Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-24 16:20:04

Licensing woes?

Why would I buy a digital copy of the movie if I cannot view it after February? That is really going to make me think twice about buying any digital content from amazon in the future.

roland-spindler 2012-05-24 08:26:47

X-Men meet Dr. No

The first two X-Men movies set a new standard for comic adaptation.After that there was a noticeable drop in quality. The most recentmovie - X-Men Origins Wolverine - was only saved by Hugh Jackman'sperformance. Everything else was forgettable.Luckily, X-Men First Class takes the series back to its original glory.As a prequel the movie is set during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.Charles Xavier is about to become professor and Eric Lehnsherr ishunting down the Nazis who killed his family and especially hispersonal nemesis Sebastian Shaw.Sure, not everything is perfect about this movie. Those who have adeeper knowledge about the Cuban Missile Crisis will notice manyhistoric flaws. (Hint: Watch "Thirteen Days" or even better: "The Fogof War".) Then there are several continuity mistakes between the newmovie and the old ones. (In the first movie, Xavier said that he metEric at the age of 17. Now they are both much older. Also there is abig mistake that has to do with the 70s scene in the third movie, but Ican't tell without providing a spoiler.) Some of the minor charactershave very thin personalities. Also, the young Beast looks more cuddlythan scary.But who wants to argue about such minor details? When Kevin Bacon assuper villain Shaw walks through his nuclear submarine surrounded by afreak show of henchmen, even Dr. No and Blofeld will pale incomparison. Without reaching a parody level like Austin Powers, we geta perfect representation of a 60s movie villain.I also love the cameos of some original cast members, but I won't givethose away.More of the good stuff that worked, a fresh breeze of new stuff (60snostalgia, historic background) and great acting especially byFassbender and Bacon. X-Men reinvents itself without abandoning itsroot. What's not to love?

2012-05-23 22:03:59

Best Comic Book movie of 2011

This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Maybe ever True this movie does not contain the Original Roster of Xmen but it gets the tone of The X-men right and is the best X-men movie ever.

2012-05-23 12:00:41

Hollywood finally gets the X-Men right again

This review is from: X-Men: First Class (Amazon Instant Video) Even though this movie has little resemblance with the cannon pre X-Men mythology as an X-Men fan I loved this movie. Every once in a while Hollywood takes a comic book franchise off the rails of the cannon mythos and throws there own spin on it, and it's almost always to complete disaster. The real reason it's usually a disaster is because they don't take it off the rails to go in a a new direction on purpose but rather most often Hollywood just fails to comprehend and/or research the genre so it fails to take advantage of the gold mines of existing material and will often contradict the original material as a result. This is one of those rare exceptions where they took it off the rails deliberately and made it even better.

2012-05-23 21:04:42

X-Men First Class

This review is from: X-Men: First Class (DVD) We thoroughly enjoyed X-Men First Class. This was a funny and serious well-formed movie and the best of the series in our opinion. The actors were charismatic and not lacking in dimension. We received our dvd in a very timely manner and have watched it several times already.

rogerdarlington 2012-05-23 04:10:42

Part sequel. part reboot, full-on entertainment

Having seen the previous four X-Men movies and in varying degreesenjoyed them all, I wasn't going to miss this fifth outing and by andlarge I was not disappointed. Like the last three episodes of "StarWars" and the J J Abrams version of "Star Trek", this is prequel (aswell as something of a reboot) which explains how familiar charactersbecame the ones we know so well. Above all, we meet young versions ofCharles Xaxier/Professor X (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto(Michael Fassbender) and learn how the former finished up in awheelchair, how the latter acquired his helmet, and how the two becamemortal enemies.British director and co-writer Matthew Vaughn - who first burst on thescene with "Layer Cake" - sets most of the narrative in the early 1960sat the height of the Cold War (although I don't remember skirts beingthat short then), so we are presented with an alternative vision of thecausation and conclusion of the Cuban missile crisis. Lots of mutantpowers and special effects are on display which keeps the action movingand the entertainment levels high. Call me weird, but I'm a sucker fora blue-skinned, shape-shifting woman and Jennifer Lawrence isespecially appealing as Raven/Mystique.

