Review: X-Men First Class

X-Men: First Class (2011)
132 minutes
Rated PG-13
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon

Grade: B

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Let’s forget about the disaster that was X-Men: The Last Stand. Let’s even forget that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released. If you’re able to do that, X-Men: First Class is a great way to remember your favorite team of mutants. This prequel goes back to the 1960′s and concentrates on the relationship of Professor X and Magneto while they were still on the same side of the line. Everything that the recent X-Men films did wrong, First Class avoided.

Beginning with the tragedy that plagued Magneto’s life and then transitioning into Professor X’s life, it’s clear what paths both mutants will be following (even if you have no knowledge of X-Men prior to the movie). But the journey of them standing side-by-side with each other is still an enjoyable one for the die-hard fans or simply the ones who just want to watch a super-hero movie.

The ball starts rolling when Charles (McAvoy) begins recruiting other mutants who will inevitably make up the army to battle the villainous Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), who wants to destroy the inferior race of humans by manipulating them into a nuclear war. We get a small sampling of mutants including Mystique, White Queen, Beast, Banshee, Havok, Darwin, Azazel, and Riptide. The setting is the Cuban Missle Crisis that had America and Russia in a staring match with both countries anticipating the worst. While it was sort of neat seeing how this alternate universe where mutants and humans live together would have impacted actual historic events, I didn’t think it enhanced the plot at all. It was merely a gimmick of more interesting things to come.

The stars of the film are James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, Professor X and Magento respectively. Both share chemistry and really push the film forward when it seems to stall for a bit, especially when the film gets a bit talky. Other notable actors are Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, and January Jones. With such a talented cast of actors, X-Men: First Class benefited from the mind-less super-hero films of recent memory with more than just loud noises and explosions. There was actually acting being done. Surprise!

X-Men: First Class does a good job with visual effects, showing off the mutants’ special powers through the length of the entire film. Even though the plot is uneven, the movie’s best scenes make up for the dull moments. Overall, this is a very good comic-book film with plenty of action. It might not be as good as X-2, but it’s definitely the best X-Men film in a while.

Box Office Results: Star Trek travels at warp speed to the top

Studio Estimates (May 8-10):

1.  Star Trek – $72.5 million
2.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $27 million
3.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $10.5 million
4.  Obsessed – $6.6 million
5.  17 Again – $4.4 million

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To no surprise, Star Trek was the box office champion this Mother’s Day Weekend with an impressive $72.5 million (approx. $80 million if you count Thursday’s gross).  In addition to the movie being a box office hit, it was a smash hit with the critics as well, receiving a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 228 reviews.  After the success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine last weekend, there was an announcement for a Deadpool spin-off sequel.  Do I smell a Star Trek sequel in the near future?

As for the other new release this weekend, Next Day Air failed to make the Top 5.  It placed #6 at the box office with only $4 million.  The rest of the Top 5 that followed Star Trek were Wolverine, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Obsessed, and 17 Again.

Check back on Friday when the summer blockbuster season continues with yet ANOTHER prequel, Angels & Demons starring Tom Hanks.

Box Office Results: Wolverine slashes its way through the competition

Studio Estimates for May 1-3:

1.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $87 million
2.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $15.3 million
3.  Obsessed – $12.2 million
4.  17 Again – $6.4 million
5.  Monsters vs. Aliens – $5.8 million

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And the summer blockbuster season is under way with Wolverine taking in $87 million during the first weekend of May.  I guess all the questions whether the online leak would be a serious obstacle for the X-men prequel have been put to rest.  Although Wolverine didn’t pull in as much money as X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.8 million) did its opening weekend, it still exceeded expectations despite mostly negative reviews.  I’m sure there will be plenty of X-Men movies to come.

The rest of the box office fell into place.  The romantic comedy, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, grabbed the #2 spot with $15.3 million.  And Obsessed, 17 Again, and Monsters vs. Aliens rounded up the Top 5.

