Film Deep Focus: “X-Men: First Class”

A stacked cast, a superhero Marvel movie and it all based around genetics? What more could any scientific person need in the cinematic universe today?

In 2011 “X-Men: First Class” was released and sparked the resurgence of the mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To be honest, the development and maturity of a person can be gauged based on how the person reacts to this phenomenal film.

“X-Men: First Class” is a prequel to the film trilogy, and it sets up the entire universe that fans are about to become immersed in. The world-building of the X-Men franchise takes place in 1962 and is based entirely around the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What’s most fascinating about the time period of “X-Men: First Class” is that we get to see JFK as president, and it's an absolute treat. Watching this after the creation of AI led to questions of whether the JFK cameos were edited and fake, however they seem very real.

The cast for this film is amazingly stacked, with Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique/Raven, James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Micheal Fassbender as Erik/Magneto and Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw.

In an interview, Lawrence said that the development and growth of Mystique/Raven is what attracted her to the project and the franchise. This perfectly describes the undertaking and theme of “X-Men: First Class,” essentially it is the set-up for all the characters that will allow for further growth in the upcoming movies.

The movie opens up with the backstory of Erik/Magento and then jumps forward a handful of years and has two plot lines occurring at once. Initially, this is confusing, and first-time watchers might confuse James McAvoy and Micheal Fassbender’s characters. The best way to tell them apart is simply this: one is a hot white guy and the other is a hot white guy.

As the plot unravels it is revealed that mutants live all over the world, and it becomes the two hottest white guys endeavor to gather all the mutants in one place. Many new mutants and new powers are unlocked and the viewers are most likely absolutely intrigued or absolutely disgusted by what mutations the writers gave these characters.

The part of this movie that clearly stamps it as being filmed and released in 2011 is the instant death of the only black character Darwin, played by Edi Gathegi. Also, the only black mutant Angel, played by Zoe Kravitz, immediately joins the dark side. If “X-Men: First Class” was ever going to be remade, that for sure needs to be fixed.

The star cameo that is possibly better than JFK in this movie would be Lucas Till, who plays Havok. The “Hannah Montana: The Movie” star really wanted to show off his insane acting abilities. One movie he's riding a horse and flirting like no tomorrow, then two years later he’s throwing around flaming discs from his chest.

The movie proceeds to involve nuclear missiles, and if there’s any confusion please reference “Oppenheimer,” because Cillian Murphy teaches what James McAvoy couldn’t. The movie ends with an intense missile battle scene, and here is a summary of the mind-boggling event: missiles are shot in the air, Erik/Magneto turns them around, oh wait they’re back in the air again, whoops never mind they’re in the ocean.

The movie concludes with Erik/Magneto announcing he has the dream, desire and absolute need to become a villain, and invites anyone to join him. As an audience member, there's an obvious desire for every now-loved character to say no.

Except the worst imaginable outcome unfolds: Mystique/Raven joins Erik/Magneto.

Through further research, it has become clear that Mystique/Raven joined the dark side simply because Charles Xavier was not appreciating her true self, but Erik/Magneto did. Please refer to the scene of Mystique/Raven in Erik/Magneto’s bed (which is such a funny scene by the way, Lawrence should be paid extra).

This movie really opened the world up to the ability to understand these complicated mutants and form personal relationships with each one. The infamous question of “which superpower do you wish you had” was expanded beyond belief after this film was produced.

Huge “thank you” to Lawrence and her makeup team, standing for 8 hours to get painted blue is something that should never be forgotten. Also a huge “thank you” to God for creating Lawrence and allowing her to join this franchise.

Rating: 4/5

Grace Bowman is a third-year majoring in biology. To contact her, email gab5585@psu.edu.