I don’t think it would be a stretch to call this era of film the age of the superhero movies. Films about comic book heroes dominate mainstream cinema, with multiple hugely successful franchise films coming out each year. We are currently half-way through the superhero wave of the year, with three of 2016’s six superhero movies having already hit theatres. This upcoming weekend, however, will see the release of a superhero movie whose franchise helped usher in this constant flow of films. X-Men: Apocalypse marks the seventh (eighth if you count Deadpool) film in the franchise, which started all the way back in 2000 with the release of Bryan Singer’s X-Men. The way I see it, the X-Men movies can be broken up into three trilogies, or at least categorized in three different sections. There are the original three (X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand), the ones that focus specifically on Wolverine (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine and the currently untitled third Wolverine film set for release in 2017) and the newest trilogy (X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse). So, to truly prepare for the release of the newest incarnation in the series, let’s look at the other two movies in the most recent X-Men trilogy.
X-Men: First Class
The first film in the new X-Men trilogy, which takes place in the United States during the Cold War, focuses on showing the story of some of the older characters in the X-Men universe, as they first began to use their powers for good. The movie follows Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Eric Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and a group of other young mutants, who are enlisted by the government to stop Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) from starting a World War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Shaw, whose mutant power involves feeding off the energy of any type of energy, means to use the fallout of a nuclear war to declare himself the ruler of a world that would be rid of non-mutants, whom he feels are genetically inferior to his race.
One of the things that makes First Class so interesting is that the audience gets to see characters that we know (if you have seen the other X-Men films) will eventually be enemies have to work together. Xavier, who eventually become Professor X, and his adopted sister Raven, who turns into the villain Mystique, are well known to viewers of the franchise as enemies. Lensherr is the main antagonist of the original three films, who, as the villainous Magneto, attempts to eradicate non-mutants just as Shaw tries to do in this film. However, in this movie, these mutants who will eventually be at odds with each other are forced to come together for a common goal. While Xavier feels that what Shaw is doing is wrong and that humanity will eventually accept mutants, Lensherr actually agrees with Shaw, only seeking revenge for the death of his mother at Shaw’s hand. These interesting interpretations of characters that fans of the franchise already know make the movie feel fresh and different than all of the others.
The appeal of the characters is the main draw of the movie, which is fairly consistent across director Matthew Vaughn’s entire line of work. The movie has a lighter feel than many of the other X-Men movies, especially during scenes where Xavier is teaching the younger mutants to harness their powers and use them for good. The setting of the 1960s adds to the charm of the movie as well. However, the plot doesn’t shy away from multiple segments of darkness, like the death of Lensherr’s Jewish mother at a concentration camp or Xavier and Lensherr’s debates about humanity. The movie keeps the classic feel of X-Men, discussing the struggle between those who consider themselves normal and those who are considered the outsiders. But, with its excellent interpretation of classic characters and more accessible tone, First Class is easily my favorite of the X-Men films.
Grade: A-
One of the things that makes First Class so interesting is that the audience gets to see characters that we know (if you have seen the other X-Men films) will eventually be enemies have to work together. Xavier, who eventually become Professor X, and his adopted sister Raven, who turns into the villain Mystique, are well known to viewers of the franchise as enemies. Lensherr is the main antagonist of the original three films, who, as the villainous Magneto, attempts to eradicate non-mutants just as Shaw tries to do in this film. However, in this movie, these mutants who will eventually be at odds with each other are forced to come together for a common goal. While Xavier feels that what Shaw is doing is wrong and that humanity will eventually accept mutants, Lensherr actually agrees with Shaw, only seeking revenge for the death of his mother at Shaw’s hand. These interesting interpretations of characters that fans of the franchise already know make the movie feel fresh and different than all of the others.
