Movie Review – X-Men: First Class (2011)

In 2009, the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine gave us an origin tale that was mediocre at best.

While the film was a financial success, many of the fans of the X-Men series were disappointed in the film’s story, some clichés and plot holes, and the repeated action scenes.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine could have been a significantly better film.

Fortunately, this opened the door for an X-Men origin film to be created correctly.  That bring us to the next film in the X-Men series of movies, 2011’s X-Men: First Class.

Primarily set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the main X-Men films and tells a story about how the X-Men team was formed.  This includes the origin stories of Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr, and the first members of Xavier’s team of mutants.  Working with the CIA, the mutants help stop an evil plot by Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club as they push the U.S. and Soviet Union to nuclear war.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, X-Men: First Class stars James McAvoy as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Eric Lensherr / Magneto, and Kevin Bacon as Dr. Klaus Schmidt / Sebastian Shaw.  Supporting them are Rose Byrne as CIA agent Moira MacTaggert, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme / Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast, and Oliver Platt as Man in Black Suit.

X-Men: First Class begins in Poland in 1944.

After teenage Eric Lensherr is separated from his family in a concentration camp, Dr. Klaus Schmidt (Kevin Bacon) witnesses the boy use a magnetic power to bend the metal gates in the camp.  He orders the boy to his office and demonstrate his power, but he cannot reproduce it.  To make him try harder, Klaus brings in Eric’s mother and threatens to shoot her unless Eric and use his power to move a coin.  When he does not make it move, Klaus shoots and kills Eric’s mother.  This enrages Eric and causes his power to significantly grow, allowing the teenager to bend and manipulate all the metal in the room.

At the same time in Westchester County, New York, child telepath Charles Xavier meets what looks like his mother in the kitchen one night.  The only problem is that it’s not his real mother.  The impersonator turns out to be Raven Darkholme, a young girl who can change shapes and impersonate any person.  Even though she’s breaking in to his house and trying to steal food, Xavier is overjoyed at meeting another person who is “different” like himself.  Xavier invites the girl to live with him in the house, and the two of them become friends like brother and sister.

Fast forward to 1962.

At Oxford University in England, Charles Xavier is finishing his thesis as part of the university’s doctorate program.  As one would expect, his areas of interest are in genealogy and mutation.  Raven is there with him as well, though it’s not really clarified if she’s there as a student or as Xavier’s companion.  What we do know is that the two of them are not dating, and when he’s not working on his thesis, Xavier likes to drink at bars and try to pick up women.

Meanwhile, Eric Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is a man focused on revenge.  He’s determined to find and kill Klaus Schmidt and his companions.  Eric makes his way to Geneva, Switzerland and tortures a banker to learn the whereabouts of Schmidt.  The banker doesn’t know, but he does reveal that Schmidt’s men are in Argentina.

At Las Vegas, Nevada, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) is following U.S. Army Colonel Hendry (Glenn Morshower) when she sees him enter the Atomic hotel and casino along with mob bosses and other people of interest.  Moira goes undercover (posing as an escort) and follows Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club.  Inside the club, Moira witnesses Hendry meeting with Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).  In the room with him are Emma Frost (January Jones), a mutant telepath, Riptide (Alex Gonzalez), a mutant who can produce cyclones, and Azazel (Jason Flemyng), a teleporting mutant.  After being threatened by Shaw, Hendry changes his mind about placing U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey, knowing that such a move will be seen as a threat by the Soviets.  Azazel then teleports Hendry out of the Hellfire Club in Vegas and to the Joint War Room in the Pentagon where Hendry advocates the nuclear missiles in Turkey.

When Moira tries to report Colonel Hendry’s situation to her supervisor at the CIA, he doesn’t believe her as Hendry is there with him in the Pentagon.  He could not have travelled from Vegas to northern Virginia in only a couple of minutes.  Knowing that she is going to need more help going against mutants, Moira goes to Oxford University to seek out Dr. Charles Xavier, an expert in genetics and mutation.

