Resisting the urge to write Erik/Charles slash fanfic...

Just a quick review because there's no way I can be impartial or really tell you anything you don't already know about Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class.  I really like The X-Men and I will be excited to go see any movie made about them.  I even liked X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine more than a lot of people did.  I didn't grow up reading comics but my sister did and she taught me about the world of mutants, and X-Men: The Animated Series was probably my favorite TV show when I was a kid.  I wanted to grow up to be Wolverine!

So anyway, getting to see a side of Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr that I had not given much thought to, was really exciting for me.  As always, it is cool to see the mutants use their powers, I got a chance to learn more about some characters I never knew that much about (Beast, Darwin, Banshee), and the 1960s setting added an interesting element.  That said...this so did not go far enough.

The story of a younger Magneto and Professor X could/should have been a 2-3 film arc.  The theme of discrimination against the mutants during the 1960s could have been used to tell a story against the backdrop of Civil Rights for African-Americans, which was a missed opportunity.  And for a movie where I felt everything was resolved far too suddenly, parts seemed to drag on for ages.

This movie was incredibly cheesy, but not quite in a way that felt like they were trying to kitschily establish our beloved mutants in the swingin' '60s.  Beast's post-transformation makeup was simply unimpressive, and the writers seemed to change their minds about characters' personalities every few pages.  There were, obviously, massive logic holes, but this is a universe where a blue scaly woman can transform into anything she wants so, you know, I'll just let them be.

To paraphrase my friend, I am desperate for them to make a Young Magneto: Nazi Hunter movie.  Michael Fassbender was easily the best part of the movie, and I wish Magneto's relationship with James McAvoy's Charles Xavier could have been given more time to grow.  Also, if this story were expanded into multiple films, I feel like the relationship Raven/Mystique has with both Charles and Erik would have become a compelling storyline.  Her brief scenes with Magneto were (oh man I was about to say "magnetic," what's wrong with me?) intriguing.

In any event, it got me pumped again about X-Men, and I fully intend to go back and watch last decade's trilogy again.  Then every movie Michael Fassbender has ever been in, because damn.