X-Men has one of the more disappointing franchise runs in terms of comic book adaptation to the big screen. The first film was extremely promising and then as with most franchises, but to a larger degree, the sequels got worse and worse. Still, I found them quite entertaining, which is all that really matters to me.
How ever, comic book purists and extreme fans tore the films apart for their lack of continuity with the comics. That may very well be, but saga lives on. After failing with the X-Men franchise, the studio broke away and created and origins film based on the character of Wolverine. Again, another disappointing, but entertaining creation.
The studio has now gone back to the original franchise and created the backstory, akin to a prequel. “X-Men: First Class” gives us a look at the beginning of mutant evolution and the friendship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto.
The film is set against the backdrop of the Cold War, particularly the Cuban Missile Crisis. I found this to be an interesting tactic, and it brings the mutants closer to real world assimilation. While it doesn’t seem to work in certain parts, the overall idea does work.
For those that are only casual X-Men fans, they may find themselves out of the loop when it comes to the mutant characters in the film. Aside from Xavier, Magneto, Beast, and Mystique, the rest of the mutants are not the extremely well known. Most of the well-known X-Men characters arise in later years, hence Rogue, Storm, etc are not part of this film.
In the beginning, Xavier (James McAvoy) is a cocky, 60’s groovy, kind of guy. He likes to think of himself as a ladies man. In this film we find him finishing his doctorate on genetic mutation. Along with his adopted sister, Raven, aka Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Xavier is recruited by the CIA to assist in identifying the baffling nature of mutants, which have obviously only starting to appear in public.
Meanwhile, Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), after surviving the camps
during the Holocaust, is out for revenge. Directly in his line of
sight is Professor Schmidt (Kevin Bacon), a Nazi scientist that forced
him to use his powers by executing his mother. This is obviously the
source of Erik’s rage for the remainder of his life, pushing him toward
the anti-human side of the future conflict.
Dr. Schmidt holds a mutant secret of his own that will play some
importance in the final plan. However, during an attempt to kill
Schmidt, Erik is rescued by Xavier and his telepathic powers. Back at a
CIA facility the trio meets Beast, who is to help Xavier extend his
powers and locate other mutants around the world.
Erik and Xavier have fun recruiting a handful of mutants to take on
Schmidt and his cohorts. Schmidt’s plan is to use mutant powers to make
the Soviet Union and the US square off against each other. Here is
where history comes into play. The final battle is a recreation of the
Cuban Missile Crisis standoff, but of course with mutants involved. It
is rather genius, but executed a bit too quickly.
In film such as this, the audience knows what is going to happen. We
already know that Xavier ends up in a wheelchair and that Magneto and
Mystique turn to the side of anti-human. The trick for the filmmakers
to make us forget about that and become more interested in the story
unfolding. That is precisely what the creators here have done. While
there are portions of the film that drag a bit, the overall storytelling
and action of the film unfolds nicely.
The film comes to Blu-ray with an odd visual appearance. And while you
might jump to criticizing the transfer, the issue actually traces back
to the source. Taking place during the time in which it does the image
is dominated by sepia hues. However, what comes across as an annoyance
in the visuals is the fuzzy nature of the image. Think of an SLR camera
that focuses the lens using several focal points to ensure the lens
correctly focuses the dominant objects. Now, with this image, it seems
like only the very center of the image is in true focus. As you scan
from the center to edges, the image becomes more and more fuzzy. When
medium shots are used in the film, faces are generally in focus, but a
quick glance down at the legs of the actors shows a hazy focus. This is
completely intentional, but fairly distracting. Aside from that,
textures and details remain terrific throughout. The color balance is
accurate for the original intentions and fleshtones remain stable.
Black levels are exquisite and leave details in the shadows fully
resolved. Just in case you were wondering, there is no pesky edge
enhancement or noise reduction with this transfer. It is extremely
faithful to the source with a terrific vibrancy.
The audio is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and is the star of the release.
While not quite perfect, it is certainly very close. Dialogue is
intelligible throughout, but given the technological advancements in
audio today I was a bit disappointed with the weight of the dialogue.
It could be an intentional sound design choice, but is seems like the
ADR was done a bit thin. Music spreads and soars throughout the audio
channels, providing the most immersive aspect of the audio track. Sound
effects are plentiful and generally have pinpoint directionality and
panning. However, there are some moments in which the rear speakers
fall to provide a smooth transition of sound traveling from front to
rear. The LFE channel is quite pleasant. Anytime Magneto uses his
powers, the LFE kicks into high gear. The bass is a little untamed, but
the depth is appreciated.
The Blu-ray release comes with a decent supplemental package, but far
from definitive. “X Marks The Spot” is primary feature. It is a
viewing mode that provides eight featurettes at certain points in the
film. It would be better if these were available without the pop-up
video feature. “Children Of The Atom” is a documentary in seven parts
covering the usual aspects of filmmaking, including sound, make-up,
costumes, etc.
Cerebro: Mutant Tracker is essentially a quick bio feature for different
mutants. There are about 15 minutes of deleted/extended scenes. None
of them really amount to much. The best feature of the disc is the
inclusion of the isolated music score. However, as with every instance
of this feature, it is presented in lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, making it
useless in my opinion. The disc is BD-Live enabled, and the package
also includes a Digital Copy disc. No DVD is included with this
release.
“X-Men: First Class” is the best X-Men since the very first one. It
suffers here and there, but ultimately provides a very real experience.
The audio and video qualities are terrific. I recommend adding this
title to you collection.
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