X-Men: First Class (Movie)

[dotkel50]

Fire everyone responsible for that!

[DeadPoolX]

Those can't really be the movie posters, right? A 5th grader could do a better job.

[Tawmis]

Those can't really be the movie posters, right? A 5th grader could do a better job.

Those are the movie posters. And that was the title of the thread about an 8 year old seemingly made those posters.

[Tawmis]

Longer trailer:
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/x ... 1810159061

If you completely forget everything and anything that has to do with X-Men, at least the trailer has finally made it look somewhat interesting. Not sure I am sold yet.

[therogue]

If you need your X-Men movie to be compliant with comic book canon, no don't go there.

If you need your X-Men movie to fit in with the other movies, don't bother. Some elements do, some really don't.

However, if like me you don't really care about that. Give it a fair shot.

I for one, loved it. Its not perfect but I adored it. McAvoy is great as Charles but Fassbender is fantastic as Erik. (Personal thing; its such a joy to hear a German character actually speak fluent German).

[Tawmis]

If you need your X-Men movie to be compliant with comic book canon, no don't go there.
If you need your X-Men movie to fit in with the other movies, don't bother. Some elements do, some really don't.

Well, by default, none of the movies (not just X-Men, but Iron Man, Wolverine, etc) are ever in continuity.

There's usually some tweaking. And sometimes a lot of tweaking.

So continuity is never an issue for me, when it comes to movies. As long as they don't just TOTALLY rewrite it COMPLETELY and just throw in characters together just for the sake of throwing them in there. And I feel, that's what they have done with this movie. I haven't seen it - but there's a few things that they did, that just bugged the hades out of me from the previews alone.

That said, I plan to eventually see it. I am just in no rush, which is probably the first super hero movie (in the past 5 years) where I haven't had the burning desire to see it.

Of course, with expectations so low, it may, in the end, pleasantly surprise me. (But I doubt it).

And that said, again, I am very glad to hear that you were able to enjoy the movie.

[Tawmis]

So far folks seem to love it...

This is an exchange between a few of us on Facebook...
________________________________________________________

Reece :
Wow. Just saw X-Men First Class, and it far exceeded expectations. Looks like 2011 is shaping up to be the year of the GOOD superhero movie!


Reece : And it was partly filmed at Jekyll Island, Georgia...

Tawmis : I am... so... reluctant... to see this.

Heidi : Ha! and you thought it was gonna suck! bad dog

Reece :
Tawmis: Don't be. It's excellent. I'd almost say MacAvoy and Fassbender make a better Xavier/Magneto pair than Stewart/McKellen. I'm going to see it again. I think it's the best X-Men movie yet, despite the bending of the origins. They di...d a fantastic job of immersing it in the early 60s, with a couple of cool cameos to boot. But there's nothing at the end of the credits, FYI. You can leave when they start to roll.

Reece : Heidi: I love it when I'm pleasantly surprised!

Reece : Tawmis: it's better than Thor. Honestly. And I liked Thor!

Tawmis :
So... no X-MEN movie has ever been in continuity with the comics. Ever. They may borrow from specific story lines that appeared in the X-Men comics, but never has any Marvel (or DC movie) been in continuity. So I don't mind continuity being... tweaked. That doesn't bother me. Strangely, I think what bothered me the most was that they used Azazel. First, words can't describe how much I hate the character Azazel. How much I hated his entire storyline. How much - in comics - he fubared Nightcrawler's entire origin. And I am not alone. Azazel has earned a lot of hatred in the comic book world, because of how much Nightcrawler is loved.

So I ask myself - when I see the previews - I see a character (Azazel) that looks and has the same powers as Nightcrawler. So why - WHY - didn't they use Nightcrawler? Why wouldn't they use a well liked, well known character? First Class is clearly not a "prelude" episode to the other X-Men movies. (Otherwise Emma Frost, seen in the Wolverine movies, wouldn't be in her 20's - she'd be somewhere in her 60's, as would Cyclops and everyone else, if this is taking place in 1960). So why not use Nightcrawler? Why use Azazel? My sheer hatred for that character - and making him a 'good' guy - makes me think that they just threw a bunch of crap together and made a movie...

