism, but they're complemented with a playfulness that makes him just as charming as Erik, albeit in a different way, and demonstrates why people live and die by Xavier's dream.
As for their relationship...you know, I have so much legitimate love for the expanded X-Men canon, I was ready to write a review focusing on their friendship and its fallout without my slash goggles, except for the life of me, I can't figure out how to talk about the movie without assuming that they are utterly and hopelessly in love. There's slashiness and fanservice, and then there is this (somewhere, even S1 Smallville Clark and Lex are going “Wow, turn it down a notch!”). It's not that comics canon doesn't often treat those two as former lovers, both visually and thematically (Erik holding Charles in a tender embrace of love and desperation? Was how the whole “Magneto in charge of Xavier's students” 80s storyline was set up). It's just that in comics, those moments were spread out over decades of drawn-out plots, retcons, ressurections, alternate universes and some truly unfortunate fashion choices. Put back-to-back in one movie makes the subtext so blatant, it is visible from space.
Knowing how the story ends made watching their developing friendship bittersweet at times, because Charles and Erik together are truly a force to be reckoned with. They complemented each other in every way, from their personalities to their power set, down to to Charles helping Erik learn better control through the power of
Some random thoughts on the rest of the movie:
-I don't think I'll ever love any incarnation of Mystique as much as I did Raven here. I'm so used to seeing her as this badass, in charge, extremely competent assassin, watching her be at turns insecure, posturing and hungry for acceptance from others and ultimately herself (and satisfyingly watching her achieve the latter) was very interesting. Little!Raven and Little!Charles were the CUTEST, and I loved their pseudo-incestuous vibe throughout, though her ultimate decision to throw her lot with Erik was understandable (and not just because of that kiss). While there's no denying Charles genuinely loved her, he clearly failed at providing her the unquestionning acceptance that Erik did (though depending on whether you place this in the same continuity as X3, joining Erik will eventually bite her in the no-longer-blue ass).
Also, I need some Charles/Erik/Raven fic in my life, because all the combinations of the above have mad potential.
-I'm still not sure how I feel about them making Moira a) an American and b) a CIA agent, but Rose Byrne's performance definitely sold this Moira for me. I loved how she refused to be especially impressed by Charles, whether it was her rolling her eyes at his seduction routine or accepting his abilities in a matter of fact way.
-Sebastian Shaw was...odd. Nothing against Kevin Bacon's perfectly serviceable performance, but something about the character, his motivation and power set made it impossible for me to do the usual ignoring of comics canon to enjoy the film. I think it was that it had just enough similarities to canon (the name Hellfire Club, his relationship with Emma complete with casual sexism, his power set to an extent) that it made the glaring differences (Seriously, Nazis? Nuclear Holocaust? And since when does Shaw's power mimic Bishop's?) hard to ignore.
-I cheered when Erik killed him (with that coin) and rolled my eyes at Charles' dissaproval. Seriously, the man tortured him and killed his mum, to say nothing of almost brought on a nuclear winter, let's step off that high horse for a second, shall we? I did notice that despite his protests, he didn't exactly release Shaw while Erik did his thing.
-January Jones was sadly disappointing in this role. Emma Frost might be icy, but she's also devious, sharp-tongued, and extremely, blatantly sexual in a way she consciously uses to achieve her ends. Even back in her Hellfire days, before she became a free agent and truly stepped into her own, the woman was never not menacingly seductive. What we got onscreen was essentially Betty Draper in lingerie.
-And now I see what the movie racefail I've seen references to comes from. Seriously, out of the two members first class of color, one of them dies in five minutes and the other inexplicably joins Shaw in a heartbeat (though my personal crack theory is that poor Angel clearly thought the recruitment scene was a set-up to some threesome fun, and felt cheated when it didn't).
-And seriously, why go through all the trouble to dig up such relatively obscure characters (Darwin has only been around since the mid-00s, and it took even a huge Marvel geek like me five minutes to place Angel, since she was only a bit player who was in X-MEN for five minutes in the early 00's before going on to join the all-around bad idea and shortlived New Warriors. And she was a teenage runaway, not a stripper).
-Speaking of obscure, I actually had to look Riptide up. Seriously, this movie felt like a geek test I failed.
-I did like what they did with the rest of the students. I have to know, are the kink memes filled with “Hank/Alex, footjob” prompts? I'll feel oddly let down by fandom if they're not. And Sean as a teenager was kind of hilarious, considering that he's older than Xavier in his first Uncanny X-Men appearance (fun comics fact: Banshee canonically dates Xavier's ex Moira in the comics, and then has drawn-out UST with Emma Frost. Yes, that Emma. No wonder the kid was so cheerful!)
-I guess now that Azazel and Mystique are both on Team!Magneto, they can get with the business of conceiving Nightcrawler. /comic geek>
-I have to say, linking Hank's Beast transformation to Mystique was one of the changes in the movie that made a lot of sense. In the comics, Hank messing around in the lab causes his furrification, but involving Mystique was a stroke of genius-BLUE FUR!
-Erik's homicidal rampages were sexier than they had any right to be.
-Favourite visual gag: the Russian military officer unknowingly starring in a one-man lovefest while Emma has a snack while looking bored. And Charles and Erik's initial “...” reaction to the sight was the cherry on that cake.
-Funniest overall moment: “Go fuck yourselves”. ILU, Wolverine, never change!
