I saw the new X-Men movie yesterday. As someone who has followed and thoroughly enjoyed the series since seeing the first film with school friends way back in 2000, but who has never been moved to actually pick up an X-Men comic (I know. I've never spent money on a Marvel book on point of principle), I fancy my perspective here is somewhat unique.
Since I no longer have the inclination to write long essays, I've opted for bullet points. Needless to say, SPOILERS.
* Loved it, loved it, loved it. Best X-Men flick since X2, perhaps the best of the series.
* Singer juggles an enormous cast yet again, and again he pulls it off magnificently, ditto screenwriter Simon Kinberg (more on him later). Almost everybody gets to do something cool or memorable and the narrative never feels rushed, convoluted or haphazardly put together. It really is quite an achievement.
* The future-set fight sequences are gobsmacking. In terms of effects and choreography, they represent a new benchmark for superhero cinema. The makers of the two Fantastic Four movies should be made to watch these scenes repeatedly until they get the message.
* I was puzzled by Kitty's powers. I was hoping for a line or two of clarification- how is it the girl who phases through solid objects is able to send a person's consciousness back in time? It's the same problem I had with the first Wolverine movie: no allowances are made for those of us not au fait with the comics lore; what, for example, is Gambit's mutant power, flinging cards really hard? Or Wade...is it sword twirling? And as for the Blob...Since when was obesity a superpower?
* Wolverine, I've decided, doesn't work as the leading man in solo adventures (or at least the Hugh Jackman version doesn't), but whereas the first three X-movies often felt like Wolverine and His Amazing Friends, it made sense to put the outsider/ loner hero at the centre of the action, a compelling audience identification figure. Here, though he's ostensibly the star once again, the movie reminds us that it's Xavier who's the linchpin of the X-Men, not Logan. Jackman gets to look ripped and badass and has some emotionally meaty stuff to work with, but he's still just one of the gang at the end of the day. The movie's masterstroke is in the climactic face-off, where Wolverine does not save the day. He's taken out by a superior enemy, and that's that. It's a bold, counter-instinctual move for a blockbuster like this, in fact I'm amazed it survived test screenings.
* James McAvoy, superb in First Class as the young Charles, is even better here. This is an actor with serious chops, and it's one of the best performances in any comic book movie to date. As before I was struck by how Doctor-like he is, to the point of seeing his every scene as a kind of extended audition; it's partly because something about him reminds me strongly of Paul McGann's Doctor (the smile? The inflection? Can't put my finger on it, but the long hair is definitely a factor). Anyway, we have a Thirteenth Doctor, fully formed, for when Peter Capaldi steps down.
* Setting. The 1970's milieu is cleverly, authentically brought to life, and not just with set dressing (or swaddling the actor playing Nixon in cartoony prosthetics, a la Watchmen). Expansive outdoor scenes with hundreds of extras illustrate a world beyond the characters we are watching and help create a palpable alternate history, something distinctly lacking, I felt, in First Class, where the 60's was recreated using only Kennedy news footage, miniskirts and McAvoy say "groovy", once.
* Quicksilver = great. Ill-advised costume and stupid hair aside, Evan Peters wins you over with his impish grin, utterly convincing as a teenager with the power to live entirely by his own rules. A centrepiece action scene in which he whizzes around the Pentagon, deflecting bullets and generally having a laugh at super speed is another showstopper, and as a DC loyalist, I felt bitterly jealous that the Flash hadn't gotten to the big screen and done all of this first. God knows it'll be hard to follow, even if the Avengers 2 version of Quicksilver (he's never called that here, incidentally. Legal issue?) proves more satisfactory to the fanboy faithful. Oh, and the 'my mom knew a guy...' line is cute, but it's hard to imagine Erik having much casual sex during his Nazi hunter days.
* Erik completely ignores the 'mind the glass' note and stands directly under it. I know this is an action movie full of miraculous powers, but really, he should have been cut to pieces.
* Halle Berry's, Ian McKellan's and Patrick Stewart 's contributions may be glorified cameos (ditto Shawn Ashmore and Ellen Page), but I found Stewart's Professor X to be far more compelling here than in any of the previous instalments. One feels that he was more inspired by the material he was given to work with, and as such the good Prof actually feels like a character at long last, rather than a benign figurehead.
* Cameos #2: Rogue? What happened? I understand her one scene was cut, but Anna Paquin is still placed highly in the cast list, and her remaining 2-seconds of screen time at the end of the movie make you wonder why they bothered getting her back at all. Spare a thought, too, for poor Daniel Cudmore as Colossus. In X2, he was just One of the Kids, but at least had some dialogue. In The Last Stand, elevated to proper, black-leathered X-Man, he had all of one line. Here, he's one of the mutant survivors in the future, and gets to say a single word. Hollywood's a bitch.
* There's a fannish compulsion to tie up loose ends here, with almost every significant mutant player getting at least a name check. We learn Shaw's/ Erik's old crew came to sticky ends and wound up on Trask's autopsy table, including, um, Banshee... Guess he became a baddie between movies then? Or was that just a dig at First Class for casting such an unappealing actor? Actually there are a few moments which seem to directly address deficiencies in the previous movies (the recently anounced casting of Channing Tatum as a new Gambit underlines this)... Simon Kinberg said in an interview that he wanted to make amends for The Last Stand, and the whole coda sequence with Logan back at the mansion might as well have the words 'RETCON BABY!' flashing onscreen. Jean's back, Cyclops is alive again (only fair to James Marsden, after all). John Ottman returns as composer, and so does his bombastic theme music from X2. And though there's flashback footage from all of the prior films, Wolverine remembers Brian Cox's Stryker and the X2 version of his origin, in which we saw Logan screaming and covered in blood (the satisfyingly gruesome implication being that the military bods actually peeled away his skin to perform the adamantium procedure, a far cry from the bloodless non-event we saw in X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Oh, and remember that mutant 'cure' that caused so much kerfuffle in X3? Turns out Beast invented something pretty much identical back in the 70's, and it was no big deal. Riiight. Anyway, this approach won't be popular with everyone, but it's quite exciting actually, and means we don't have to suffer from yet another reboot now all the crappy bits have been retroactively erased. Another First Class sequel is in the works, but the door is also open for more post-The Last Stand adventures with the original gang, and I'd much rather that than another Wolverine yawnathon.
* I'm amazed they didn't try and recreate the famous comic book cover image of Wolverine and Kitty in front of the poster. True, there isn't really anywhere in the story it would fit, but I would have thought it irresistible for the filmmakers.
Summat like this
* Almost everyone in the cinema stuck around for the obligatory post-credits scene, and they all audibly went 'who's that?'. I didn't have a clue myself, but I tried to be at least vaguely awed.
There's plenty I haven't mentioned of course, but that's all the major points covered based on my first impressions. I recommend this movie unreservedly and will definitely be seeing it again.
Peace.
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