Part 2 (by request) X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class - This film is set against the backdrop of the Cold War circa 1962. Mutants Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensher (Michael Fassbender) meet for the first time whilst in pursuit of another mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who is intent on starting the Cuban Missile Crisis. Along the way new friends are scooped up, alliances are broken and made, and a surprisingly thoughtful story is constructed regarding differences, both physical and ideological.

This film was a surprise in every way. X-Men, in my opinion was the finest of the original series. X-Men 2 was good but ultimately the middle act was too damn laborious. X-Men 3 was fun but shallow and, by killing most of the interesting characters, ultimately left the series nowhere to go and X-Men Origins: Wolverine was bad in every way possible. Needless to say I was expecting a terrible unnecessary film from First Class. Looks like the fifth time is the charm. X-Men First Class in my opinion actually improves on the original series. Is it a reboot, a prequel, or a reboot/prequel? Really not sure. But it's a damn fine yarn in any case.

Let me start, as usual, with the performances. James McAvoy is great as Charles Xavier. Xavier is perhaps most people's leat favorite of the X-Men. Wheelchair bound, sage-like and afraid to use his power to do anything useful for the team. Matthew Vaughn and McAvoy have crafted a character that abuses his powers at the start of the film. and through his training of other mutants gradually learns responsibility. His comfortable sheltered adolescence plays an interesting contrast against Erik's life. Erik spent several years experimented on and abused in a Nazi death camp by the villain Shaw. Michael Fassbender plays his character with a cold, James Bond like pointedness. The relationship between Charles and Eric (or Prof X and Magneto) is the star of the film, and it's a pity they don't get more time together. Kevin Bacon is a very good villain, and he's never more chilling than in the first 10 minutes of the film. Maybe it's the German.

This film doesn't make the mistake virtually all of the past movies have of giving us too many characters to focus on. Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence are strong as Beast and Mystique. January Jones is okay. She basically plays a superpowered version of her character Betty from Mad Men (Shaw would be Don Draper in that metaphor). But she isn't required to do much other than wear sexy clothing and look cold. Hee. A woman named January Jones plays a character named Emma Frost though. How perfect is that? Alliteration and all, if Stan Lee could go back in time and change the characters name to this actress's, he would.

There are some strong connections between America vs. Russia, Capitalism vs. Communism and Homo-sapiens vs. Mutants. Perhaps the sequel will involve race riots. Viewers will likely be divided as to whether Magneto (isolation/violent resistance) or Xavier's (coexistance/integration) ideologies are correct. Given that America and Russia are allies now and most of the modern world (except us) has integrated communism and capitalism, Xavier's is the method history tends to prove correct. Given though, that this is not just an ideology war but an evolutionary one, the mutants might just win in the end.

The film has a dark start (and why not? given that it starts in Nazi Germany) but also has lots of humor. The story and the performances are the stars of the film, but the effects don't dissapoint either. There are some fairly awe inspiring moments and cool uses of powers. Honestly, the movie could have been even longer and I wouldn't mind. It's just that enjoyable. Not everyone might feel so. I was told afterward how anachronistic some of the female costumes were. Come to think of it, the skirts were a little too mini. This may distract some people. Regardless, this is the strongest X-Men movie yet, a well made film in general, and the best film I've yet seen this year. It's so well done that if there are plot holes you feel like making excuses for them.

X-Men: First Class gets an A-

Stuff I should've reviewed part 1: Thor

This is the first of two films I meant to review and didn't. However, their time on DVD is yet to come, and the masses must be told, damnit!

Thor - Kenneth Branagh's combination of Marvel comics and old Norse mythology gives us Thor (Chris Helmsworth), a brash arrogant thunder god in Asgard, one of seven planes of reality (ours is another). However, Asgard is in a time of peace, and peace is never a great time to be a warrior. Thor at the slightest provocation seeks a fight with a race of Frost Giants, and is banished by his father Oden the one eyed (Anthony Hopkins in easily his best turn in years) to Earth.

Let me start by saying that, while this movie is maybe not as great as it could have been, for Thor to not be a miserable failure is a hell of an achievement. I chalk it up to Kenneth Branagh for his skill with storytelling and ability to simplify a dense story. This movie could have easily come off as ridiculous. Kudos as well to Branagh's effects team for making Asgard a beautiful magical looking place with a beautiful rainbow bridge that does not scream camp at the top of it's lungs.

While I'm handing out accolades, how about several to the movie's main three players, Chris Helmsworth, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki? Each actor nails their respective part. Hiddleston in particular holds my interest with his interesting (almost Shakespearean) character arc and will be my chief reason for rewatching the film.

The deciding factor for whether you leave liking or scoffing at this film will be Thor's transition to Earth. For me, it was a fairly easy switch. For other people, this may not jell. It's one of the more subjective aspects of the film.

What I think has more people on the fence, and I count myself in their ranks, is Natalie Portman's part. Let me have a soapbox moment here. Can movie producers just stop, and I mean for a long time, insulting us with token love interests that have no personality? Can these films for once be the boy's clubs they are meant to be? Sex and the City never tried to pretend that it was for boys too by mistakenly giving any of the men on that show a notable personality.

