X-Men: First Class

  • Australia X-Men: First Class
Trailer 1
USA, 2011, 126 min

Directed by:

Matthew Vaughn

Cinematography:

John Mathieson

Cast:

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, Jason Flemyng (more)
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The film is a prequel to the first three movies, set during the 1960s, with John F. Kennedy as president of the United States. X-Men: First Class parallels the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Civil Rights Movement. The villains of the film will be the Hellfire Club. The film, set during the 1960s, focuses on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film stars James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

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Reviews (20)

DaViD´82 

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English I didn’t go see the new X-Men, but the new Vaughn. Which was maybe a mistake because the studio slightly blunted his energetic, no-holds-barred work. But even this way it’s outstanding, but more accentuated sixties stylization (the places where this is comes to the fore are among the best) and being less episodic would have helped, as well as cutting down the length of the final, over-the-top showdown. Vaughn directs best with just a couple of actors and tension build-up spaghetti western style. It’s true that the characters are rather two-dimensional, but the actors easily raise the standard, especially the Fassbender - Bacon - McAvoy trio. ()

Isherwood 

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English Phenomenal! Vaughn brings the series back to where it originally started. As a comic book movie that uses its brain where others flex their muscles, it doesn't for a moment compromise on the audience-appealing spectacle, which doesn't lack wit, exaggeration, and... action. It is mature in its acting, plot, and direction, with no dead spots or lapses in pace. I’ll have more to say (hopefully) after the second viewing. Now I am just reveling in the memories of a film that was satisfying in every way. PS: There is nothing for me to add the second time either. Except that Fassbender rules like nobody’s business. Perfect in every detail. ()

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Matty 

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English I had hoped that Vaughn’s contribution to the franchise would be for non-fans of X-Men what J.J. Abrams last film was for non-fans of Star Trek. It’s not. The desire to establish a mutant fan club didn’t arise. They wouldn’t necessarily have had to emulate the enjoyable Bondian feeling (starting with Fassbender, who resembles a young Sean Connery, continuing with the overly self-regarding sixties design and ending with the closing credits), the more or less successful combining of the grown-up (restoration of a myth) with the childish (action nonsense), the fictional with the real…. It would have been enough to write a balanced screenplay, cast actors who are capable of delivering “grand” speeches, not rely solely on editing but also on the mise-en-scene here and there, and exaggerate, but within the limits of genre stylisation. (Yes, with appropriate exaggeration, a bit in the spirit of Command & Conquer: Red Alert, you can even get away with a flying submarine.) This is the first X-Men film that is not a groundbreaking work taking the genre into new dimensions, instead merely stepping across the genre boundaries where Singer has already tread (the sociological dimension and the openness of the queer interpretation, but it is superbly entertaining from start to finish, though never with its silliness. 80% ()

POMO 

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English Don’t let my high rating mislead you. Matthew Vaughn doesn’t pick up where Bryan Singer left off; his movie is closer to Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand. What makes Vaughn better than Ratner, however, is the balance between childishness and maturity in telling the story (both are present in Vaughn’s work while Ratner was just childish), remarkably more characters and a much faster pace (at “normal” speed, the film would have lasted three hours) and much more epic, top-notch action, which never seems botched up or over-the-top. This properly colorful eye-candy action-packed blockbuster, which will impress even teen viewers (for whom Singer’s films were too psychological), is made more playful by the fact that its best scene is a few-second-long “go-fuck-yourself” cameo by Hugh Jackman lounging around in a seedy bar. By this, the creators prove that they didn’t choose this direction because they were unable to follow in Singer’s footsteps, but because they know how to perfect this pulp genre and bring more pleasure to a wider audience than anyone before. Of the actors, Michael Fassbender turns in the best performance; I can easily see him as a new Ethan Hunt or James Bond (the second-best scene of the movie, which coincidentally also takes place in a bar, is Fassbender’s in Argentina). Kevin Bacon makes a very convincing villain. James McAvoy is more or less okay, which, however, is not enough for the character of Charles Xavier. The rest of the cast are just their sidekicks, but the cameos by a number of stars (e.g. Platt and Ironside) are nice. ()

novoten 

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English Two men with a nearly brotherly bond, a fascinating teenage Mystique, and the birth of several legends. And by its very nature, what was once a small, modest spin-off about Magneto, grew in Matthew Vaughn's hands from a mutant matchmaker into the most anticipated blockbuster in recent months. When then the vengeful Erik Lensherr chases after the most sinister gang in the world against the backdrop of the Cold War, and the freshly graduated Charles Xavier teaches mutants how to handle themselves, a well-deserved chill runs down your spine, whether from the story, the effects, the action, or the perfect actors (for me, James McAvoy is the clear champion). This tragedy has its ending clearly defined from the very beginning, but by being able to stir up almost all emotions to the maximum, it reaches for the position of one of the kings of comic book adaptations. ()

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