2012-05-21 22:41:18

Powerful!

This is it: the X-Men movie you've been waiting for. When I heard that the new X-Men film was going to be a prequel to the current X-Men movie franchise, I was a bit underwhelmed, but hopeful. Having seen and loved Kick-Ass, which was also directed by Matthew Vaughn, I started to move toward cautiously optimistic. The thing I was most worried about was how devoted this film would be to the already established X-Men film universe. While I liked the other films, I do not think they were anything special. This film is.The heart of the film is the friendship between Charles and Erik, the young men who will eventually become Professor X and Magneto, the leaders of the two sides in the war between Humans and Mutants. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender both turn in amazing performances, especially Fassbender, who plays Erik. When you are watching him on screen, you can see a tide of black emotions seething just under the surface. I completely bought him as the one-day enemy of humanity.But Magneto's star is not yet risen in this film, so it's a good thing we have a villain that is almost as cool in the form of Sebastian Shaw, played wickedly by Kevin Bacon. His ideals are close to those of Erik's, and it is only a personal vendetta that keeps them on opposite sides in the film's looming conflict. Shaw leads the villainous Hellfire Club, the precursor to Magneto's own Brotherhood of Mutants. Everyone has awesome powers, used to devastating effect in the film's terrific action sequences.I really loved the young actors in the movie too. It was interesting seeing young heroes that most of us are not that familiar with. Havok? Darwin? And yet, I ended up feeling more for these young upstarts than I did for the classic X-Men characters like Storm, Cyclops, and Wolverine. They actually act like young heroes, out of their depth. The best characters here are the young Beast and Mystique. Their journey of self discovery, and learning to accept themselves for who they are is a highlight of the film, and deals with the philosophical heart of the X-Men movies in a touching way.No X-Men film before has had this level of emotional power. Frankly, the scenes depicted in X-Men: First Class put the the rest of the X-Men film franchise to shame with their intensity. The whole theater full of people were practically holding their breath during the film's climax.And about the climax of the film: I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see the final action sequence in a superhero movie happen during the daytime! I mean, you have all these cool costumed characters using awesome abilities, and almost every comic book movie has the climax of the movie happen at night. Every Spider-man film. The Fantastic Four. Both Iron Man movies. Both Hulk movies. (I make allowances for the Batman and Blade franchises, since that is the way it's supposed to be in those worlds.) X-Men 1 and 3...and most of number 2 happened underground, which is practically the same thing. But here we see people flying around in the sunlight, lifting submarines out of the ocean and spitting fireballs and teleporting around. Maybe some people won't care about this, but to me having everything bright and shiny and under an open sky is just fitting for a superhero film. And it's a chance to really show off your special effects. X-Men: First Class has excellent special effects, but by now I think we've come to expect big budget comic book movies to have flashy CGI. What we have here is something infinitely better: outstanding character relationships and a wonderful story with moments of supreme emotional power.I highly recommend this film, especially to those who might be wary of the X-Men franchise after a disappointing third film (not to mention Wolverine: Origins, which is also merely okay). This is a film worth seeing.

isistella 2012-05-21 14:11:02

Sexist, Racist Piece of Trash

This movie is ruined by blatant sexism and overt racism. I hated it. Iwould never want any of the world's children to watch this piece oftrash and revert back several decades in what women have accomplished.Over half of the population in this world is female. Why does Hollywoodchoose to accurately portray the oppression of women 50 years ago in acompletely unrealistic fantasy movie? There are many instances of womenbeing put down directly with words. And there is underlying racism aswell. How people can enjoy watching this movie from beginning to endwith all women tramping around brainlessly in their underwear is beyondme. Grow up Hollywood. Or better yet let's get some women running thesemovies, and the world while we're at it. I will never watch anotherMatthew Vaugn movie.

