02 Jun X-Men: First Class | Film Review
Traditionally speaking, a major movie franchise that began almost eleven years ago and has currently re-emerged with an almost entirely different cast and production crew would be refereed to as a franchise reboot. The term, however, seems far from apt at describing X-Men First Class. The right expression, for the new addition to the film series originally adapted from the comic book of the same and similar names, might actually be franchise overhaul or perhaps even franchise coup d'etat. For director Matthew Vaughn’s (the British filmmaker behind last year’s captivating comic book parody Kick-Ass and gangster movies Layer Cake and Snatch) prequel to the previous films seems to out trump its predecessors in every manner, sense and frame.
For Hollywood this officially is the year of the comic book. And with Spiderman 3 and The Dark Knight ranking as some of the biggest (and fastest) grossers in recent years, who can blame the studios involved for investing in the lives of bedraggled mutants, transforming immigrant robots from outer space and a general mesh of troubled super and not so super human freaks in outlandish costumes. So with X-Men – First Class imminent and The Green Lantern, Transformers – Dark of the Moon and Captain America – The First Avenger also on the horizon, Thor is the first in a very long series of comic book adaptations which will run well into next year, with a new installment of Spiderman and Marvel Studio’s Avengers due to emerge then.
If Thor is a merely a sign of things to come in the multiplexes then surely good things await us this summer. For seldom has a film of this size seemed so engrossed with getting the balance right (between action, romance, great special effects, good CGI and a decent story) and pretty much succeeded.