X-Men Origins:
Wolverine (2009) – As indisputably the most famous X-Man, it’s no surprise Hugh
Jackman’s Wolverine got his own spin-off, and the prequel treatment sheds light
on his mysterious past, unknown even to himself. The film goes all the way back to his
childhood with his brother Victor “Sabretooth” Creed (Liev Schreiber) through
his time as an experiment at the hands of William Stryker (Danny Huston) and
concluding with a visit to Three Mile Island and a confrontation with Weapon XI
(alias Deadpool, here played by Ryan Reynolds).
Wolverine is something of a
mixed bag; while there are truly great moments in the film, even fans of the franchise
will find this movie overstaffed.
Jackman proves himself Wolverine incarnate once more, Huston is a fine
stand-in for a young Brian Cox, and Schreiber is another in a long line of
great comic book performances, lending his Oscar-worthy chops to an ambiguous antagonist
who’s quite literally able to chew the scenery.
The story’s very interesting too, fleshing out a complicated backstory
with a deft credits montage (which could be its own movie) and a
fill-in-the-blanks attitude that resolves some of the unsolved flashbacks of X2.
But while the heart of the film is gold, it’s padded out with an overfull
cast of characters and too many undeveloped sideplots. It’s fun for insiders to see The Blob or Gambit
show up, but the film is so focused on Wolverine (and rightly so) that it barely
scratches the surface of these characters; consequently, so many characters do
so little that many of the supporting actors do little more than phone in their
performances (see Taylor Kitsch’s groan-worthy “accent” as Gambit). The film rushes to its conclusion, no doubt
because of its many side trips, but the news that a sequel will take the
newly-amnesiac Wolverine to Japan is promising, even if only to see Jackman
romp as Wolverine once more.
X-Men: First Class (2011)
– Matthew Vaughn’s period-piece prequel was one of 2011’s surprise hits; after
the bloated Wolverine’s disappointing
presentation, my expectations were low.
But First Class does so many
things right that I’m ready to say it’s the best and most enjoyable of the
X-Men films. James McAvoy and Michael
Fassbender turn in A-plus performances as Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr (the
man who would be Magneto), channeling but never aping their predecessors. Their “First Class,” led by Jennifer Lawrence
as Mystique, is a ragtag group that proved before The Avengers that an ensemble superhero cast was doable, and Kevin Bacon
lends an element of well-done camp as the piece’s maniacal villain. The script is ambitious and plays its Sixties
vibe to the hilt, replete with Nazi-hunting, Cold War tension, and groovy
clothing. In the hands of a lesser
director, the script would have flopped, but Vaughn owes far more to the able
cast who breathe life into the characters, realizing fully their inner
struggles and “great responsibility.” It’s
not that comic book movies generally have bad acting; it’s that many of us aren’t
expecting Oscar-caliber. Hence the
surprising strength of First Class,
especially rising star Fassbender’s heartbreaking turn as a man for whom peace
is a waning option. Only January Jones
as the psychic Emma Frost disappoints, drifting lackadaisically through an
otherwise top-notch company. But what First Class wisely remembers ends up
being its greatest strength; for all the sturm
und drang which usually occupies the genre, superhero films are supposed to
be fun, and by the end of the film you’ll agree with Charles – “That’s a groovy
mutation.”
That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you here next week, but stay tuned for a full review of The Bourne Legacy this Wednesday!
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