A Season Late and an Admission Price Short

I'm finally, slowly, catching up on the summer moviest that I missed out on during the actual summer.  The list I wanted to see included a handful of comic-book-ish movies, such as "Green Lantern" (haven't seen it yet), "Thor" (check out my sort-of review, HERE), "Cowboys and Aliens" (yes, I know it's based on a Graphic novel which is not the same thing as a comic book... see my review, HERE), "Captain America" (really looking forward to seeing it), and "X-Men First Class", which I watched with my husband and 3 1/2 teenage boys.

Here's what I thought:
I have a longstanding Hollywood crush on James McAvoy, so I was really looking forward to his screen presence, his voice, his accent (oh, that accent...) and his interpretation of the character of Charles Xavier. I think he was as good as ever-- bringing charm and sweetness (but not too sweet) to Xavier and intelligently spouting out sciencey lines with ease.  He was great; I wanted to see more of him.  My only distraction (besides those blue eyes) was that every time he put his fingers on his temple to read someone's mind, I was reminded of Shaun Spencer (played by James Roday) of Psych.  So that pulled me out of the movie. I am curious whether Xavier does that with his fingers in the comic book?? Look at the pictures if you don't believe me...

 

 Actually, Mcavoy used one hand through the movie, as does Roday (most of the time), but I couldn't find photos of them both doing that, so just enjoy the comparison and don't worry about that detail, please.

Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr), the other main leading character, was played by Michael Fassbender, who was good.  He was believable and effective, and I liked his relationship with Xavier.  His power to move, manipulate and use metals magnetically was excellent.  Modern special effects are magic!

Then there was Kevin Bacon!  When I was a teenager, Footloose hadn't been out all that long, (it came out in 1984, when I was 12), and Kevin Bacon was still a cute, young adult whose star was rising fast.  I have always liked him, and I have very much enjoyed his often humorous appearances in movies-- in particular his cab-stealing cameo in "Planes Trains and Automobiles" with Steve Martin.  He played a rather evil man in "X-Men First Class", Sebastian Shaw, whose manipulation and torture of a young Erik create a world of anger and hatred, resentment and unhappiness for Erik.  Bacon's performance was good, his character was consistent.  I think I prefer him being subtly funny to him being evil, though...

I liked getting to know the X-Men a little bit, the young mutants with their various abilities were interesting, and some of them went through some good character growth and maturing; others seemed there just to fill the room, but it was fine.  I loved Hugh Jackman's little cameo, but I could have done without the f-bomb he dropped.  I also cannot recommend this movie unequivocally, because of the repeated scenes of women in lingerie and one in a bed who is obviously not wearing anything at all.  I want movies I can watch with teenage boys and NOT get uncomfortable!! As my Step-Mother pointed out recently, the problem with sexuality and immodesty in movies is that it's actually real people not wearing clothes, acting these things out, as opposed to violence and explosions, which are not real.  Sexual content in films is not necessary, and it doesn't make a movie any higher quality.  In fact, I think it denigrates women and makes me NOT want to purchase copies of those films.   But I digress.

Overall, "X-Men First Class" was a fun movie, with some humor, some heart, a little revenge and science, and I liked it.  I won't be buying it, however.  Sadly...