In Argentina, Eric Lensherr locates two of Klaus Schmidt’s close friends in a bar.  They are former Nazis who fled to South America.  He kills them along with the bartender, and then continues with his hunt for Schmidt.

In England, Charles Xavier meets with Moira, and he reads her mind about her recent encounter with mutants.  He agrees to help her, and he and Raven go to the CIA to try to warn Director John McCone about the danger of mutants.  Director McCone thinks that Charles is a spy until Raven shows off her ability to change shapes.  He then orders them out of the room, but one of the CIA sponsors, a man in a black suit (Oliver Platt), offers to take the mutants to the secret “Division X” facility.

It’s not long before Eric Lensherr locates Shaw’s yacht.  When he climbs on board and tries to get his revenge, Emma Frost uses her telepathic powers to attack him and then knock him into the water.  Just then the Coast Guard arrives, led to the scene by Xavier and Moira.  When Xavier tries to use his telepathy he discovers that he’s being blocked by a telepathic mutant on the yacht.

When Shaw leads his companions into the ship, Lensherr tries to attack them with the ship’s anchor and chain.  He misses them but damages the ship.  That doesn’t really matter though as Shaw and his companions use a secret submarine to escape from the authorities.  Lensherr tries to use his magnetism to stop the submarine, but it’s only going to drown him.  Xavier dives into the water and convinces Lensherr to let it go for now.  He’ll get another shot at them later.

Lensherr joins Xavier, Raven and Moira at Division X.  There they meet with Division X’s leading scientist, Dr. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult).  It turns out that McCoy is a mutant as well, and his mutation is a pair of unusually large feet which give him a faster running speed and the ability to hang upside down.  Raven likes McCoy for his personality, and the two of them start to bond.

It’s decided that if they’re going to effectively stop Shaw, then Xavier and Lensherr are going to need more mutants on their side.  But they need a way to find the mutants as almost all of them are in hiding.  That’s where Dr. McCoy’s machine Cerebro comes into play.  When Xavier uses Cerebro, he can locate any mutant and the computer will print out the mutant’s coordinates.

Xavier and Lensherr take the listing of coordinates and begin to recruit mutants into their Division X organization.  They recruit a stripper named Angel Salvadore (Zoë Kravitz), a taxi driver named Armando Munoz (Edi Gathegi), Army prisoner Alex Summers (Lucas Till), and then Sean Cassidy (Caleb Landry Jones).  They try to recruit Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), but he tells them to “Go fuck yourself.”

While Xavier, Lensherr and Moira are meeting with the CIA officials about their new mutant recruits as well as the whereabouts of Sebastian Shaw, the rest of the mutants show off their abilities at Division X and give each other nicknames.  Raven is a shapeshifter, and she chooses her nickname to be Mystique.  Armando Munoz can quickly evolve to protect himself, and he goes by the nickname Darwin.  Sean Cassidy is capable of giving off a high-pitched, “sonic scream,” and he calls himself Banshee.  Angel Salvadore has wings on her back and can not only fly but spit fireballs as well.  She sticks with her stripper name of Angel.  Alex Summers is capable of using his body to create highly destructive “plasma blasts,” but he has difficulty controlling it.  His nickname is Havok.

Later, the group of mutants names Eric Lensherr as Magneto, and Dr. Charles Xavier as Professor X.

It’s soon learned that Sebastian Shaw is going to be meeting with a Soviet general at a retreat in the Soviet Union.  The CIA authorizes a mission for Xavier, Lensherr and Moira to infiltrate the retreat and capture Shaw.  When they arrive there, it’s discovered that Shaw is not in attendance, but Emma Frost, his best soldier is there instead.  Lensherr leads the way as he uses his magnetism powers to defeat all of the Soviet guards.  He and Xavier then work together to capture Frost and make her talk about Shaw.  They learn that Sebastian Shaw intends on starting World War III, a nuclear war that will annihilate the human race and allow mutants to reign supreme.

Back at Division X, Sebastian Shaw attacks the CIA compound with the help of Riptide and Azazel.  Shaw is able to use his mutant power of absorbing and redirecting kinetic energy to kill a ton of guards.  Azazel kills the rest of them by teleporting them into the air and then releasing them to fall to the ground.  He kills the man in the black suit with this method.

