X-Men: First Class

I have never read a single X-Men comic book and I am completely ignorant when it comes to their origins, but for some reason I’ve enjoyed every film, including this year’s addition, X-Men: First Class. X-Men: First Class features James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr. What I learned is that they were friends before they became enemies and the film also shares how Xavier became Professor X and started his school for exceptional youths.
 
I have some friends who are huge comic book fans and they’ll go on and on how the film differs from the series. But as a three-time attendee of Comic-Con now I have learned that even within the comic book industry, characters re-invent themselves. So as far as I’m concerned, it is all fair game, a film is a film and a book is a book.
 
I believe that the reason this series works so well is that it has a social message underneath all the explosions and special effects. These are humans who have discovered that they are different and they don’t know whether to embrace or hide their special talents. In this film, we learn that Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) began life as Raven and that Xavier discovered her when he was a boy and treated her like a sister. They grew up in the same home, but as young adults the ways that they adapted to their special talents started a rift between them. Soon, Xavier’s new friend Erik spoke more her language. Xavier was all about service, duty and sharing your gift for the greater good. Erik, who becomes Magneto, is more about power, payback, and not apologizing for anything. When you look back to what was happening in the world when these stories were first written, it all makes sense.
 
What I liked the most about this film is that the special effects supported the story and didn’t overpower it. The center of the film was the mutants, the kids, and how they felt about what was happening to their bodies and how they learned how to control it. It is also about acceptance and inclusion, something that we are still learning today. That is why these stories resonate. As a society it is a quality that we still haven’t mastered.
 
Since this film will probably be built upon, others characters are mentioned or shown briefly. Also it must connect with the X-Men films that have gone before. One of the new major characters to appear is Kevin Bacon who plays the evil nemesis Sebastian Shaw. Rose Byrne also appears as Moira Mac Taggert, a government agent who befriends Xavier. But please don’t ask me if these characters appear in future films or have appeared in any of the other films that have gone before. I can’t keep them all straight. The first film came out in the year 2000 and a decade has past since then. What I can tell you is that the mythology is deep and rich; these stories can go on for a very long time.

Rating: First Run The X-Men and how they began