Video: An Awesome Origins Story!

By: Holley Sinn

Verdict: Approved

It is become clear to me that the mark of a great super hero film is quality acting.  It makes sense, really.  Comic book super heroes have never been just representations of the battle between good and evil - they are often tortured, conflicted souls with sordid or horrific pasts that spur them to either revenge or the betterment of society as a means for peace within their own souls.  As a genesis piece, "X-Men: First Class" nails this concept to the wall - deep, meaningful, misunderstood characters need solid actors supporting them.  It doesn't matter how much flash, bang, whiz and fiz the effects and graphics folks can devise if the characters are shallow and thin.  Director Matthew Vaughn seems keenly aware of this, and shows great restraint with the supporting elements for his characters.

"X-Men: First Class" begins by focusing on the patriarchs of the mutant movement, Charles Xavier, played expertly by James McAvoy, and Erik Lehnsherr, played with pitch-perfect intensity by Michael Fassbender.  The tortured Erik is on a mission to avenge the death of his mother at the hands of a power hungry scientist named Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon.  Erik has the power to control metal, and was tortured by Shaw for the better part of his young life in an effort to control and enhance that talent.  His intent is to use that skill to kill Shaw and ease his tortured soul.  Charles Xavier has recently graduated from a Ph.D. program with a focus on genetic mutations, which he and his adopted sister, Raven, played by Jennifer Lawrence, both possess.  Xavier can read and control minds, and Raven is a shapeshifter.  Xavier finds himself connected to Shaw as well, when CIA agent Moira MacTaggert, played by Rose Byrne, approaches him regarding some strange phenomena encountered on her most recent mission. 

After some skepticism, the CIA allows MacTaggert to create a mutant task force which unites Erik and Xavier with a team of young mutants, the talents of which they spend weeks developing.  The story suggests that Shaw is singularily responsible for what we know as the Cuban Missile Crisis, pitting Russia and the United States against each other with the goal of developing more mutants through nuclear war.  Being that Shaw and his cronies are also mutants, the most famous of which is Emma Frost, played by January Jones, Xavier and Erik recognize that only their team of young mutants can be effective in fighting back.  With war on the horizon, Raven and the other mutants are struggling with their differences...primarily those that are evidenced physically.  Hank, who will eventually become "Beast", has created a serum that he believes will reverse the physical effects of mutations for himself and his blue companion, Raven.

For the older, wiser mutants, the greatest distress comes in pin-pointing the goal of the counter attack on the Russian and U.S. military.  Xavier only wishes to avert nuclear war, while Erik is obsessed with destroying Shaw, whose power and sustained youth come through the absorbtion of outside energy.  Erik desperatley tries to convince Xavier that regardless of any noble mutant heroism, the human race will never accept this strange band of misfits, a disagreement which ultimately divides the mutants into the two teams we now know to be led by Xavier and Erik's mutant alias, Magneto. 

So far as super hero and genesis films go, this may very well be my favorite.  "Batman Begins" is certainly wrought with character development and incredible cinematography, but "X-Men: First Class" offers up such sympathetic and likable characters, it has more appeal for female viewers who are as interested in relatability as entertainment.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are perfectly cast, and the rest of the mutant crew, including Bacon as Shaw, is positively dynamite.  The effects seem rather simple, but that probably denotes greater complexity because they come off as so real, and they are well supported by a grand, swelling score.

All in all, "X-Men: First Class" is a gem in its genre, and even outside of it.  It is rated PG-13 for intense action and violence, and it is now playing in theaters all over the bay area.