froebusiness 2012-05-19 19:23:51

This movie is horrible

OK, where do I start? It's hard to imagine that there is an X-Men movieout there that is actually worse than Wolverine Origins, but it exists.Guess which one it is! X-Men: First Class starts off with some promiseand then fails so miserably to deliver that I tried to get refunded onmy snacks that I bought since they were ingested while I was watchingthis terrible excuse for a movie. I soon remembered that they werepurchased at Stop and Shop, however, and was not able to do so. I don'tknow what the hell is going on, but for some reason critics are callingthis an entertaining summer movie. I think these "critics" are eitherhammered, payed off, or inept. To me, an entertaining movie is one that leaves the viewer with someform of contentment after it ends; characters develop, plots andsubplots merge, and there is a cohesive quality to the thing that makesit one whole film and not just a bunch of scenes thrown together in asomewhat logical manner. X-Men: First Class felt like the latter. Theacting is sub-par, and the emotions are forced and laughable. Beastlooks dumb as hell, and none of the new mutants have any pizazz. The biggest problem this movie has is its severe lack of faith in itsaudience. For example: when Professor X does telekinetic shenanigans,the camera shoots from his head into another person's head just so thatthe viewer knows that he is now in that person's head. I mean, that'smovie magic people. Come on, you don't have to make a POV mind bulletto let us know what's going on, and you don't need to do a slow zoom inon a character for 3 full seconds to hint at a possible love interest(Mystique).I'm rambling here, but I don't feel like planning out an essay for thisreview because this movie doesn't deserve it. I'm not sure what's goingon in the world because people seem to be mutually accepting of thishorrible movie, but please, for the love of God, don't waste your moneyon this wanna be reboot; it is not worth it. However, if you want tosee a bunch of semi-talented actors talk way too much, fight way toolittle, and clumsily make their way through a terrible re-imagining ofthe Cuban Missile crisis, be my guest. Hey, you're probably dumb, soyou may like it.

2012-05-19 16:07:04

X-men: first class is first rate

This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) This was one of the best in the Xmen movies. It was awesome to see how the Xmen came about. It was also great to see the how the relationship between Xavier and Magneto began

yatonsai 2012-05-19 07:05:44

Very good, poor language

I admire the director, the actors (not only very beautiful, but alsotalented)and the whole movie. Very clever.Only thing that really sucked where the German scenes. Use Germanactors! What was supposed to be German, sounded a lot more like Russianor so. No wonder everyone thinks German's a harsh language. People ofmy generation, often watch movies in original language. Also it getsold having German and Russian characters as the evil one's. Call themNazis, not Germans. If someone would make a movie about the Americansouth, you'd feel insulted too, if he'd say Americans instead ofKKK-members. A movie that costs 160 millions could spent at least alittle more interest on the second biggest market for Hollywood films!

2012-05-18 12:43:23

x.men first class

This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) this is a real go movie,goes well with all the other x-man movies that are already been put out.would suggest this a anybody thta like a good movie

Raoul D 2012-05-17 05:12:56

Exceeds Expectations

After seeing Hangover 2, this movie was a breathe of fresh air. It goes beyond even the biggest X fans hopes. I was mildly interested in seeing it and walked away in awe.

usernamena1 2012-05-16 13:19:13

One of the greatest, if not THE greatest superhero movie ever made

Its simply fun. No matter what age you are or even if you aren't acomic book fan you will still enjoy this movie because we can allrelate to it. Its about fitting in and the want to be special. To saythe acting is superb would be an understatement, the story is slick andwell paced, the direction is flawless and it all comes together in amagnificent and epic way. Do NOT miss this movie, its great fun andMichael Fassbender's acting itself pays for the movie ticket. KevinBacon is excellent as the devious Sebastian Shaw, James McAvoy is greatas the charismatic Xavier and all female actors did a great job withtheir characters with the expection of January Jones but I doubt mostpeople will complain. Like I said, go watch it, it might be one of thebest superhero movies ever made

