Uncanny

Just saw X-Men: First Class!

Very interesting. It's almost as if Bryan Singer said, "You know those movies I wasn't a part of? Let's say they didn't happen."

Look for my first upcoming post on Here's What They Said to be about X-Men: First Class. Here's where you'll be able to find it, in case you forgot, http://hereswhattheysaid.tumblr.com/

I enjoyed how it was a period movie (Cold War/ Cuban Missile Crisis) and I thought Prof.X and (especially) Magneto were both pitch perfect.

Some things I could've done without: the lame new generation mutants that they stuck into the storyline (Angel, wtf? Darwin, yeah right! The Whirlwind Guy, who the fuck was he?) , the first scene (Hello, that was from the first movie which was not too long ago. People should still have that in their knowledge.), and those damn training montages (which every superhero movie has now).

Things I would put in: A better beginning (with a much much younger Prof.X like when he's 6, finding out his power for the first time, Mystique kicking ass (she has no combat in this movie once so ever), and more character development for Banshee and Havok.

Overall the movie should be treated as a separate entity, apart from the comics and even the movies. It is almost a reboot but not quite.


SPOILER ALERT! Highlight the area before for my explanation on how First Class counteracts the franchise's movie-verse continuity with specific instances brought up in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As well as some major differences it has with the comic books.

Okay so first of all, of the true First Class team only Beast is represented in this movie. They left Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman (more like Snowman, booooong!), and Angel as cannon to the other films. Also there is no mention in the comics or anything up until this movie of the friendship between Prof.X and Mystique, what a bazaar pairing. There is no attempt at making a relationship or connection to Azezel and Mystique (parents to Nightcrawler), only a implication as they both BAMF! together in league with Magneto at the end. In the movie Cerebro was created by Beast, in the comics it was actually created by Forge. That was all well and good, it's common enough for movie adaptations to step on the toes of their comic book versions. As for the films, one prime example of a breach in the cannon is during a scene (which I suppose was suppose to be a lighthearted scene not to be taking seriously) where Hugh Jackman himself reprises his role as Wolverine as a young Prof.X and Magneto go looking for mutants to recruit with their own version of Cerebro find Wolverine sitting at a bar at which he replies "Fuck off!" to which they take their leave and the crowd laughs hysterically. Good fun indeed, however even if it was a brief meeting wouldn't the Professor (and possibly Magneto too) recognize Wolverine as they meet up again later on in life (for which Wolverine cannot due to the memory wipe in Origins) at least somewhat? Or was Patrick Stewart simply holding back a lot of secrets from everyone, including "Hey, Scott! You know your long lost brother Alex (Havok)? I knew him!" ? Another thing, is the usage of certain characters that both negate First Class' relations to Last Stand and Origins. For one, Moira Mctaggert was used which was a wise choice and she was portrayed well. However, near the end James Mccavoy (Prof. X) mentally erases her mind... So how can she know him, attend his funeral, or help him achieve rebirth after the credits of Last Stand? Does this negate Last Stand completely? Meaning that it might not have possiblly happened? Which would be a very good thing. Next First Class uses Emma Frost the White Queen as a villain and one accurate to the comics at that. But she too was used before, in Origins as one of the young little mutants Wolverine frees. At the end of Origins:Wolverine, a young Emma Frost along with a young Cyclops and a bunch of others (including possibly Magento's own offspring, Quicksilver) flee Alkali Lake as they join Prof.X (Stewart, this time not Mccavoy, who has full use of his legs I might add) for a fun helicopter ride in which I'm guessing he explains their going to go to a school. So where can we place First Class in the continuity of the movie-verse. Like I said before it is as if Bryan Singer said "You know those movies I wasn't a part of? Let's say they didn't happen." Which means First Class honors X-men and X2: X-men United respectively. Even yet it should be viewed as its own thing, not quite a reboot but almost. This left me (a diehard fan of everything X-men and fan of the movies as well even Last Stand and Origins which are my least favorites) with a feeling of "Huh?" I can only wait for the trailer to the next movie to determine if it will fall in the line to the first X-Men movie or if it will stray off and be independent. Like how the Doc explained it in Back to the Future Part 2 when young Biff got the sports almanac and created an alternate timeline. The lines spewed down and made their own future. GREAT SCOTT!



The real First Class! Cyclops, Beast (no fur, til Uncanny), Iceman (Bobby Drake. A grownup, not a kid), Angel (Warren Worthington III), and Ms. Marvel (yes, Jean Grey had a name too)