Shaw, Riptide and Azazel easily find the new mutants.  Instead of attacking them, Shaw offers the mutants a chance to join the Hellfire Club.  Those who do not will be treated as enemies.  Angel quickly takes Shaw’s offering and joins his organization.  Darwin also joins, but it’s a trick.  He and Havok try to attack the Hellfire Club, but it backfires.  Shaw catches Havok’s plasma blast and then inserts it into Darwin, killing him.  Shaw the has Azazel teleport the Hellfire Club (now including Angel) out of the compound.

In Moscow, Shaw persuades a Soviet general to install Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, knowing that doing so may provoke the U.S. into attacking the missile sites, causing the outbreak of war.

Back in the U.S., the Division X mutants are no longer able to reside at the CIA’s compound.  Xavier brings the mutants to his family’s large home in Manchester County, New York, and they use it as a headquarters and training post.  Xavier then works with the mutants and teaches all of them how to focus and better control their powers.  Banshee is given a flying suit and is taught how to fly by catching the air waves from his sonic scream.  Havok learns how to better control his plasma blast.  Lensherr is taught how to control his anger and increase the strength of his magnetism.

Shortly later, the mutants, these X-Men, see President John F. Kennedy warn the nation about the Soviets installing nuclear missiles in Cuba.  The U.S. is responding by setting up a naval blockade around the island.  Should any cargo ships try to carry missiles past the blockade, then they will be attacked by the U.S. Navy.  We see that not only is Shaw wearing a special helmet that blocks Xavier’s telepathic powers, but he’s also using a submarine to follow the cargo ships and make sure that they break through the blockade and cause a war.

Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy has been trying to work on a cure so that mutants could still have their powers, but look normal to everybody else.  He has been working on it specifically for himself and Mystique.  He tries the cure on himself first, but it backfires.  The “cure” has actually accelerated the mutation process.  Now Hank McCoy’s entire body is covered in blue hair, and he has increased strength as well as claws and fangs.  Banshee thinks that he actually looks pretty cool, and he gives McCoy the nickname of Beast.

Knowing about the Soviet missiles in Cuba, and that Sebastian Shaw is most likely in that area, the X-Men need to fly down there and diffuse the situation before it causes a nuclear war.  Fortunately, Beast is also a genius engineer, and he has constructed the X-Jet, a highly modified SR-71 Blackbird.  This version is capable of hovering as well as carrying about a dozen passengers.  Beast takes the controls and flies everybody down to Cuba as quickly as possible.

Tensions are heating up off the coast of Cuba.

Both the U.S. and Soviet fleets are facing off with one another as a Soviet cargo ship, the Aral Sea, approaches the blockade line.  Should it cross the line, then the U.S. will open fire and sink it, knowing that the Soviets will respond to the attack.  The X-Jet arrives over the blockade just as the Aral Sea approaches the blockade line.  Xavier uses his telepathy and discovers that the crew of the cargo ship is dead.  Azazel killed them so that the ship would not be stopped or turned around.

The Aral Sea hits the blockade line, and the U.S. navy receives permission to fire.  Just before they do, Xavier controls the mind of a Soviet officer and has him fire on the Aral Sea from a Soviet ship.  The attack works and it looks like the Soviets destroyed their own ship to prevent a nuclear war.

Now it’s time to find Shaw.

Banshee jumps out of the X-Jet and dives underwater.  He uses his sonic scream as a sonar ping to locate the submarine.  It works and they pinpoint the sub’s location.  Beast then hovers the X-Jet while Magneto climbs outside and uses his magnetism to lift the submarine out of the water.  He carries the sub to a nearby beach before Riptide forms a tornado and makes him drop the sub.  The tornado also crashes the X-Jet onto the same beach.