gradyharp 2012-05-16 07:14:14

Starting from the Top

Having not followed the various forms of the Marvel Comics X MEN seriesexcept for a glance at Wolverine can be beneficial in watching thisPrequel. The fantasy is explained rather coherently - mutants havedeveloped and must be undercover for their own safety until leadersemerge, young lads from the year 1944 struggling with their peculiaridentity until something pushes them to the point of taking advantageof their supernatural powers and they become committed to gathering allthe other mutants together as a positive force by the time they reachadulthood. Or as the PR piece states it 'Before Charles Xavier and ErikLensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two youngmen discovering their powers for the first time. Before they werearchenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with otherMutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat theworld has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, whichbegan the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X'sX-MEN.' James McAvoy is Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender is Erik Lensherrand the mutants the gather around them include Jennifer Lawrence, LucasTill, Nicholas Hoult, Caleb Landry Jones, Edi Gathegi, Álex González,and even a quick peek at Hugh Jackman. The year switches to 1962 whenRussia and the USA were coming close to nuclear war so of course themutants fight for the end of the attempt while another set of badmutants under the leadership of Kevin Bacon and January Jones and JasonFlemyng et al face off battling powers of telecommunication and variousforms of super human acts an by the end of the film the 'together boys'- Charles and Erik have become Professor X and Magneto. Doting the overtwo hour long landscape are appearances by Rose Byrne playing the loveinterest and Oliver Platt simply called the Man in Black. it is a gameof subterfuge as well as a gradually coming to terms with being amutant that keeps the ball rolling to a rather spectacularly stagedbattle scene as the Russian missiles are making their way toward Cubaand the United States. Matthew Vaughn directs the screenplay written by no fewer than 6writers ad there are some impressive special effects demonstrated asthe characteristics of each of the mutants. Entertaining, yes, and itstands alone well enough so that those of us who have not seen theother installments in the series can enjoy it as a 'beginning'. Grady Harp

redbud211 2012-05-15 09:08:17

Disappointment

Totally agree with the review by wally_greeneyes_dee (posted in June).This movie did not stay true to any of the characters of X-Men at all,in any fashion.If you go into the movie knowing anything about the X-Men and theirrelationships going forward, nothing in this movie parallels. ProfessorXavier is not as controlled and stoic, but more of a loose cannon. Noneof the characters act in any resemblance to their comic-book persona.The dialogue is cheesy (although we can allow for some of that, beingbased on comic characters). It is hard to explain in detail everythingthat is exactly off about this movie, but overall it is just wrong inso many ways that at the end you feel very let down.

Alexander1313 2012-05-14 23:07:19

Uncool Movie

'X-Men: First Class' is about 'misfits' who as it turns out possesssuperpowers. Basically, 'X-Men: First Class' is suppose to resonatewith Emo's, WOW gamers, hipsters, punks etc. i.e. individuals who aresort of on the fringes of society who see that the world is full ofterrific difficulties, but who fit in poorly with society and who bythe way possess talents. That the X-Men are on the fringes of societyis quite alright and, of course, the world contains a lot that isterrible but the X-Men aren't cool. And that is a difficulty. The X-Menstop a nuclear war in 'X-Men: First Class'. What are punks etc. supposeto take away from this? - 'I can stop the destruction of the world bybeing a radical misfit living always on the margins of society'. Idon't think so. Saving the world is at the top of the list of whatradical misfits from society are unable to accomplish. The worldappears to be tossing more and more people off to the side and a filmwhere individuals on the fringes of society were cool and thriving in aniche, taking cues from Epicurus of ancient Greece, for example, wouldbe terrific but 'X-Men' isn't that film. For example to some extentmountain climbing groups are on the fringes of society. The film couldbe entitled 'Establishment of a Garden' referencing Epicurus. The filmwould have to be given a dialectic rather than only mountain scenery,for example, a group of climbers could find a huge vein of pure goldset amidst an absolutely stupendous mountain setting with the mountainclimbers shunning the gold causing various rock slides to preventfuture stumblings upon the gold vein and saving the mountain forclimbing. During the film various worldly solutions all seeminglygainable via dollars could be examined and shunned as lacking byindividuals of the group. Mountain climbing lessons could be given to'rich assholes' for example. Prior to the last land slide the decisionis made not to take any gold at all. 'Gold is exactly what this isn'tabout' a character declaims before the last rock slide. A gold stashcan't be taken because in reality being a climbing group 'fanatic' doesnot generate riches. 'X-Men: First Class' is a step down from 'Thor'.Vahalla had a cool B movie set design. Of course, the Earth set designsof 'Thor' for example the isolation tent failed to be a cool B movieset designs but were quite ho hum. 'X-Men: First Class' has submarinesflying through the air, missiles stopping in midair and doing 180 turnswhich was basically only grating and wasn't cool. In sum 'X-Men: FirstClass' is a terrible movie.