I think it's a case of Spiderman and Superman, two majorly successful movie franchises with prominent love interests, kind of damning the rest of the comic book movies into following the mold they left. But the thing is, not every hero has a Mary Jane or a Lois Lane.
Batman has had maybe four loves in the duration of his comics. That's 70 years, 4 love interests. So few that they invented Katie Holmes's character for the reboot. I don't think Thor ever had a long term love interest of notice, unless you count battle. Maybe Red Sonja or that random nurse.

Anyway this is the point I'd like to make to movie producers in general: You're not going to get females to flock to these movies. The younger boys will be irritated that this romance crap is getting in the way of the punching and fighting. The older boys will feel their intelligence insulted at the lightweight quality of the romance. So who is Natalie Portman there for? Answer: nobody. Demographics that say every comic book movie needs a love interest. And I'd argue, No. They don't. But you'll keep giving them to us in the hope of getting a few more fringe viewers from the other side of the pool rather than give the boys what they really want.

It doesn't help that ultimately Portman is miscast and her female co-star Kat Dennings is infinitely more charming and interesting. It should have been Thor and Kat Dennings. Sequel idea!: Thor and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Boom. You're welcome Hollywood.

This film is a lot of fun. There's a fun drinking contest and a bunch of funny one-liners. The action is well shot in a way that you can actually see what is happening. God I hope this becomes a trend again elsewhere in Hollywood. The supporting cast is strong, with Stellan Skarsgard as a believable scientist, and Jeremy Renner (of The Hurt Locker) as Hawkeye! Cool. This movie is yet another continuity brick on the road that is The Avengers. And boy had that movie better be good.

So where does Thor stand in the new Marvel line-up? Quite well actually. Better than Iron Man 2. Not quite there with Iron Man. Thor gets a B.

Green Lantern. Man, I haven't done this in ages.

Green Lantern - Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) receives a ring from a mysterious dying alien and finds that through it his thought can be turned into reality. He uses the ring to fight a fear-based enemy Parralax, which is not a pharmaceutical drug but an intergalactic glob of space doom.

You know, for a story of such intergalactic peril, it's hard for me to remember anything of significance. The movie is literally slipping from my mind, but I'll do my best to diagnose the film.

The Good: The Green Lantern planet of Oa, and the power ring effects are pretty. The performances aren't bad. Ryan Reynolds is a good actor, even though he wouldn't have been my choice for Hall Jordan. Peter Saarsgard is also good as Hector Hammond, and the film would have benefited from more of him. Whenever Mark Strong appears, I feel like caring. There's a training sequence that is easily the most entertaining thing in this film. Mark Strong just has a gravitas and an intensity that the movie needed more of. That's not to say that the rest of the film is full of laughs. It's not. Humor would have also added a lot to the film.

The Bad: About that lack of humor. I'm going to blame most of the faults in this film on the writers. Nearly all of them have only written for television. They've all produced more than written, and two of them have written for No Ordinary Family and the bad half of Heroes. Oy. To quote the Mythbusters in a pseudo-plumber voice: "Well there's your problem." There are a bunch of superfluous scenes and some fairly random cuts to unrelated stories scattered through the film. Nearly everyone mentions Hal's dad's jet fighter fatality to him at least once, just to make sure we remember. Then there's the problem that the audience is supposed to believe two test pilots, a senator, and biology scientist all know each other stretching back to childhood or are related. And two of them receive superpowers. It's not like this is going to ruin the film. It's just another thing that subtly tells you someone wasn't trying. And that's the gist I get from this film.

The film basically has no real antagonist. There's a floating cloud of blackish-yellow Parralax doom, but it never really poses a threat. It's kind of laughable that Hal Jordan travels to Oa and back to Earth twice before Parralax could conceivably reach either. Thank goodness when it gets to Earth it attacks the half of that planet that's in broad daylight, or you'd never find it. Hector Hammond should be a better nemesis, as he has telekinesis and telepathy and an actual personality, but the film spends too much time trying to make him sympathetic rather than a true villain. He has no real scheme or goals, he's just a victim of Parralax. I know the reason the filmmakers went with these two sad sacks is they want to save Sinestro for a sequel, but judging from the box-office returns (only $50 million on the opening weekend? for shame.) they should have hedged their bets and spent that rainy day money early.

Because there's no real villain, the problem Hal faces is...self doubt. How exciting. He has substantial fears, which is exactly the sort of thing I would think should probably disqualify someone from being a test pilot. Anywho, I think Hal's real problem is a lack of imagination. A minigun, chainsaw, and a couple of jet fighters are the most interesting things Hal does with the ring.

The Ugly: The film has a drastic overuse of CGI. Green Lantern should at LEAST have a real honest to goodness costume. Superman's from another planet too, but his costume is made of honest to goodness cloth. It's hard to really be interested in a hero when 85% of his body is digital. And when his power is to create green CGI from the power of will, there should be more creative uses than what we see. What should be Hal's iconic entrance into the public eye has him instead - I kid you not - rollar skating a helicopter through a series of Matchbox Car-style loops to safety. Like a Cartoon. I think Daredevil slicing a man in half with a subway train was a better superhero introduction. Even the characters later admit how stupid and un-iconic an introduction Green Lantern's display of power was, which means the writers probably also knew.

Bottom line, the movie is ho hum. There's just no wow factor. Aliens and power rings and telepathy seem to faze almost nobody in this film. And if they're not interested, I'm not interested. There are few moments of power, depth, or interest or anything. Therefore, I give the film a

C-