Tawmis : http://x-men.wikia.com/wiki/Azazel

Jay : Green Hornet must've been 2010

Tawmis : Zing!

Reece : Fortunately, Azazel is pretty much relegated to some fight scenes. Ignore it. This not just thrown together. This is a well-made film, not just a well-made superhero film. Ignore the non-Scottish Moira MacTaggart in a garter belt (well, if you can...hee hee). No one really thought Heath Ledger would make a good Joker, either! Go see it. Trust me.

Tawmis : Yeah but Heath Ledger is an actor. This is a character. One I can't stand. LOL There's few on the level of the hatred I feel for this character!

Reece : Jay: Yeah, Green Hornet was 2010, thank God. Not sure how Green Lantern is going to be in two weeks, but I'll give it a watch.

Reece : Tawmis: Azazel is a bad guy in this one. He gets his ass whooped by Beast. There. Now GO SEE IT. Get popcorn whenever the red guy is on screen if you must!

Scott : "I'd almost say MacAvoy and Fassbender make a better Xavier/Magneto pair than Stewart/McKellen."

<disbelief> THAT I've gotta see. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Tawmis : He did say he ALMOST would say it...

Reece : Believe it, Scott. This film makes both characters so much more human than anything filmed so far. And it does it without trying to make them a metaphor for gay rights or whatever. Very well acted. Some of the supporting cast are a bit out of their league, but MacAvoy and Fassbender are brilliant.

Jay :
Looks good, just watched 3 again last night. It's a little weak. We went to see Thor the other night. My wife loved it, mainly because the Thor dude, according to her, is a hunk. I never really read comics growing up, but the movies have tu...rned me a bit I really liked the first Batman in the modern era, IE. Keaton. but Heath Ledger was absolutely awesome. I really liked Nicholson, but Ledger was even more evil and less cartoony, which is important in movies. Like in Spiderman where Peter didn't have to invent web slingers. Movies are made for the mass audiences so many long time comic book fans will be disappointed many times. If they followed the comics directly, they just wouldn't be movie worthy to a mass audience.

Reece : Jay: I know what you mean about X3 being weak. I wouldn't even call this one X4, since it makes the others look like half-assed efforts in comparison. The director also did the surprisingly-good "Kick-Ass" film a few months back. XM:FC just simply does not suck, and being both the fourth movie in a franchise and a prequel to boot, should be a massive vacuum of suckness. It isn't. Thank God!

Scott : Uh, you're not implying that the movie suggests that there is some kind of, uh, relationship between Xavier and Magneto, are you?

Jay : Very true, Reece. Generally when you hit number 3 in a franchise, the suck factor starts in. Prequels are usually worse. This one does look really good. Right now, however, my kids really want to see Super 8, looks awesome. Transformers 3 might be ok, but looks very Bey-like. Lots of effects, light on actual story telling.

Reece : Scott: Not at all. I'm saying they manage to portray a strong bond between two men completely WITHOUT trying to throw in any gay subtext at all. That they manage to do that in today's liberal cinema is amazing--and refreshing.

Tawmis :
I don't think that X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is considered a prequel to the other X-MEN movies. I do believe that XFC is intended to stand on its own as a movie all unto itself with no ties to the other three X-MEN movies. Otherwise, as I said, My...stique would be 60 years old (or so) if she was 20 in the 1960s, and then the X-Men movies happen 40 years later. The same would be said for Havok (who is, Cyclops' younger brother... yeah, that works out), as well as Emma Frost who was seen in Wolverine to be about 20 years old. She too, would be 60 years old, in the X-Men/Wolverine movies that followed. So I am pretty sure XFC has absolutely no ties to the other X-Men movies... or it better not.

Reece : Well, not be too spoilerish, but they do address the Mystique age problem. 'Nuff said. Seriously, Tawmis, just go see it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much it doesn't suck.

