X-Men : First Class

(Forgive my poor English, will ya? Kisses :*)

Wow.

It's been a while since I wrote my last blog post and movie review. I kinda miss expressing opinion, lashing out anger and re-living memorable moments from the movie I just watch on the cinema; therefore I figure I better start writing movie reviews again. And what movie would be more fitting for me to start over, other than X-Men : First Class?

(Pictures taken from here)

I always have a soft spot for superhero movies; even more so, for X-Men movie franchise. I followed all the trilogy and X-Men Origins : Wolverine. I won't be calling myself a true fans of X-Men story though, because I haven't read any X-Men comics and from my own experience being an avid fans of Harry Potter's books, I can safely say that there is always something (or more) missing from movies adapted from books. Nevertheless, there are movie makers who successfully capture the essence of the original story and re-create those essence in a way that makes everybody, both ordinary movie-goers and the true fans of the original story, share the same excitement (well, fans might grumble about bits and pieces but still, they stay to watch). X-Men movies are the good example for this kind of movie and that is why I always love X-Men.

That and the fact that I practically drool over Hugh Jackman (Me and my old-men-crush *sigh*)

X-Men : First Class focuses on the story of young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy, my favourite actor from Wanted) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender. I've never heard his name before but he's hot. Like, totally) before they become the famous Professor X and Magneto. At the age of 10, Charles meets Raven (the future Mystique) and befriends her, taking her as his own little sister. On the other hand, 10-year-old Erik must suffer the torture from Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon) who is fascinated by his magnetic power. Watching his mother died in the hand of Dr. Schmidt put Erik in so much pain that his power manifests in such intensity that no one has ever seen before.
Fast forward to a couple of years later, we see that Erik has been searching the location of Dr. Schmidt to avenge his mother's death. This makes him cross path with Charles, the young professor specializing in human mutation who is currently helping CIA to track down Sebastian Shaw (Dr. Schmidt) and his mutant followers. The two bonds over their similarities as mutants who are different from human and together, they search for another mutants to be trained and defeat Dr. Schmidt. Nevertheless, this two best friend realize their difference about the kind of future they wish to pursue (Charles with his human-mutants co-existence ideal, Erik with mutants-must-be-able-to-conquer-human ideal) and no matter how hard they try to influence one another, the difference is way too big and in the end, they choose to go in a separate way; thus, commencing the beginning of their relationship as frenemies in the world.

From my perspective, this movie has done a decent job in introducing the important background of each character which shape their attutide towards human-mutant relationship. Erik/Magneto, for example, always feel the rage towards human because of his hurtful past, while on the other hand Charles/Profesor X show his optimism for humanism because of his educated background and the fact that he can easily mingle among human without being recognized as mutant (a fact that bitterly pointed out by Raven, whose blue nature always freaks out other people around her). I applaud this movie for its effort to show that there is no such a thing as black and white; everything has explanations. And who are we to judge whether one explanation is right or wrong? However, the movie has not exploit the issue of mutant existence and discrimination deep enough. The overall feel I got from this movie is still one that light enough to be enjoyed at the moment, rather than something that left me stunned and deliberately thinking of becoming human rights lawyer afterwards (too much?)

Although I accept the fact that X-Men : First Class or any other superhero movies for that matter, is the fun-oriented with plenty of visual treats kind of movie, I couldn't help but think that the lack of emotion is the biggest letdown of the movie. Especially at the last scene where Charles and Erik relationship takes a dramatic turn that change everything. It looks absolutely plain (Me: "Where's the guilt? Where's the remorse? Where's the angst?!!" *crushing bottle*) I sort of got the feeling that the scriptwriter wished to get done with the scene as soon as possible, leaving almost no chance for actors to explore the emotion that should be present on that scene. I mean, come on. One minutes and a half to decide that you will dump your bestfriend? (Oh wait. That happens in real life. Case in point: me, the poor dumpee)

So my verdict is, good movie to enjoy without thinking much. But still I wish to see more emotion. Gimme the tears!!! *I am such a dramaqueen*