X-Men: First Class

Rating: 4.5 Shurikens

Adapting comic books to the big screen has become mainstream. There is a huge pool of untapped creativity from stories as old as the 1940's. Captain America, Superman, Batman and Green Lantern were all what we used to call Golden Age comic book series. Superman and Batman have been adapted to radio, TV and the movies for decades. Only in the last 10 years or so have the other, less known, classics of comic book fandom been brought to the masses of people. Thor, Hulk, Spiderman and the Fantastic Four are all from the Silver Age of comics. Just a few weeks ago, I sat in a theater packed with people, most of whom, I am certain, never picked up a Thor comic book in their lives.

The X-Men are another Silver Age comic book classic. Created by the genius of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the early 1960's, it is the story of a certain class of superheroes called mutants, who are born with their abilities. Unlike Superman, who comes from another planet, and Green Lantern, who gets his power from a ring, mutants are human but have genetic changes which give them different and varied abilities. Iron Man and Batman don't have powers, and Spiderman gets his powers from a radioactive spider bite. Mutants are misunderstood because they usually manifest their powers during the teenage years, when hormonal changes begin to occur. Their gifts of special abilities might be called curses, as mutants are feared and often times persecuted by normal people.

X-Men: First Class is the latest in a line of box-office hits begun with The X-Men in 2001. This is the fifth movie of the X-Men, in fact. It was concieved as the X-Men Origins story of Professor Charles Xavier, the founder and mentor of the X-Men. Professor Xavier, also called Professor X, is a mutant himself, who has incredible psychic abilities. He and his friend Erik Lensherr, who becomes the villain Magneto, decide to work together seeking out mutants who are just beginning to experience their powers. They have different opinions as to how they should treat normal humans.

The movie begins where the very first X-Men movie began, with the young mutant Erik Lenscher, who would later become Magneto, being separated from his parents at the gates of a Nazi concentration camp. A Nazi scientist learns of Lenscher's ability to affect metal, and "helps" him bring his powers out. Meanwhile, a young Charles Xavier meets a young Mystique in his own house, and they become brother and sister.

Years pass, and an older Erik Lensherr is stalking Nazis in Switzerland and Venezuela, seeking the scientist who experimented on him. It turns out that the scientist is a mutant himself, Sebastian Shaw. Kevin Bacon plays Shaw, the leader of a group of criminal mutants called the Hellfire Club. Lensherr catches up with Shaw, and tries to kill him, when Xavier rescues him from drowning. This is a simplified version, only to show where they met and started to become friends. Xavier is played by James McAvoy, who was the goat-like character Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lensherr is played by Michael Fassbender who was last seen in Jonah Hex.

They meet Hank McCoy, a mutant and scientist for the CIA, who has designed the Cerebro machine, which enhances Xavier's telepathic abilities, enabling him to find other mutants wherever they are. Together, Xavier and Lensherr assemble a team of mutants, which will later become the X-Men. Hank McCoy designs devices which help the mutants of the team focus and use their unique powers. While Shaw tries to start World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Xavier and Magneto and the other X-Men go up against the Hellfire Club's own mutants.

The X-Men are comprised of Professor X, Magneto, Havok, Banshee, Beast, and Mystique, and the Hellfire Club has Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, the Ice Queen, as well as Azazael, Riptide, and Angel. This is a little different from the original X-Men of the comics who were Cyclops, Angel, Ice Man, Beast and Marvel Girl. Banshee was originally a villain who became good. The beast in the comics did not become the blue furry form until much later. Havok was originally Cyclops' younger brother. Marvel Girl was Jean Grey, later to become Phoenix. The original Angel was male and had bird-like wings, where the movie Angel had dragonfly wings and could spit acid balls. These differences will have to be chalked up to creative license, however, and the movie is still very decent in spite of them.

Another point is one which seems to suggest that the makers of this movie were trying to create a new storyline for the X-Men than the one in the other four movies. Watching the movie does not bear this opinion all the way out. For one thing, the very beginning of X-Men: First Class is the same as the original X-Men of 2001. Secondly, the helmet that Magneto takes from Sebastian Shaw is exactly the same as the one in the other movies. Also, a scene in the movie features Hugh Jackman looking exactly like the Wolverine character which he so perfectly portrays, and a close look at his hands shows no evidence of claws. This would be in perfect harmony with the original storyline, which has him born in Civil War times, and being mostly the same age because of his regenerating abilities. Beast becomes the blue furry type that appears in the later movies, and Mystique has her own slow aging explained, as well as how she becomes on the other side in the other movies. There is another point between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class about Xavier's paralysis, but that would not be conclusive, since Professor X was able to walk at some times in the comic series, and not at other times. I submit that this is not completely a reboot, and I choose to believe it in order to maintain continuity.

One thing which was a stark error in the movie was when Mystique took the form of Sebastian Shaw to fool his followers, she is wearing the Magneto helmet, which she could not possibly have seen, so how could she know what to look like in that situation. I noticed it instantly. Shaw was in the submarine when he put it on, and was in the submarine for the duration of the battle scene where Mystique takes his form.

All in all, X-Men: First Class is a great movie, with lots of action, good character portrayals, and even though there is an abundance of mutants in this story, it manages to give everyone a part to play without seeming cluttered. The story is easy to follow, yet artfully woven into actual historical events. I give it 4.5 Shurikens, just because of the artistic license taken with the original characters of the comic book series. Otherwise, it is a must-see, you will not regret it.