Tawmis :
LOL! Well it can't suck more than it does in my mind, so if I see it, it could only be better. But the Mystique thing is easy - because she's a shape shifter. She can look 10 years old or she can look 60, it's all dependent upon her wil...l of how she wants to look. But that wouldn't explain Emma Frost (unless they're going to say she was using her telepathy to appear younger in Wolverine...) And I would assume, that if it's a prequel, that Havok is NOT "Alex Summers" the (younger) brother of Scott Summers (Cyclops)... (And apparently Beast ages, pretty well too!)

Reece : Tawmis, you're over-thinking it. Just go in thinking, "Well, I paid to see X3, if it's not worse than that, then I kind of break even." Iron Man 2 wasn't as good as Iron Man 1, but it was worth seeing once. This is definitely worth seeing once...I'm seeing it twice. I haven't done that in two years to any movie that I can recall.

Tawmis :
Like I said, I will go see it. I just don't have that burning desire to go see it. I am not kidding - it's because of one character that really turns me off. It's like - imagine if they did a HALO movie, and Master Chief never gets in his a...rmor? You'd be like, "Do you know anything about Halo?" But like I said, I will see it. Just don't know when. I take your word for it being good - because everyone seems to be echoing your words. But then I am not too sure everyone's quite the comic geek (especially X-MEN) that I am, that's raving how good it is. I may be a little more picky than most!

Reece : And Dr Donald Blake was crippled and found Mjolnir in a cave... But that didn't make the Thor movie unwatchable in the slightest, did it? I thought XFC was going to be another ho-hum formulaic mediocre comic book flick. It's MUCH better. Just don't be hatin!

Tawmis :
Well, like I said - continuity I don't have a problem with. All of the X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man, etc movies are all out of continuity. I even said somewhere up there - that I don't mind - and that the movies tend to borrow a little bit o...f here and there of existing Marvel stories and make it their own for the movies.

But have you never disliked something - even before you gave it a chance - because of some element that they have put in it? Whether a movie, cartoon, book, video game? If you have never been guilty of that, you're a far greater man than myself. (Which, you know isn't saying much, because I don't really consider myself a very great man! LOL)

Reece :
I get what you're saying, Tawmis. It's like, "They made Starship Troopers without powered armor??? Did they even READ the book?" You hate Azazel; that's understandable. Personally, I thought the Wasp-like chick they called "Angel" was a slap ...to both Janet Van Dyne and Warren Worthington, but both she and the guy you hate really just blend into the scenery when they aren't in a fight scene. All I'm saying is the REST of the film was surprisingly enjoyable, well-written, well-paced, and brilliantly acted for the most part. Xavier, Magneto, and to a reasonable extent, Sebastian Shaw carry the plot along interestingly enough that they overshadow the bits at which I looked askance. See a matinee, then. Then you'll think you got quite a bargain for your entertainment dollar...

Tawmis : That girl - the one you thought was a slap in the face - is an actual character in the Marvel Universe. Granted, WAY out of continuity (but as I said, totally to be expected) - http://marvel.com/universe/Angel_%28Angel_Salvadore%29 who later became a member of the New Warriors when she got depowered (pimping my own site now: http://www.newwarriors.com/html/tempestprofile.html )...

But the fact that it has Sebastian Shaw (if done properly!) totally makes up for the negative aspect of Azazel. LOL Sebastian Shaw, when written right, is full of absolute win.

[Datadog]

So now that Hollywood has finally made me cynical, all these potentially bad movies are suddenly good? Thor, Fast Five... now X-Men: First Class? Where was all this A-game when they were making Max Payne and Dragonball a couple years back? Guess I gotta go see X-Men now!

Also, you might want to check that exchange for spoilers, Tawm. I skipped over it once it started spoiling some plot points.

[Tawmis]

... How did you figure THOR to be a potentially bad movie?!??

And I covered the above in SPOILERS now... but I didn't really see any spoilers myself... maybe because I am an X-MEN comic reader... and know general details... but even the mention of Mystique and her age thing being explained away... wasn't explained in the post. But meh, covered it up anyway.