The appeal of the characters is the main draw of the movie, which is fairly consistent across director Matthew Vaughn’s entire line of work. The movie has a lighter feel than many of the other X-Men movies, especially during scenes where Xavier is teaching the younger mutants to harness their powers and use them for good. The setting of the 1960s adds to the charm of the movie as well. However, the plot doesn’t shy away from multiple segments of darkness, like the death of Lensherr’s Jewish mother at a concentration camp or Xavier and Lensherr’s debates about humanity. The movie keeps the classic feel of X-Men, discussing the struggle between those who consider themselves normal and those who are considered the outsiders. But, with its excellent interpretation of classic characters and more accessible tone, First Class is easily my favorite of the X-Men films.
Grade: A-
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Days of Future Past, Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise after an 11 year absence, is the X-Men movie that has the most interesting, albeit confusing, premise and story. The film merges the universe of the original trilogy with that of First Class, using Wolverine as a bridge between the time periods. Essentially, in the 1970’s, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) approached the US government with the idea of building "sentinels", an army of robots that could detect the gene that gives mutants their powers and give the non-mutant population the upper hand. The government seems wary of the idea, until Mystique assassinates Trask, pushing the humans to accept the sentinel program. Eventually, the sentinels begin hunting both mutants and humans that help them, causing the planet to fall into apocalyptic chaos. The mutants of the future decide that the only way to stop the destruction is to send someone’s consciousness back in time (they have a mutant that can do that) and stop Mystique from killing Trask. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back to 1973, enlisting the help of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Eric Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) to stop the impending doomsday.
The plot, which is very confusing for those who haven’t seen the movie or the previous X-Men films, does an excellent job at combining the worlds of the original trilogy and the new trilogy. The segments that take place in the future see the return of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry and more to the roles they played in the original three, while still integrating McAvoy, Fassbender and Lawrence from First Class in the remainder of the film. The film strategically uses Wolverine as the bridge between the two casts, who was one of the best elements of the original trilogy. Jackman brings the gruff charm of the character back to the vast world of X-Men very well, adding to the excellent performances of the First Class cast.
Where this movie differentiates itself significantly from First Class is in tone, opting for a much darker approach to the universe. Once Wolverine arrives in 1793, he meets with Xavier, who is in a state of depression after many of his students were drafted for the Vietnam War. He takes a cure which gives him his legs back, but causes him to lose his telepathic abilities, not wanting to have the thoughts of others invade his head any longer. This is a far darker and deeper take on Xavier than First Class had, creating one of the move interesting parts of the movie. Unfortunately, the darker take on the X-Men universe makes the series lose some of the charm that First Class had. The darker tone is not new to modern superhero films, so there is a feeling of lost originality when watching Days of Future Past. But, overall, the movie still manages to be an great take on characters in the X-Men universe.
Grade: B+
The plot, which is very confusing for those who haven’t seen the movie or the previous X-Men films, does an excellent job at combining the worlds of the original trilogy and the new trilogy. The segments that take place in the future see the return of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry and more to the roles they played in the original three, while still integrating McAvoy, Fassbender and Lawrence from First Class in the remainder of the film. The film strategically uses Wolverine as the bridge between the two casts, who was one of the best elements of the original trilogy. Jackman brings the gruff charm of the character back to the vast world of X-Men very well, adding to the excellent performances of the First Class cast.
Where this movie differentiates itself significantly from First Class is in tone, opting for a much darker approach to the universe. Once Wolverine arrives in 1793, he meets with Xavier, who is in a state of depression after many of his students were drafted for the Vietnam War. He takes a cure which gives him his legs back, but causes him to lose his telepathic abilities, not wanting to have the thoughts of others invade his head any longer. This is a far darker and deeper take on Xavier than First Class had, creating one of the move interesting parts of the movie. Unfortunately, the darker take on the X-Men universe makes the series lose some of the charm that First Class had. The darker tone is not new to modern superhero films, so there is a feeling of lost originality when watching Days of Future Past. But, overall, the movie still manages to be an great take on characters in the X-Men universe.
Grade: B+
Check back each Wednesday for another installment of This Week in Movies!
Last week covered Seventies films in preparation for The Nice Guys,
Last week covered Seventies films in preparation for The Nice Guys,
RSS Feed
