X-Men: First Class

[Worm of Despite]

Funny, that's how I feel about all the comic book films being released this year

That's strange. The one year where you have two good ones out at the same time. You need to check the reviews of both Thor and this film. I'd say they definitely go against the grain of what you're expecting.

I've seen reviews for both of them. The ones for XM:FC are oddly positive, the ones for Thor seem to confirm that I won't like it. I attribute the positive reviews to fanboism, but I'll give this a shot on video.

Unless you can articulate why you like it, beyond the visuals & the inclusion of popular characters?

I'd say the reviews for First Class aren't oddly positive but well-earned. X3 got well-earned bad reviews, and the first two X-Men films got well-earned good reviews. So I figured they knew what they were talking about if this latest one is a return to form.

It's a very engaging story, well-paced and told. The characters are true to the ones we've seen painted in the original X-Men films and you can see their motives and why they become who they'll be. The action was fantastically choreographed. I just got a good, satisfying feeling of quality and not some jumbled mess like X3 was.

As for Thor: I've not seen it either, but from everything I'm hearing (and reading) it's actually a pretty sleek little piece of film underneath a campy-looking exterior.

Now. Back to roasting my minions on a hot poker.

[sgt.null]

looks like Banshee is also in X-Men. but Sebastion Shaw? i would think there are more compelling X-Men villains.

[Cambo]

Just saw this. Loved it, thought it was fantastic. I agree Sebastian Shaw was a bit two dimensional, but the rest of the characters more than made up for it. The interplay between Professor X, Magneto and Mystique was especially compelling.

And the action was fun, too. Azazel was badass. All round good fun.

[sgt.null]

Azazel? no idea who that is.

[Cambo]

Well, I may have misheard his name, which is more probable, I would say, than you not knowing him . He was a devil-looking fella who could teleport in a flash of fire and smoke, and he was pretty good with a sword. I'm sure his name began with A.

(Edit) Here he is: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azazel_%28Marvel_Comics%29

[sgt.null]

thanks cambo - i missed him entirely. i guess every character is someone's favorite.

[Fist and Faith]

I never heard of hiim, either. I haven't read comics with any regularity in the last several years.

[Cambo]

thanks cambo - i missed him entirely. i guess every character is someone's favorite.

Nightcrawler was always a favourite of mine from one of the later cartoon versions- turns out he's the son of Azazel and Mystique. Buzzy.

I'd really like to see a sequel with the same acting cast- especially Magneto and Professor X- I thought they were perfect.

[sgt.null]

Mystique got it on with a demon?

[Cambo]

Apparently so Kinky

[High Lord Tolkien]

Have you seen Mystique? Which one is the demon?

[sgt.null]

i thought the original plan was for her to be Nightcrawler's sister. let me check...

well - i found this about Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)

"Wagner was also happily reunited with his foster sister Jimaine, who now lives in the United States and changes her name to Amanda Sefton, later becoming Kurt's girlfriend."

[danlo]

Sorry I didn't like it at all, didn't know there was a thread: X-men 1st Class is not worth the whatever mylarplastic crap DVDs are made out of--best part was Wolverine telling them to F- off, that's pretty much how I felt at that point and where I stopped watching...

[aTOMiC]

Sorry I didn't like it at all, didn't know there was a thread: X-men 1st Class is not worth the whatever mylarplastic crap DVDs are made out of--best part was Wolverine telling them to F- off, that's pretty much how I felt at that point and where I stopped watching...

I'm kind of surprised at your reaction, danlo.
Of course I think you liked the Daredevil movie so I guess there's a wide gulf between what we like in a superhero films.

I thought XM:FC was among the best of the franchise just below the first film but above X3 and Wolverine.

But that's my opinion of course.

[dANdeLION]

I saw XM:FC a few months ago, and thought it was pretty good. I liked Thor better, and Captain America best, though. I thought most of the characters were good, and Magneto and Xavier were really good. I really disliked the times Mystique and Emma Frost 'transformed'; Emma looked like shit in diamond form, and the Mystique thing was just overdone. Azazel was cool. I liked the guys playing Banshee and Beast, but I really did not like the way beast looked and the way Banshee's scream looked. Tying the story into the Cuban missile crisis was a cool touch. It suffered from having to tie in to the first three X-men movies; we all knew Magneto and Mystique would hook up, and that Charles would end up crippled.

[danlo]

I don't know why I didn't, the actor playing Magneto really grated on me for some reason and for some reason the searching out da mutants bugged me--the only X-Men I've really ever liked are Cyclops, Wolverine and Nightcrawler. I'm too much of a lone wolf comic book fan and never liked teams--probably due to reading outcasts like Hulk, DD and the Silver Surfer when I was a kid...

Then again I watched it on DVD with 3 kids runnings around, so...

[sindatur]

I don't read comics, nor, do I know anything about the XMen outside of the first 3 movies (And the awful Wolverine Movie). So, from that perspective, I really enjoyed it. I thought Charles and Erik were both fantastically acted, and I especially enjoyed Erik's gestures while using his powers, it was very convincing. Often times when someone is acting out using a mental power, they really ham it up terribly, but, I think Erik was great with it.

[Cambo]

I agree, I thought Charles and Eric were the best thing about this movie.