Here's another exchange that discusses the movie (didn't see any spoilers, but will cover it again anyway...)

[Tawmis]

More discussion...

Bowen Designs
Weekend Discussion: Who has seen "X-MEN: FIRST CLASS" - and what were your thoughts?
Ali Afshari Quite possibly the best movie in the franchise so far
, hands down. A definite must-see. Loved the movie.
Ashley Wilbanks Yep, best of the movies so far. I wish this were
a reboot instead of a prequel...
Jess Harrold Yup, best X-Film, nicely tied in, even if it's best
not to try and match up the timelines.
Rodney Addamo In my honest opinion it's now the best X-film and p
ossiblyy the best Marvel movie, I loved it THAT much
Jess Harrold Emma Frost got a bit short changed though.
Christopher Payne Loved it. Though for some reason Emma's clothes
also turned into diamond, hmmm
Bowen Designs
?@Ashley: It was my understanding, though it's more of an "Origin" type
that explains Professor Xavier and Magneto, that it is not considered a "prequel" and stands on its own with no ties to the other X-MEN movies? For example, that would make Mystique roughly 60 years old (if the XMFC takes place in 1960 - if we average their age at about 20 years old, and the other X-MEN movies take place in 2000), as well as White Queen (who is clearly not 60 when shown in Wolverine). Also Beast/Hank McCoy in XMFC is seen in the other X-MEN movies, and does not appear to be 60 years old? (And not that it matters, as continuity is always toyed with - that would make Alex Summers/Havok the "older" brother - rather than the younger brother of Scott Summers/Cyclops).
Did I misunderstand it? I was under the impression that this movie stood on its own? What do you others think?
Rodney Addamo ?@Randy\Bowen Designs... there are many direct ties
to the X-Men movies that have come before. The Mystique aging question is actually answered in the film, and MANY other items which I wont spoil, link the movies. That said it's very disappointing that the Emma issue can't be remedied
Ashley Wilbanks Yep Rodney is correct, aging is explained in the movie, and a certain cameo is a big giveaway and was probably the best version of that character in one sentence. That said, I still wish it were the start of something new and not a "prequel". it is good to know that a sequel is in the works with the same cast though... At least I can pretend that none of the other mo
vies ever happened
Bowen Designs
I had heard about the Mystique being explained (not how it was explained, just another told me that her aging is explained) - but what about Emma Frost? I suppose, if one was inclined to believe what we saw was a younger version of her because she was using her telepathy to "influence" the mind of everyone to see the version of her she wanted people to see... But that's stretching it a bit.

Anyone else come up with a "Marvel No-Prize" to explain Emma's apparent
non-age between 1960 and the year 2000?
Christopher Payne I believe her appearance in wolverine has been 'retconned' - and they will state that she was a younger, non-related Emma. After all, in that movie, the younger 'emma' displayed no telepathy
Art Rendon If you wanna see a comic movie and know NOTHING about
the characters, history or continuity, you'll love it as an action moive. But knowing the aforementioned (and NOT being a fanboy). I couldn't help but think WTF ?? Good effort though.
Ryan Davis I liked it but it was a little rough around the edges.
Also, I thinks Art's points are right on and probably the reason I didn't love
it.

[Tawmis]

Before I read the threads here... going to give my (unpopular) two cents on the movie, after the mandatory...

S
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So, to say I went in with beyond low expectations would be an understatement.

Even before I went in to go see the movie - things about it were already bothering me. (A lot of my ranting was on this forum over here: http://sierrahelp.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 618#p25618 )...

I want to say - I don't mind when movies tinker around with continuity. I don't mind at all. After all, every single Marvel movie is out of continuity and has all kinds of liberties taken. Like in the other X-Men movies, the characters of Pyro and Iceman being young kids (compared to Cyclops, Storm, etc). There's always things like that that they tinker with. And over all, I am usually fine with that.

Now before I begin my rant - I have to say this...