Wala_Lang 2012-05-14 03:51:37

First Class is a First Rate Movie

This is a prequel or a "flashback" movie coming from all X-Men movies made to date. You will have a better understanding of the characters like Magneto and Professor X and even Mystique. Definitely, you will be glued in the big screen as the story unfolds. Visuals are great. And it is one movie you certainly want to watch now if you are an X-Men fan.

moviewizguy 2012-05-14 02:38:11

Before he was Professor X, he was Charles. Before he was Magneto, he was Erik.

X-Men: First Class, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts theepic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and ErikLensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two youngmen discovering their powers for the first time. Before they werearchenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with otherMutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat theworld has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, whichbegan the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X'sX-Men. (20th Century Fox)FIRST CLASS is a bit of a disappointing film. The end result is that ofa "meh" because it's a step up from WOLVERINE and THE LAST STAND, whichisn't saying much, but it's nowhere near as great as X2. With itspotential, FIRST CLASS could have been so much better than it turnedout to be. The main flaw of the film is that it tells an origin storywhich in itself makes the film less interesting to watch because we'reonly waiting to see inevitable consequences resulting in what wealready saw in the first X-Men film. It's like STAR WARS 3. Sure, it'scool to see things connect to the trilogy, but we expected that in thefirst place.Being an origin story also means we have to go through the process oflearning each character all over again which means a huge chunk of thefilm would be devoted to exposition. This could be interesting, andparts of it are, including a touching romance that develops betweenRaven (Mystique) and Hank (Beast). The addition of newer charactersshould also make this less tedious than it should be, but, like theprevious X-Men films, there are just too many characters to fullydevelop each of them. Even with a long running time of over two hours,most of them are left in the dust, including the villains and professorXavier himself. Still, director Matthew Vaughn tries his best tobalance the many characters in this film, although not fullysucceeding.Many people will argue that the other characters don't matter since itfocuses more on the relationship between Charles (Professor X) and Erik(Magneto). Unfortunately, even that isn't as fully developed as we wantit to be. The problem is that the relationship is portrayed so muchbetter by the two older actors in the trilogy, played by Ian McKellenand Patrick Stewart, that we yearn for them to appear on screentogether again. There is, however, one scene in which I felt theemotional connection between these two characters, which involves asatellite, and it's a sweet but short scene. The film also hints on thethemes that were explored in the trilogy, but that doesn't do much goodbecause they are only touched upon and are more interesting when we seethem play out in the trilogy.Another thing they could have made more interesting or changedaltogether was the story dealing with the missile crisis. It's simplynot interesting or compelling to watch. Even the climax in which thestory really comes into play is as exciting as watching a kids race. Ithad little to do with the mutants themselves and more to do withstopping a nuclear war and, because of that, I didn't find myselfcaring much. The main villain, played by Kevin Bacon, isn't all thatmemorable either. He's very 2 dimensional with a bland super power.Again, we yearn a time in which the villain was McKellen's Magneto,who's more complex and interesting than Bacon's character will ever be.I must say that James McAvoy is miscasted as Charles Xavier. As statedearlier, he's not developed well in here and his role is mainly to helpand find more mutants. There's not much for him to do than hischaracter truly deserves. Michael Fassbender, on the other hand, playsa fierce and compelling Magneto, saying his lines with conviction andbringing great emotional weight to his character. Jennifer Lawrence asMystique is another noteworthy name among the cast who brings a softand sweet side to her character. I also liked Nicholas Hoult as Beast.Everyone else, including January Jones and Jason Flemyng (who's like aNightcrawler 2.0), are pretty forgettable. Saying all of that, the filmdoes include some great action scenes, for the few that are in here,with terrific special effects. The soundtrack by Henry Jackman shouldhave been toned down quite a bit though.With all the problems listed above, FIRST CLASS is not a bad film. It'sjust an incredibly flawed one with nostalgia that only reminds us ofthe better, older actors in the trilogy. However, there are someintelligent aspects from the script, and the film does offer a fewshining and emotional moments that go far and beyond many superherofilms before, including the lackluster THOR and the dumb INCREDIBLEHULK. Even if I sounded like I'm being hard on this film, I'm doing soon purpose because I can see the great that can come out of it.Overall, FIRST CLASS ends up being my second favorite in the series,even ahead the first film (which I thought was only decent) but behindX2. With all the set up in this prequel (much like X-MEN is to X2), Ido believe that a FIRST CLASS PART II could make this prequel seriesreach its potential and hopefully not disappoint us with a FIRST CLASSPART III like THE LAST STAND did. 6.5/10

