Xmen: First Class
Jun. 18th, 2011 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrSo, I had heard from various sources that this movie was
a)Primarily about the slashy love of Professor X and Magneto
b)Enjoyable
c)A rehash of old plotlines from the previous movies
c)Very, very racist and sexist
And it was all of those things. If I hadn't have prepared myself the movie probably would have majorly pissed me off, but as it was I just sat there watching each character that wasn't a white man trying to figure out what horrible direction their plot would take (which still pissed me off, but not so much it entirely ruined the film). The only one I really cared about was Mystique, and her arc wasn't too bad given that she had to end up consistent with what we saw in the other movies, though given that she only looks like a teenager(*) there was no reason for her to act so much like one.
As someone with a lot of affection for the Xmen franchise (and the Charles/Eric dynamic in particular) but a sketchy knowledge of canon I thought it did a reasonable job of exploring and setting up the backstory, though the characterisations were often paper thin.
I do not recommend this movie to anyone who finds images of the Holocaust upsetting, even if Magneto does get to beat up some Nazis later.
Spoilery thoughts!
The whole "if you're not a white man from a privileged background who can pass as normal you will become twisted with pain and turn to the dark side" narrative can die in a fire. On the plus side, Charles's privilege-born trust in the system is proven wrong, I ended the film quite sympathetic to Magneto and Mystisque and there's nothing to majorly contradict that sympathy in this film. Even more than I did before I want fic about Mystique regaining her powers, picking herself up, and going off and being awesome without Eric after the end of Xmen 3.
A bunch of white people, a black ex-taxi-driver man, and a black ex-stripper woman are faced with a group of bad guys. One of them is going to turn evil, and one of them is going to sacrifice themselves for the others. I WONDER WHICH. And we didn't even get a "How can you do this, we were friends!" scene between Angel and the others like there was with Pyro/Iceman in Xmen 2.
Havok/Darwin OTP!
I am SO GLAD that I knew people were pissed off about Moira's end without knowing what they were pissed off about. Because ARGH, REALLY? We can't have anyone who isn't a white man on the side of the white hats?
And finally: Lol Wolverine.
Now to read the Dark Phoenix Saga, which I got out of the library but was putting off until after I'd seen the film to avoid being annoyed by the canon inconsistencies. Before stopping I'd already gotten to the introduction of Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club, which was indeed very different to the movie.
(*)She ages really slowly, which on the plus side makes the Magneto/Mystique relationship in the later films less squicky.
a)Primarily about the slashy love of Professor X and Magneto
b)Enjoyable
c)A rehash of old plotlines from the previous movies
c)Very, very racist and sexist
And it was all of those things. If I hadn't have prepared myself the movie probably would have majorly pissed me off, but as it was I just sat there watching each character that wasn't a white man trying to figure out what horrible direction their plot would take (which still pissed me off, but not so much it entirely ruined the film). The only one I really cared about was Mystique, and her arc wasn't too bad given that she had to end up consistent with what we saw in the other movies, though given that she only looks like a teenager(*) there was no reason for her to act so much like one.
As someone with a lot of affection for the Xmen franchise (and the Charles/Eric dynamic in particular) but a sketchy knowledge of canon I thought it did a reasonable job of exploring and setting up the backstory, though the characterisations were often paper thin.
I do not recommend this movie to anyone who finds images of the Holocaust upsetting, even if Magneto does get to beat up some Nazis later.
Spoilery thoughts!
The whole "if you're not a white man from a privileged background who can pass as normal you will become twisted with pain and turn to the dark side" narrative can die in a fire. On the plus side, Charles's privilege-born trust in the system is proven wrong, I ended the film quite sympathetic to Magneto and Mystisque and there's nothing to majorly contradict that sympathy in this film. Even more than I did before I want fic about Mystique regaining her powers, picking herself up, and going off and being awesome without Eric after the end of Xmen 3.
A bunch of white people, a black ex-taxi-driver man, and a black ex-stripper woman are faced with a group of bad guys. One of them is going to turn evil, and one of them is going to sacrifice themselves for the others. I WONDER WHICH. And we didn't even get a "How can you do this, we were friends!" scene between Angel and the others like there was with Pyro/Iceman in Xmen 2.
Havok/Darwin OTP!
I am SO GLAD that I knew people were pissed off about Moira's end without knowing what they were pissed off about. Because ARGH, REALLY? We can't have anyone who isn't a white man on the side of the white hats?
And finally: Lol Wolverine.
Now to read the Dark Phoenix Saga, which I got out of the library but was putting off until after I'd seen the film to avoid being annoyed by the canon inconsistencies. Before stopping I'd already gotten to the introduction of Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club, which was indeed very different to the movie.
(*)She ages really slowly, which on the plus side makes the Magneto/Mystique relationship in the later films less squicky.