The two guys who played Professor Xavier and Magneto were superb. They really were. They were - by far - the saving grace of this movie.

Now, with that said -

Going into this movie with beyond low expectations, I figured I was going to be pleasantly surprised. After all, it couldn't be worse than my low expectations could it?

Especially since everyone was ranting and raving and giving such amazing praise to this movie - some, daring to claim that it was BETTER than the THOR movie.

And to thee who would speak such words - I doth say to thee "Nay!"

I would rank this movie right there with the Fantastic Four movie - the first one. Which... I couldn't even really stand. And it's almost for all the same reasons.

To me, aside from the two who played Charles Xavier and Magneto - there seemed to be something lacking... as to why they were there. Now the girl who played Mystique did a great job - when she was playing off of Charles Xavier. But when she wasn't - she seemed to be floundering about.

And speaking of Mystique - can someone please tell me, why - in the end, she would chose to go with Magneto? For about 10 years, she grew up with Charles Xavier, who did everything for her. Was the first person who accepted her for who and what she was.

And why - WHY? - would Charles Xavier say, "Go with Magneto. It's what you want."

Really? You're going to send off this girl, that you spent 10 years of your life with - who is essentially like a sister - to go with Magneto - who has shown - not just with words - but his actions at the end of the movie - that he is essentially going to wage WAR on the humans?

Then the "wind dude" - now, maybe I missed it - but I never heard him called by any name. Not by his real name or a code name. I spent the entire moving, wondering, "Who the heck is this guy?" By the end, I simply assumed - well, he's with Sebastian Shaw - could be his son Shinobi, though the powers were off (and the ethnicity was off - but then, Marvel's done that before - and pulled it off successfully - like Kingpin in the Daredevil movie - say what you will about the Daredevil movie, he did a great Kingpin!) So then - imagine my surprise when I come home to look it up and discover it's... Riptide, of the Marauders. The least they could have done, if not make him spin like Riptide is giving him the strange coloring of hair (or even highlights - something to give a clue as to who he was - or at least throw shurikens - something to say, 'Hey! This is Riptide!') They took liberties with Riptide's power (as he actually can't control wind...)

Then there's Azazel. I am still confused why - whoever it is that wrote the movie - used him. I would have to say that Azazel, in the comic book world, probably doesn't have a lot of fans. Many feel like that Azazel's entire story line completely ruins Nightcrawler's origin. So why use Azazel, other than they liked how Nightcrawler turned out in the movies and wanted to have someone that they could basically do the same thing with. And that's EXACTLY how I felt about his entire appearance in the movie.

It seems they're trying to market this as a prequel to the actual other X-Men movies, rather than a movie that stands on its own. So that meant that they couldn't use Nightcrawler - so the writers found the closest thing they could to Nightcrawler. Azazel, felt like to me, the movie producers, directors, whoever - way of showing how cool the "Nightcrawler" effect was - and here's how it would have been as Nightcrawler unleashed. And thus, Azazel's entire appearance throughout the movie served no purpose, other than for flash and effect of the "awesomeness" of teleporting like Nightcrawler (which went over pretty awesome in the X-Men movie).

Then there's Angel Salvadore ... another one, I can't figure out why they put in the movie? Were they purposely looking for obscure, unpopular characters to put into the movie? Of all the mutants out there that they could have put in there - they put her? Why wouldn't they put someone with more recognition - more pull - someone with more impact?

To speak a little more about her - once again - other than Professor Xavier and Magneto (and Mystique to some degree) - all the characters felt flat. They just seemed to be thrown in there, with little personality. So when Angel "betrays" the X-Men to initially side with Magneto, I was like, "Ho hum." There was no impact. No sense of betrayal. There needed to be more... more between the characters interacting, and forming a friendship - so when she makes that choice to side with Magneto - there's some impact. But there was none.

And Darwin? Really? Another absolutely obscure mutant? His death? Meaningless. No impact. Once again, because the characters felt flat. He was cannon fodder. They all were, it felt like, because there was nothing to them.

