X-Men: First Class

Release Date: June 3, 2011

Watch Date: August 24, 2024

“Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were closest of friends working together, with other Mutants to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-MEN.”

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   This is probably the first time that I can honestly say I enjoyed an X-Men movie that doesn’t feature the new version of Deadpool. And maybe that’s saying something about my own bias but it’s true.

   I like that it’s not primarily centered around Wolverine, he doesn’t appear for more than one scene at all – and that’s more played off for comedic effect. I like that it explores the history of characters that we’ve been seeing for years fighting with each other. I really love the backstory of Magneto, who has somehow because my favorite character of the X-Men franchise. I like that it’s new superheroes, not just the same mutants over and over again.

   And what I like best, what really puts this over the edge for me, is that it’s less dark. And I don’t just mean that in tone, though it is. I mean, it is visually brighter. They’re not afraid to use colours. And that brings a lightness to the movie that makes the comedic moments not seem totally out of place, but also makes it so that I can see and understand everything that’s happening, and that’s always a bonus.

   But the tone is always much lighter, there’s serious moments, sure, but the characters area allowed to have fun – even as WWIII is being organized. There’s a lot more interplay between characters too, and in ways that aren’t entirely romantic – which is pretty much the only way we’ve seen any characters have relationships with each other (other than Storm, who seems too smart to get involved with either Cyclops, Wolverine or Iceman).

   I don’t know. Marvel just does the lighthearted super hero movie better. Not every film has to be Batman, and honestly in my opinion, not every Batman film has to be Batman either. So if I had to pick an X-Men to just pop on one night for fun, it’d probably be this one. Take that as you will.