Prequel. The word alone brings out horrible images of movies that managed to take healthy franchises and reduce them to a joke. Cruel Intentions 2, Hannibal Rising, and Star Wars: Episodes 1-3 are all equally horrifying examples of this. Closer to home for this franchise was the horrific X Men Origins: Wolverine. So, it was with great trepidation that I bought tickets for this movie over the weekend. I already had my reservations when I realized that Erik/Magneto has a completely different accent in this film than he does in the original films, but I pressed on. Thankfully I did, because what could have been a complete train wreck turned out to be a really nice addition to the franchise.
The film follows the lives of young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr as they begin to grow into the infamous character know as Professor X and Magneto. Charles was born into a life of luxury and learned to fit into the world and to work from the inside to help his fellow mutants. Erik first discovered his powers in a Nazi camp as he was being torn away from his mother. Once Nazi officers realized his power, they experimented on him. His torture came at the hands of Sebastian Shaw (Bacon).
As we see them later in life, Charles (McAvoy) is attempting to work with the government while Erik (Fassbender) is on a mission to hunt down and kill Shaw and all of those responsible for his pain. When their separate quests intersect, they find that they need each other to complete the objectives at hand. They, with the help of the government, reach out to the mutant community and start recruiting young mutants to join their cause. When Shaw finds out about this, he brings his own team of mutants in to battle the newly formed group of heroes. The battle lines are drawn and lives are lost in the crossfire. Who will survive and who will be forever changed by the final conflict?
I actually liked this movie more than I thought I would. It’s fun to see the “first class” of this infamous superhero team and how they are molded into heroes. Also to be noted, McAvory and Fassbender turn in equally impressive performances. I was pleasantly surprised with their portrayals of these iconic characters.
Worth the admission? Is The Beast blue? Of course I recommend it. Superhero films are a big part of this summer and I feel that this one held its own.
Note: There are two past/future characters that make cameos. Tell me what you thought of them.
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