The guy who played Hank McCoy/Beast. I actually liked him - when he was Hank McCoy. When he changed to Beast - I can't tell what happened - but his character absolutely changed. He went from this super timid super geek - to this crazy beast like animal who was suddenly an expert at combat. Um - hello - what? He was much, much, much better as Hank McCoy. When they changed him to Beast - they ruined it for that character.

Emma Frost was... Emma Frost. Not much to her, really. The guy who played Havok (aside from the time line being way off) - did a fine job. My only complaint there (again, other than the time line and shooting out of his chest through that thing) - was for a movie that was supposed to be taking place in 1960's era, he sure had a very modern up to date hair cut. The kid who played Banshee, did fine - kind of flat, but fine.

Now - for the biggest disappointment.

Sebastian Shaw.

I have prefaced this entire thing that I don't mind when they tinker with continuity. But I still want SOME semblance of the character there to be recognizable. For example, it'd be too much if they had Cyclops in the movie, and he was this carefree, motorcycle ridin', sky divin', live life on the edge of your seat kind of guy... right? It'd be too out of character for Cyclops.

So tell me - what - who - WHAT THE F*&K were they thinking making Sebastian Shaw a Nazi?

WHAT. THE. F&^K.

I mean it. WTF.

Sebastian Shaw's entire character was COMPLETELY off. I mean way COMPLETELY off the mark. WAY. OFF. THE. MARK.

Did they even look up Sebastian Shaw when they wrote this movie?

Can someone tell me what they were thinking?

A Nazi?

Really?

And so utterly completely evil and demented?

WTF.

This. Was. Too. Much.

The movie had a chance. It did.

Until they did this.

This was the iceberg that struck the Titanic and brought her down to its chilly grave.

They had his character so off the chart... They should have either made Sebastian Shaw a brand new character for the movie or something... trying to pawn him off as Sebastian Shaw... and doing what they did... was too much.

It was pretty much a losing battle, with a big hole in her metallic ship, as the Titanic sank faster and faster, the more they showed Sebastian Shaw.

I would give this movie a "D"... and that's being gracious.

The best part of the movie?

The Wolverine cameo. Hands down.

[Moon Dragon]

Overall i liked it, and I'm anxious to see where it'll lead if they make sequels. However, I do have a few points to make:

(Note: I'm not an avid fan, so if there exists comics in which any of this is common knowlegde: sorry I didn't know)

They should have made a decision whether it was in the same X-men univers as the other movies or not, rather than this complicated mix.

Spoiler opinions:
There was WAY too little Eric/Xavier friendship development. And maybe I'm just stuck up, but I thought Eric didn't seem as sophisticated and intelectual as he's suppose to be. And yes, I know he's young, but other than the one chess game we never see him do anything that suggests he was ever capable of helping build cerebro.

Speaking of which: As i said, I'm by NO means an avid x-men fan, but even I thought it 'wrong' that beast came up with cerebro, especially sine I was under the impression that working on it was part of what brought charles and eric togetehr as friends. i had really hoped for a good montage showing their friendship.

I'm not sure I get why they chose Mystique as charles' 'sister'. I mean, I liked the complications of it in the end of the movie, but other than that, It feels like it came from out of the blu (no pun intended) I also thought the beast/mystique things was cute and an interesting way to explain his sudden blueness (although mystique wasn't exactly hairy).

I didn't much like the angel character. I had to reseach her because she had confused me (because I'd never heard of her and because she had an uncanny resemblans to a fictional x-woman I once made up).

Speaking of sequels. One of the good things about it not being a complete tie in with the other moies, is that now I can hope for that Azazel + Mystique = Nightcrawler that they (understandably) chose to only hint at for the hardcore fans, in the second movie. Wagner has always been my fav char since I first saw him, so anything that will include him again is great for me.

Anyways, that was some of my opinions on the movie .

[Tawmis]

Interesting read, whether you liked or hated it...
http://screenrant.com/x-men-first-class ... fi-118709/