Nonstop review: ‘X-Men: First Class’

By Myong Choi
Special to Nonstop

fanboy (noun – \fan-boi\) — A male fan, especially one who is obsessive about movies, comic books, or science fiction.

Hello, my name is Myong Choi, and I am a fanboy.

Well, at least I used to be. I collected comic books from the fourth grade through college, until I realized that knowing fun facts, like that Wolverine’s skeleton was laced with an indestructible metal alloy called adamantium, didn’t really impress the women. Then of course my priorities turned elsewhere.

But no doubt, comics were a large part of my life for more than a decade, and while the titles I bought varied from year to year, the one consistent series in my collection was X-Men. I started reading X-Men during what some consider the Golden Age of X-Men — with Chris Claremont writing and John Byrne illustrating. I was so caught up in the story and characters that I used to search for back issues of the comic while continuing to read the series, even as new creative teams came on board. I definitely knew my X-Men stuff.

So with great pleasure and anticipation, I welcomed the first three X-Men movies. The first film was a great starting point; the second was probably one of the greatest comic book movies ever; and although the third was disappointing, I still enjoyed it. All three films nicely portrayed the team of mutants I grew up with, and I was satisfied with the conclusion of their cinematic story.

Then I heard they were going to revamp the franchise with a story involving a younger Professor Xavier and Magneto and the team’s first group of mutants. What? An X-Men movie without Wolverine, Storm and Cyclops set in the 1960s? Does the studio really expect this to work?

Well… it does and doesn’t. I liked the concept of longtime “frenemies” Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) meeting for the first time to avert a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missle Crisis, then forming a team of young mutants to battle the evil Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). Both McAvoy and Fassbender are excellent in their roles, with McAvoy particularly impressive playing Xavier as equally nurturing and arrogant. My favorite parts of the film were when they shared scenes together, especially when they set out to recruit and train the young mutants. I’m always a sucker for a great training montages.

But despite these strengths, the film’s weaknesses hurt my ability to enjoy it enthusiastically, with the most glaring weakness being the direction.

While I really liked director Matthew Vaughn’s last film, “Kick-Ass,” his lack of experience showed here. Many scenes felt awkward, stilted and lacked good flow. There were also creative choices, like the visual exhibition of mutant powers and the staging of both action and exposition scenes, that annoyed me. I started thinking how good this film could have been in the hands of a more polished director.

There were also some forgettable performances. Jennifer Lawrence — fresh off her Academy Award nomination for “Winter’s Bone” and the star of the upcoming “Hunger Games” — came off forced as she tried to provide angst to her character, Mystique. And speaking of miscasting, January Jones as Emma Frost gave probably the blandest portrayal of a comic book villain ever. I almost cringed whenever she spoke.

So despite a promising premise and strong performances by the two lead actors, “X-Men: First Class” overall failed to impress this former fanboy.