Once upon a time two boys had very different, very startling changes occur in their life. For Erik it was the loss of his mother. For Charles it was the discovery of a young girl named Raven who had wandered into his house. These two events would send these men in search of answers to a problem that exists in the world. An issue of Fear and Xenophobia. And for almost everyone these themes will ring true. And soon enough these two boys would become men. And those men will seek out answers in their own way, only to one day have their paths colide and be changed forever. Two men who have very much united in a cause.
Obvious-spoiler warning skip down if you want to avoid spoilers
This movie is the story of the splinter that occurs between two men seeking a genocidal mad man, Sebastian Shaw, played to the cheese by Kevin Bacon. Shaw and his team of evil mutants have one agenda: destroy the humans and leave only the mutants. Charles Xavier wants to unite the world. He wants peace between the people. And then there is Erik Lehnsherr. He just wants to find Shaw for reasons that are most certainly his own.
The movie sends Erik on a James Bond style mission while Charles becomes a professor and playboy. It's a very interesting dichotomy. There are some sub plots and one other main plot but I don't want to spoil the fun of discovering those relationships and plots. Instead I need to gush about the actors playing Erik and Charles. This movie lives and dies on their friendship and they are hiting home runs here. Fully believable, fully entrenched. These men aren't actors playing Erik and Charles. They are Erik and Charles. You're heart will reach out and break and various points in the movies for both of these men for very different reasons. I also think that this movie will divide people into those that think Erik is justifiable or if Charles is correct. Much like the mutant recruits in this movie, we absolutely believe this man and can see that there is good in the world and that the world sucks. Now almost every other actor in this movie is wonderful. Almost. Again, Bacon is very Hammy. You even get good dramatic, brief, roles for great character actors who I don't want to spoil because if you don't know they are in here they do a great job. Now I will say this isn't a perfect movie, there are two serious flaws. The first is a really badly cgi'd Raven shapeshift. You'll know which one. It just looks awful and fake. And worse is that it is just fan service and doesn't need to be here. The other moment is the first time you see Beast as he reveals the final version of the blackbird. His words don't match the lipsync and sound very ADRed. But these are fairly minor gripes. This movie was made in about a 14 months. That's insanely fast. And for such a great product to come out, I hope this is a wake up call to the suits that if they let artists make art, it will bring in the big bucks.
I know I'm skipping over a lot of the minor stuff but after I left the movie most of my complaints went away. Sure some lines in X1 and a scene in x3 and wolverine feel like they are continuity errors but that feels more like those movies messed up, not that this movie failed. This movie was an unequaled success.
End of Obvious-Spoiler warning
A great movie this summer, curently on target to be the best of the summer. And easily the best X-Men movie to date. And for that this is quite frankly an A.
So if you read this having seen this movie, or come back after seeing it, here are some options for exploring the world of the X-Men.
First off, if you need there is always the three great animated series. The 90's X-men series was many of our modern generations introduction to the X-men. X:Men evolution was a clever teemaged variant on the X-formula. And most recently, and on sale might I add(at the time of this posting) Wolverine and the X-men. Utilizing recent character changes, this X-series, while short lived, handeled many of the issues that we could have only dreamed to be addressed in an X-cartoon.(More after the jump)
Now if you are looking for classic X-men stories there are a few options. Magneto Testament is a wonderful, in depth look at what made Erik Magneto.
If you want to see classic X-men in a style not quite the same, I recomend Robert Kirkman's run on Ultimate X-men.
Then there are the classic stories: God Loves, Man Kills. Days of Future Past. Dark Phoenix Saga.
and then there is the creme of the crop: Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.
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