A large fight begins between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club.  Lensherr infiltrates the submarine and discovers Shaw absorbing energy inside of the nuclear reactor.  He and Shaw have a brief fight until Lensherr is able to remove Shaw’s helmet.  Once his helmet is removed, Xavier is able to enter Shaw’s mind and “freeze” him.  Lensherr then puts on the telepathy-blocking helmet and uses his magnetism to push a coin, the same coin from the concentration camp in 1944, through Shaw’s brain, killing him.

The battle between mutants ends when Lensherr presents the dead body of Sebastian Shaw.

The mutants then notice that both the U.S. and Soviet warships are about to fire their weapons at the beach in an attempt to kill the mutants.  They fire their weapons but Lensherr catches all of the missiles and explosive projectiles.  He uses his powers to send them back to the ships and destroy them.

Moira tries to stop Lensherr by firing her pistol at them.  Lensherr blocks the bullets, but he accidentally deflects one into the lower spine of Xavier.  His friend is wounded and unable to feel his legs.  The missiles and projectiles harmlessly explode in the ocean as Lensherr tries to help his friend.

Devastated at Xavier’s injury, and furious at the humans for trying to kill them, Lensherr draws a line in the sand and recruits the mutants to join him and his cause.  Mystique joins Lensherr along with Angel, Riptide and Azazel.  They then teleport out of the area, leaving Moira, Banshee, Havok and Beast to tend to Xavier’s spinal injury.

Later, Charles Xavier is now confined to a wheelchair because of his paralysis.  He has decided to convert his home into a private school for mutants.  Moira promises not to tell anybody about the secret location.  When she and Xavier kiss, he’s able to erase part of her recent memory.  Moira has no clear memory of the recent events when she reports at a debriefing in the CIA.

X-Men: First Class ends with Lensherr and his gang of mutants freeing Emma Frost from her secure prison cell.  She joins his organization.  Lensherr reveals his name to be Magneto.

So is X-Men: First Class a good X-Men film?

Absolutely!

From the characters to the story to the music to the setting in the early 1960s to the special effects to the actors themselves, this is one outstanding movie!  Everything that X-Men Origins: Wolverine did wrong, this film got it right.  X-Men: First Class is a welcome breath of fresh air into a series of films that needed something great added to it.

One of the best characters in this film has got to be Eric Lensherr / Magneto.  There’s no crusty old man in this film.  Here we see an Eric Lensherr in his mid 20s and hell bent on getting his revenge against Dr. Klaus Schmidt, the Nazi who killed his mother in the concentration camp.  In this film Lensherr is a cold blooded killer.  He’ll torture people and do whatever it takes to finally kill Schmidt.

The other characters are great as well.  We also know Charles Xavier and Mystique from the other films.  This time around we also get to see seven more mutants in the film, some of them good, others evil.  The Hellfire Club is a pretty cool mixture of evil mutants.

It’s interesting how the story of the film interacts with the Cuban Missile Crisis, a real situation in October of 1962 where the U.S. and Soviet Union almost went to war.  The real situation was handled through diplomacy and strong leadership, while the crisis in this film was halted by the mutants.

In the world of Marvel comic book films, it’s hard to top X-Men: First Class.  This is just one solid film from start to finish.  I’m sure that people are still debating as to which one is the better X-Men film:  X2: X-Men United or X-Men: First Class.  That debate will probably be even more complicated once the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, is released in a couple of days.

X-Men: First Class (2011) – movie trailer

Fans of the X-Men films will feel right at home in X-Men: First Class.  Others who enjoy science fiction, comic books, superheroes and action films will also enjoy this film.  Simply put, you cannot go wrong with X-Men: First Class.

Eric Lehnsherr – “Excuse me, I’m Eric Lehnsherr.”
Charles Xavier – “Charles Xavier.”
Logan – “Go fuck yourself.”

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Charles Xavier – “Listen to me very carefully, my friend: killing Shaw will not bring you peace.”
Eric Lehnsherr – “Peace was never an option.”

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Charles Xavier – [Lehnserr is sending missiles back to the navy warships] “Eric, you said yourself we’re the better men. This is the time to prove it. There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They’re just following orders.”
Eric Lehnsherr – “I’ve been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again.”