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    X-Men: First Class

    Movie » X-Men: First Class released on June 03, 2011.

    At a time when the world was first learning of mutants, Professor Xavier created a school where young mutants could learn to use their powers to help protect a world that hates and fears them. What adventures will the first class of X-Men face?

    X-Men First Class: The Movie that COULD HAVE Been Great

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    gibson

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    Edited By gibson

    Say Gibson,

    “Yes”

    Why are you about to rip on a movie that has been out for a few months, and has already been reviewed, discussed, dissected, and is generally well liked?

    “Dunno. Maybe I am a caustic assshat?”

    Perhaps. Anyway…

    This summer has brought us many comic movies. A lot of hope coupled with some disappointment. And the one that really got to me was X-Men First Class. From the first trailer and images I was SURE it was going to blow.

    “What is this? Those aren’t the original X Men! Azazel? Mystique is little girl with ‘ole Chucky X?! Hogwash and poppycock! I said.

    Since it is a comic movie I still support them and I went to see it. I knew there was no way I was going to like it, but hey, let’s see how this goes.

    So I am watching the movie and from the beginning…I was impressed. Magneto was awesome. The re-creation of the original concentration camp scene plus Kevin Bacon’s Shaw character was really good. The screaming young Erik was a little lame, but hey, so far so good. Charles Xavier was engaging and charismatic. Dare I say I am enjoying this? Holy crap! Magneto Nazi Hunter, I could watch an entire movie of this! I dig deeper into my bucket of popcorn and settle in. Hey, looks, it’s Moira McTaggert. As an American. CIA agent….oh well I can overlook that. Man, January Jones is a really wooden actor. No..no…give it a chance Gibson.

    Hey, Hank McCoy! Cool…. And he already built a device for a psychic without having met one, huh….ok. Ok I will not let this get me down. Hey a few cameos that’s cool.

    Oh Crap. Are we going to get a montage of recruitment, followed by a montage of power training? Yup.

    Oh look. All Beast needed to do was believe in himself and take of his shoes. Let me repeat: TAKE OFF HIS SHOES.  <<sigh>> And we were doing so well.

    And therein lays the problem with X Men First Class. It took a bold leap ignoring comic cannon. And in some degree it worked. But, like the Star Wars prequels, we all knew lil Anakin was going to become Vader. So we knew Erik was going to become Magneto, and that he and Charles were going to be at odds. And when the bulk of the audience knows the outcome of your movie before seeing it, it is up to the movie making team to dazzle the audience and make them forget. To enjoy the journey.

    The first half of the movie did just that. But then some numb nuts producer got a hold of this and made the movie follow predictable movie plot formula. Enlist team of youngsters. Don’t give them many lines of plot development. Montage. Kill one at least. Seriously Marvel, did you have to kill the black guy like a damn horror movie cliché? And Magneto is super distraught over the guy he has known for like 9 weeks getting hurt because of him?

    And that is why I feel the movie fell flat. It fought the odds to make its own voice heard. And then it fell victim to cliché and formula. And in hindsight the little things add up. Crap supporting mutants who are not realized as characters, used only as plot forwarding devices. White Queen who is not sexy, smart or empowered. Magneto’s contrived heel turn. The list goes on.

    This movie could have been great, and we had to settle for ok to good. So I have to wonder, why was it done this way? Does the studio not trust the viewers to accept a movie like this if it didn’t follow the standard summer movie plot, pacing formula?

    Well maybe the next Wolverine movie will be good……………aww who am I kidding.

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    Shadow_Thief

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    #1  Edited By Shadow_Thief

    Let me preface this by saying I haven't seen the film yet (don't you judge me; I've been extremely busy doing...stuff), but I think the criticisms you make could be applied to a broad swath of movies being produced these days, and are symptomatic of an unfortunate trend in the movie industry. Hollywood seems to have developed an unnatural phobia of taking risks. It's why we're seeing so many sequels, prequels, and remakes (Oh my). Nobody wants to cut a check for a movie that doesn't resemble something that is already an established money-maker. This is made worse by the fact that your typical Hollywood executive likely has no concept of what makes a movie great; these people are bean-counters.

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    Rudyftw

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    #2  Edited By Rudyftw

    It wasn't perfect, but it was by far the best Marvel movie to date.

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    TenguMan8

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    #3  Edited By TenguMan8
    @gibson: While i don't get to read a lot of x-men comics and just go mostly on what I've read on Comic-Vine and seen in the cartoons, I was honestly disappointed in the movie....I understand that FOX and whoever is directing can have creative control over the movie but a lot of it was just unnecessary. Since there is already an X-men first class comic book i couldn't understand why they wouldn't at least use it as a reference when it came to characters and the storyline. IMO it was one of the better X-men films but the majority of it just had me shaking my head....
     

    Kill one at least. Seriously Marvel, did you have to kill the black guy like a damn horror movie cliché?



    Before the movie i had no idea who Darwin was...halfway through it I decide to google it and find out his powers...out of anyone who was going to die it made ABSOLUTELY NO sense for it to be him considering how vulnerable everyone else was-_-....They should have stuck with the original comicbook First Class cast since who they chose made no sense and they are probably going to have to reboot it anyway.
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    theicon

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    #4  Edited By theicon
    @TenguMan8: pure racism, darwin would have survived, let alone  his body convert into energy or  hell  it should have  evolved into that volcanic type form(which it appeared to be doing) then he erupt  releasing the energy    revering back and  being ko'ed (but it didnt)   shaw  woulda still  looked powerful he coulda said a snappy line  like   "why so serious" and walked away  darwin  lives   end of movie he wakes up boom, no they kill the only  brotha  as usual . Its  either  black guy dies first  or  if there's one  hes deff   taken out! 95% of the time in a cast full of  whites....sad racism didnt die .... it evolved and got Smarter! and the naive  and hidden racist say it is not so.
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    gibson

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    #5  Edited By gibson
    @Rudyftw said:
    It wasn't perfect, but it was by far the best Marvel movie to date.

    I never want to be the guy to says "you're wrong" to somone's opinion. But the BEST Marvel movie to date by FAR!? Better than Iron Man, Xmen 2 or Spider Man 2? I cannot agree with you sir, that is just crazy talk to me ;-)
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    Shadowdoggy

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    #6  Edited By Shadowdoggy
    @gibson
    I have to agree with you  
    I don't even think it was the best X-Movie to date 
    it was enjoyable and I liked it a lot 
    but it was by far the best 
    Spidey 1 and 2, X1 and 2, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor were are far better IMO

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