X-Men First Class - Spoiler Free

This film hadn't really crossed my radar.  Then I heard an interview with Jane Goldman.  The plot sounded interesting and I'm a sucker for origin tales.  The deal maker though was that Michael Fassbender was in it and to make things even better, so was James McAvoy.  How had the details of this film totally pass me by?

I had heard nothing but good reviews of this before I went to see it.  Both from the critics and the real people whose tastes I trust more.  Before I carry on I must inform you that I've never even been in the same room as an X-Men comic.  My only knowledge of the stories comes from the first 3 films.

This has an impressive and attractive cast.  Most of whom did themselves proud.  I have never been a Rose Byrne fan, I find her a little wooden.  She wasn't a distraction in this.  Though I would have preferred to see someone else in the role.  The film is set off to a great start by the fantastic Bill Milner.  That lad just keeps getting better and better.  He's surely destined to become one of our greats.  I did get a little thrill of pride at the strong Euro-presence on the cast.  I'm assuming this was helped by Vaughn directing.  Fassbender as usual was magnetic to the eyes, no pun intended.  That man fills a screen better than most.  McAvoy was, as uusual, a warm, nice presence on screen.  January Jones was good and looked absolutely gorgeous.  The camera loves that woman.

The youngsters recruited seemed truly out of their depth but mostly matured within the story.  Only one character I felt was a little weak with no real truth to her performance or the actions of the character.  That was Angel.  We were never told what had made the 'baddies' in the film bad.  There was no back story to the villain's henchmen and woman.  I want to know more about some of those.  I'm hoping we get a sequel to this film with some of those answers.  My main question was what made them follow the villain in the first place?  Running time certainly meant that no more could have been squeezed into this film.

There are a couple of great cameos in there.  A nice nod and a wink, without straining to fit them in.  I'm wondering if I missed some as I caught two but one was a blink and you'll miss it.  Towards the end of the film an old favourite of mine appeared as a Naval Captain, I'm sure his presence will please most people who lived through the 80's.  I guess he's kind of a cult hero now. 

I enjoy origin stories, I know that makes me weird.  This is one of the better ones I've seen.  It was certainly helped by the fantastic 60's period atmosphere set up by the sets.  The sets were beautifully stylish.  I wonder if there's a little Mad Men influencing fashions here?  The plot was the fantastical fun that you require from a comic book movie.  There were dark scenes but they were limited.

This has set the bar high for sequels.  It didn't re-write over the previous films which was a good idea.  It paid homage while setting up 30 years worth of stories to tell without damaging either.  I hope there is a sequel, as long as they keep the cast.  This film worked for me because it was well written with a fantastic cast.  The main cast members made the roles their own and I don't want to see anyone else in them.  A sequel will also have already fleshed out most of the back-stories so hopefully we can cut down the running time.  I couldn't tell you what I'd have cut from this story but 2 hours and anything past that is usually too long.  It didn't spoil the experience but I was glad when it finally ended.

4 out of 5 pawprints

Wittertainment Rules of Conduct Score 3/10  For full explanation of these click here.

No Eating - FAIL, stinking, noisy nachos

No Slurping - PASS

No Rustling - FAIL, the entire row behind has rustly sweets

No Irresponsible Parenting - FAIL, a baby that was taken in and out as it wailed, yes it's a 12A

No Hobbies - PASS

No Talking - FAIL, people like to whisper don't they.

No Mobile Phone Usage - FAIL, people must check their phone 10 minutes into the film

No Kicking of Seats - FAIL, not all the way through luckily just every now and then

No Arriving Late - FAIL, no excuse when Cineworld don't start the film until 20 minutes late anyway

No Shoe Removal - PASS

Centurion - Marshall's Period Piece.

I was pretty excited about this film.  Neil Marshall is one my favourite directors and Michael Fassbender on of my favourite actors.

I liked the way the opening credits were done.  Broad sweeping words on matching vistas.  Giving you a great vision of how harsh the terrain the film would take place on actually is.

After the first scene though things started to go downhill for me.  Dominic West playing Dominic West with a bucketful of bluster thrown in really didn't do it for me.  Neither did the Cockney accents of his Roman soldiers, a la Saruman's Urak Hai.  One of my pet peeves in period films is the use of modern accents to tell us someone's personality/character.  I don't need to view everything in it's correct language and enunciation.  I just don't want strong modern accents thrown in.

I'm afraid this film made me think Neil Marshall should stick to modern day set films.  Many will probably disagree.  To me this film gained nothing from it's period setting.  It was too modern day laddish.  I can't really explain what I mean here as I'm sure the Romans were laddish too.  This just felt a little too Guy Ritchie for the 2nd Century.  This was what ultimately took me out of the film.

The cast were mostly very good.  Fassbender I suspect would be good in Crossroads if he was cast.  David Morrissey played yet another blinder.  Solid dependable co-star who doesn't need to chew up the scenery.  As was Liam Cunningham.  Olga Kurylenko played her part very well.  That she was mute definitely added to her character.  If looks could kill though, she'd leave a trail of death with her eyes only.  I felt Dominic West overplayed his boisterous, 'I'm one of you my soldiers' role.  Brian Blessed type acting that doesn't suit him.  he just looks false.  Noel Clarke seemed to play his usual streetwise lad about London.  Again that didn't fit the setting for me. Axelle Carolyn will be one I'll keep an eye out for in the future.  The camera loves her and she held her own in her scenes.

Towards the end the film was a little predictable in places.  But nothing I'll lose sleep over.  I really wanted to enjoy this film.  It was the first time I've felt a little let down by Marshall.  Maybe I'm being a little harsh, I just didn't enjoy this film like I did his others. At least he had the sense to keep it short.  None of this trendy 2 hours+ I keep having to suffer with other filmamkers.  I'm hoping he returns to modern day or at least recent history with his next project.  He's still one of my favourites, he just has a slight blot on his record.

2.5 pawprints out of 5