Hocklife 2012-05-13 12:52:40

A Reinvigorated Franchise

When I first heard another origin story was being crafted for the X-Menfranchise I instantly felt weary. It has only been 2 years sinceWolverine got a chance at his very own prequel and it failed for me onmany different levels. Leaving a profound feeling of an ailingfranchise refusing to let itself and a business looking to suck everylast dollar out of the consumer's veins before heading the way ofAtlantis. It brings great relief to say with the fullest confidencethat not only does this movie reinvigorate the X-Men movies with aprequel reboot it also redeems itself on its last two predecessors.Summary First Class aptly set during the political and social unrest ofthe 1960's gives director (Vaughn) a chance at showing this era in avery stylish way. Dealings with the real world event that was theOctober crisis of 1962 ( Cuban Missile crisis) which is used as avisually stunning but at times cheesy rewrite of history. However, thiswas merely a very cool backdrop for the climax of the movie. SebastianShaw (Bacon) is attempting to ignite World War 3 by pushing the sidesof both governments (Soviet Union and The United States to makeaggressive moves towards one another. Let me state this plainly, thisis without doubt the best action in all the five movies , easily andtheirs a ton of it to boot! X-Men franchise begins with the story of two very different people.Charles Xavier(McAvoy)and Eric Lehnsherr (Fassbender). Both destined tobe best friends (if you've seen the original trilogy) both destined tobe archenemies. With that knowledge already present the movie tosucceed for me had to keep the characters interesting and make theirprogression from who they are to who they will be believable.Thankfully the movie doesn't miss a beat here and the situations thatdrive these two characters are powerful and outstandingly acted thatthey alone can carry this film. After two great performances by theyoung Professor X and Magneto the two other most well developedcharacters are Raven (Lawrence) and Beast(Hoult) who strive to findnormalcy in their looks. This is a great component of the movie becausealthough they start with a common goal their ideals won't remain thesame (very similar to the main two characters of the film). Thedefinition of what is beauty is constantly brought up throughout thefilm by the main four characters and their takes on it.Unfortunately while these four characters are great it leaves the restof the films super heroes (and villains!) completely neglected. Thefilms main antagonist Shaw (Bacon) is the only developed baddie in thewhole thing everyone else is only cardboard with a superpower andlittle dialogue. Even Shaw though is merely just a man with the samevision as the soon to be Magneto which leaves him feeling cheap andrecycled.The problems of characters is also prevalent on the heroes side aswell. With the exception of the big four I named earlier all the othercharacters of the X-Men team are only given a scene or two of goodcharacterization, in comparison to the villains though this is a treat(they actually have full sentences!).Aside from the problem of too many characters for it own good ( sameproblem as Wolverine Origins) and at times a cheesy plot First Classhandles its development of its main four people ( Raven, Eric ,Charles, and Hank) skillfully. All these people are brought back inlarge roles in the later X-Men films which only bolsters the strengthof those films as well. The action of the movie is always awesome(Magneto comes to mind for so many reasons) and at times even aweinspiring. The action wasn't in the end the factor that kept meinvested in this long movie.In the end it was the simple story of two men becoming friends who aretorn apart by what they believe in desperately trying to change eachother to see the world their way , while still holding a mutual respectfor each other ( this works especially well when the film reaches itsultimate climax).If you liked any of the previous X-Men movies you will like this a lot.If you've never seen the others the foreshadowing of this prequel won'thave the impact it has on those who have but the movie will still begood entertainment.Rating 7.8/10