X-Men: First Class

Phenomenal! Vaughn brings the series back to where it originally started. As a comic book movie that uses its brain where others flex their muscles, it doesn't for a moment compromise on the audience-appealing spectacle, which doesn't lack wit, exaggeration, and... action. It is mature in its acting, plot, and direction, with no dead spots or lapses in pace. I’ll have more to say (hopefully) after the second viewing. Now I am just reveling in the memories of a film that was satisfying in every way. PS: There is nothing for me to add the second time either. Except that Fassbender rules like nobody’s business. Perfect in every detail. (02/06/2011)

I didn’t go see the new X-Men, but the new Vaughn. Which was maybe a mistake because the studio slightly blunted his energetic, no-holds-barred work. But even this way it’s outstanding, but more accentuated sixties stylization (the places where this is comes to the fore are among the best) and being less episodic would have helped, as well as cutting down the length of the final, over-the-top showdown. Vaughn directs best with just a couple of actors and tension build-up spaghetti western style. It’s true that the characters are rather two-dimensional, but the actors easily raise the standard, especially the Fassbender - Bacon - McAvoy trio. (03/06/2011)

Very retro and very stylish younger brother of Singer’s original X-Men. To start with I would like to say that Vaughn is a genius, because such an incredible amount of story, twists and character development are combined in this compact unit. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if the movie were three hours long and the director added those scenes that definitely ended up on the cutting room floor. The action is first-class. And no shortage of shots that will have your eyes on stalks and even some pretty decent tricks (with the coin) are included to help the story and not just to look good and appear in the trailer to attract the audience to the movie theater. Almost all the characters are well-developed, no doubt about that, but First Class relies mainly on Fassbender and his Magnet (people are swines, I would have gone with him). He is roughly equally important as Wolverine was for the part one and he is at very least equally iconic, if not more. Logan’s appearance would have pleased me more if I hadn’t already read about it in almost every review. McAvoy’s Charles isn’t bad either, very surprising both for his playboy behavior and for his no-nonsense approach to the role. Almost all of the baddies have something to them, and mostly the mysterious Kevin Bacon (you can see how much he enjoyed himself) and the chillingly beautiful January Jones. Otherwise, it’s a clever summer hit that does honor to the brand and I wouldn’t mind looking back into the past like this again some day. (02/06/2011)

I have so much to tell you :-) But after leaving the cinema, my head is spinning and I'm unlikely to get anything coherent out of myself. Anyway, I'm impressed with the grandeur, thoughtfulness, and color. The moment Charles shed a tear when he entered Eric's head, I shed two. I was almost rolling on the floor during the few minutes when the "youngsters" learned to control their abilities. So, Vaughn has clearly scored again for me and I look forward to all his future endeavors. Yes, X-Men just knocked Inception out of my top 10. (28/06/2011)

Somehow I can’t bring myself to give this movie five stars, mainly because I’ve never been exactly fond of X-Men. The movies were great, but I never thought, like with Watchmen, that they were perfect and that I would devour every movie that had the word X-Men in the title. Anyway, I don’t mind X-men and that was also the reason why I gave this movie a go. However, I must say that this film is probably the best thing that could have happened to the franchise, because in addition to great actors, it features an absolutely perfect story, which, if you do not know the source material, you do not know how it will develop in the next moments. And that it will eventually develop differently than is customary in American films? That’s the icing on the cake. If I said a moment ago that actors were great, then I need to repeat that because they were truly divine. That goes for probably everyone who appears in the film, and there are a lot of characters. For example, the one-minute cameo of Hugh Jackman is totally great. The same goes for the special effects. I felt a bit sorry that X-Men weren’t closer to my heart. But if another film is made, which could easily happen, I will think about going to see it at the cinema. It seems that I’ve grown fond of X-Men after all. (29/12/2012)