The XMEN are more or less the god fathers of the super hero genre. You could make an argument for Spiderman as well, but the xmen films were really what started it. A team of heroes throwing down with a team of villains. Great acting, great writing, great direction... it really changed how hollywood and the public thought of heroes on the big screen.
Now decade + later, and the original director one Bryan Singer has returned to bring to a screen a truly epic tale. First I want to say I am not a huge Singer fan. First, he nearly destroyed Superman with Superman Returns, and well, Jack the Giant slayer was just one of the biggest messes I have seen in a long time. However when he is on, he can be one of the best directors going... here he absolutely hits what I think is his peak.
Your Plot: In the Future sentinels have all but wiped out mankind, and the Mutants. A small group of Xmen is fighting for the world, and develop a plan that involves sending Wolverines consciousness back in time (to his 1970s self) to get the then young Charles Xavier and Magneto to help him prevent an even that leads to the sentinel program being created. It turns out mystique/raven/sexyblueJenniferLawrence is the key. So while both timelines seem destine to collide, wolverine and his small band of young xmen buddies try to prevent the end of the world.
 |
| Imma Gunna shoot you right in the lil' Wolverine |
Wow. I have to start with that. I think XMEN: First class surprised a lot of people when it came out a few years back. New actors playing younger versions of characters already established. A lot of people called bullshit and money grab, and well, it turned out to be a very well written and acted and fun film. Now here we are and they just go for broke. Bringing back most of the xmen from the original trilogy (some in blink and you miss it cameos, others in larger roles) smash them together with the new young class of mutants, and just let it fall where they may... and WOW... the action in this flick.
The opening ten minutes may be the best ever... forget in a super hero film. You could argue the opening bank heist in The dark knight but I think for pure adrenaline pumping action... full on Future Sentinels vs future XMEN... including one of my all time favs - Blink. One thing I really appreciated here, no subtitles for the dum Dums. I mean it. No let us explain who this mutant is, and what this means. There are just full speed ahead right from the get go.
 |
| Blink. My teen boy crush comes to life... Le sigh. |
Acting is top marks all around. I mean Patrick Steward and Ian McKellen aside. Hugh Jackman, the aforementioned Jennifer Lawnrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Ellen Page, Mr. GOT himself Peter Dinklage... the list just goes on and on...
The directing like I mentioned is on. Bang on. No quick cuts littering a great action scene. There was one scene in particular that involved blink vs two sentinels near the beginning that just rocked. The camera sits there slowly sliding letting you drink in the entire scene. Gorgeous.
Listen the plot is a bit silly at the beginning, and the whole Kitty/Sadowcat mind time travel thing is a little out there even for the XMEN... but who cares! It's a nearly unnoticed moment in Two hours and 15 minutes of jaw dropping cool.
If you are tired of sad brooding heroes, and have just been looking for something to fill the void in your hero loving heart since THE AVENGERS dropped the fun bomb on you... this is it. I will even say it... (deep breath... finger stretch) I think this film may be better than the avengers... The Characters may not be as big... and no, there's no Hulk. But damn, this is a fun time.
The Quicksilver scene in the kitchen... fav scene of the entire film... beautiful in the 3D. Ok, yup guess we should chat on that too. The 3D is not too bad here. They do what most films seem to do and forget to use it for most of the film... but there are a few really good scenes where things come at ya and so I was pleased over all.
Movie scale 4 out of 5 stars
Super Hero scale 4.5 out of 5 stars
That is one high score... indeed. But for me, there may still be a couple above it. As far as straight comics come to live goes though... this has the win for sure. Fun from opening to closing scene... yes even the scene after the credits with the...
-Chuck Boonsweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment