logan j. fowler and bill bodkin review the trailer for X-Men: First Class …
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/user/xmenmovies?v=UrbHykKUfTM&feature=pyv&ad=8619938515&kw=x%20men%20first%20class%20official]
Release Date: To be determined
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, Jason Flemyng
Director: Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake)
Logan J. Fowler’s Thoughts …
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Undecided.
Okay, so the X-Men have had four movies in theaters. With this, they intend to regain interest with the franchise by starting out at the beginning and showing us how it all came to be. Now, watching the trailer, I can’t say I wasn’t somewhat interested — looks like a good cast, I like the time frame being used (1960s), and it looks well made. However, the continuity pieces don’t make sense. There are issues with the characters’ ages (i.e. White Queen was a teenager in Wolverine , which took place in the ’70s, but here she’s in her 20s), cause and effect, and for this movie to work within the X-Men universe that has been established on screen, that stuff should have never happened. You are appealing to a general audience and fanboys/fangirls here. They might get utterly confused. Besides that, I for one, am X-Men’d out, after the disappointments of X-Men 3 and Origins, I can only hope this return to the drawing board serves the franchise better. But for now, I won’t hold my breath. It was a good trailer for the most part, but then again, so were the ones for X3 and Wolverine. It’s too early to call, bub.
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Bill Bodkin’s Thoughts …
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater.
Since the inception of this column, I have not felt any goosebumps after viewing any of the trailers we’ve reviewed. X-Men: First Class has changed that. Sure, there may be some storyline inaccuracies and adjustments, but honestly I could care less. The X-Men series is dire need of a compelling installment — X-Men 3 and Wolverine were flat-out terrible. And with Darren Aronofsky’s Wolverine movie years away, First Class could be the perfect bridge between the worst of the series and the potential best of the series. I absolutely love the setting of the film: Cuban Missile Crisis-era America, before Professor X and Magneto became enemies. Speaking of our central characters, how perfect is the casting of McAvoy and Fassbender as young Xavier and Magneto, respectively? If anyone could pass for a young Patrick Stewart and a young Ian McKellan, it’s these two super-strong actors. And when it comes to the direction of the film, I have high hopes as Matthew Vaughn, the former Snatch producer turned director of Kick-Ass and Layer Cake, is at the helm. Vaughn knows how to shoot action and balance out the human drama and comedy in it. I have nothing but high hopes for X-Men: First Class whenever it opens in theaters.
excellent points on both sides.