Movie Review - X-Men First Class

The moment I came out of the theatre, I bought the tickets to the next show.

Few things in life - and mostly movies - turn out to be better than expectations, and their trailers. 

Apart from the amazing visual effects and substance of the script, the one thing to look out for is the rich, exquisite soundtrack of the film. This kind of extensive format, array of violins, the gripping tension filled with a lot of emotion can be achieved by the evergreen Hans Zimmer. But the compositions seemed little more radical, though. 

As it turned out, the apple didn’t fall far away from the tree and it was Zimmer’s protégé after all, Henry Jackman. He assisted Zimmer on films like ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series, 'The Holiday', ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘The Dark Knight’.

Listen to ‘X-Men First Class: First Class’ here and you’ll know what am talking about. It's like a hundred violins charging up... so Inception-esque. 

Professor Charles Xavier’s dialogues constituted the philosophical soul of the film: “The true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity.” They will be in the top dialogues of all time list, for sure. James McAvoy plays the part to the tee, as a beacon of wisdom, and brings the right amount of likability to his character. Like his older version (which reflects a seasoned sobriety – and now we know where it comes from) he displays a Gandhian sense of thinking the lesser evolved mortals (human species in general) have a chance. 

So much so, when Magneto/ Eric Lensherr, played by Micheal Fassbender, diverts all the missles towards the Russian and American fleet, and we hear respective Army Chiefs saying what an honour it was to have served with the Officers who're staring at their inevitable death, Professor Xavier says, “That’s enough, Magneto. There are hundreds of people on those ships… They’re just men following orders!”

He actually believes that a truce can be served; and we certainly don’t mistake his compassion for naïveté. McAvoy convincingly portrays his character, as a person who has had the gift of understanding phenomena, nature and accepting reasons and facts, adding it with a great deal of humanity and faith. He was the only reason besides Aslan, of course, that I watched Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe a couple of times.

Magneto or Eric Lensherr, on the other hand, has seen the darker side of human nature up close at the hands of one mutant named Shaw, portrayed by Kevin Bacon, straight from one of the darkest times on Earth: the Holocaust. 

And so, when the wise Professor tells him that there are men on the ships and that they were only following orders, Magneto replies, “I’ve been at the mercy of men just following orders before… Never again!”

Okay I need to stop.... else I might just write the entire movie here…

Oscar winning visual effects supervisor John Dykstra gave the film those super-cool moments. Only two words and you will know what a magician this guy really is: Battlestar Galactica. He’s also worked with George Lucas on Star Wars series.  

Based upon the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1960s (with a pre-cursory 1942 Nazi occupied Poland) the film deals with the inevitable process for all mutants – taking sides. Now this is the second most favourite and the most important dilemma for any mutant: whether or not to trust humans. The first being their having to come to terms to their gifts, and worse, their looks. The theme is really getting a bit monotonous, am afraid. 

I love the humour in the film. Professor X and Magneto go about recruiting new mutants in their army-to-be, they also approach Wolverine, a cameo (and what a cameo it was!) by Hugh Jackman. So Jackman is at the bar, with his back towards the approaching Professor and Magneto, and - 

Eric Lensherr: "Excuse me. I'm Eric Lensherr."

Charles Xavier: "And I am Professor Charles Xavier-"

Wolverine: "Go fuck yourself."

...... And both of them just take a sudden U-turn.

To Angel, when she displays her unique wings in a strip-tease booth:

Charles Xavier: "How would you like to have a job where you get to keep your clothes on?"

The challenge for director Mathew Vaughn (Director of the immensely delightful 'Stardust') was to incorporate every character’s detailing, weaknesses and strengths into one story line that justified every moment up on the silver screen. Both the journey as the plots unfold, and give way to the climax provide for a fulfillment of the senses and sensibilities. He's made this edge-of-the-seat entertaining film, complete with deep psychological brooding about compassion, survival and human nature, and a delectable sense of humour. The film reminds you just how powerful cinema can be.

And I just have one litmus test for the greatness of any movie. My Mum is the most stringent woman on this planet, and if she tells you the movie was worth odd 400 bucks (arrived at after calculating the cost of fuel, coffee and pop-corn) then it definitely is a good movie.

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