Trailer Tuesday - X-Men: First Class

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I've spoken before about how superhero films are at a crossroads. There are so many of them these days that, for the distinct fantasy genre to survive instead of sinking into "samey" mediocrity, the filmmakers will have to step up creatively, and differentiate their offerings. The easiest way they can do this is to set the action against a different, unexpected backdrop: outer space, the realm of gods, a different time...

In fact, in 2011 two of Marvel's big movie adaptations - Captain America: The First Avenger and today's profiled flick X-Men: First Class - are both separating superheroes from present day and plonking them squarely in the past, to leave their costumed mark on history as we know it. While Cap is set in the 1940s World War II period, First Class will take place during the turbulent early '60s, around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.


Of course it has to be admitted up front that there are a lot of comic fans nervous about X-Men: First Class. The last 2 films set in the X-universe - X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine - were horribly mediocre, overstuffed with fan favourite characters who proceeded to be utterly wasted.

Prequel X-Men: First Class has potentially the exact same problem, seeing as it introduces Hellfire Club founders Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), and Emma Frost / White Queen (January Jones), Nightcrawler's father Azazel (Jason Flemyng), X-Men Havok (Lucas Till) and Angel Salvadore (Zoë Kravitz), AND presents more faithful origin stories for Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne).

For the record, First Class is not based on the comic of the same name, which looked at the very first group of recruited teen X-Men. Instead the film explores how Professor X (James McAvoy as a young Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender as a young Ian McKellen) went from best buds to bitter rivals over the issue of mutants' role in the world.


The thing is, while I wasn't blown away by the trailer, I am confident that X-Men: First Class will be packed full of Awesome. I have great faith in the filmmakers involved. Bryan Singer, who directed 2000's X-Men and its sequel (one of my all-time favourite superhero films), is back as writer and producer for First Class. In the director's chair meanwhile is Kick-Ass and Stardust's Matthew Vaughn, a man who has proven his ability to handle large casts and still create enough space for characters to breathe.

In short, the involvement of Singer and Vaughn really elevates my confidence in X-Men: First Class. Then again, I've always been excited about the idea of slotting X-Men into history. And to drop them in the Mad Men days, even better, because I think we can expect some wonderful retro costuming. Speaking of costumes, while some have called the decision to use the comics' yellow and blue uniforms cheesy, I'm not complaining. I think it's great that the filmmakers are ditching the generic black leather jumpsuit look and inserting more distinct flavour.

X-Men: First Class opens in North America on 3 June. The film will hit South African cinemas on the exact same day.

Comments

Cleric said…
Can't wait to see this :)
2:11 PM
andry yudha said…
it's great triler film.., very interesting and entertaining
5:10 PM
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