As for our predictions, Sheehan was the only one to correctly predict the movies in the Top 5 (although not in order), but my prediction for Wolverine was the closest and was what made me the Top Dog of the Panel for this weekend.

Check back on Friday for our new predictions as the summer blockbuster season continues with JJ Abrams’ take on Star Trek.

Box Office Predictions (May 1-3)

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Greetings to all!  It’s May!  Which unofficially begins the summer blockbuster season.  So it’s no surprise the first big summer film is a superhero flick, Wolverine (as you recall, last year’s first May weekend release was Iron Man).  The other wide release of the weekend counters the big-budget sci-fi/action film with a chick-flick romantic comedy, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.  Let’s get to it.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  So we knew Hollywood wasn’t done with this superhero, mutant story.  The first (of many?) since the trilogy stars Oscar-host Hugh Jackman playing the titled role.  Opening in about 4,100 theaters, it’s not much of a question if Wolverine will top the box office… but how much will it make?  Wolverine is the most popular character from the mutant clan, but a few weeks ago there was a major leak onto the Internet that had the movie in its entirety (w/o special effects).  A good amount of people downloaded that file and watched the movie.  Will those people still go and pay to see Wolverine on opening weekend?  Probably not, but the truth is that there’s a hell of a lot of people who haven’t seen it yet, and a large portion of those people who really want to see this movie.  X-Men opened to $55 million, X-2 opened to $86 million, and X-Men: The Last Stand opened to $103 million.  Where will Wolverine land?

Now onto Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which made my Top 5 summer films I definitely do NOT want to see.  Starring heartthrob Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, this film will surely attract the female demographic.  Opening in almost 3,200 theaters, it’s almost certain Ghosts of Girlfriends Past will be runner-up this weekend, but just like Wolverine it’s a question as to how much it’ll make.

And although it’s almost not worth mentioning, there is another film being released this weekend: Battle for Terra.  It’s a 3-D animated sci-fi film that I haven’t even heard of or say a trailer/commercial for.  I’ll be surprised if it cracks the Top 5.

Here are our predictions:

My Predictions:

1.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $80 million
2.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $22 million
3.  Obsessed – $13 million
4.  17 Again – $7 million
5.  Earth – $6 million

Chris’ Predictions:

1.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $95 million
2.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $35 million
3.  Obsessed – $15 million
4.  17 Again – $8 million
5.  The Soloist – $7 million

Phil’s Predictions:

1.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $60 million
2.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $23 million
3.  Obsessed – $11 million
4.  Battle for Terra – $7 million
5.  17 Again – $4 million

Sheehan’s Predictions:

1.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $70 million
2.  Obsessed – $15 million
3.  Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $14 million
4.  17 Again – $9 million
5.  Monsters vs. Aliens – $7 million

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So the Predictions Panel expressed their unanimous decision that Wolverine will top the box office with a range from $60-$95 million and an average of $76.25 million.  I’d say that’s a pretty fine guess if you want to play things safe.  Chris was bold enough to predict Wolverine to pull in a monstrous gross of $95 million.  Let’s see who wins the Wolverine sweepstakes.  As for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Sheehan is the only member of the Panel who think it won’t secure the #2 spot.  Phil’s the only one who felt Battle for Terra will crack the Top 5.  And all four of us have a different selection for our #5 spots.

Let’s see who does the best.  Check back Monday for the results.

Box Office Results: Audiences go crazy for ‘Obsessed’

Studio Estimates (April 24-26):

1.  Obsessed – $28.5 million
2.  17 Again – $11.7 million
3.  Fighting – $11.4 million
4.  The Soloist – $9.7 million
5.  Earth – $8.6 million

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So what was about this ‘Obsessed’ film that made everyone want to see it this weekend?  Who knows… maybe the Beyonce star-power, or maybe the psycho/suspense/thriller is something the teens want to see these days.  Whatever the reason, it destroyed the competition from the rest of the new releases.

The rest of the three new films were able to land in the Top 5, but all behind last weekend’s box office king, 17 Again.  The results for the #5 and #6 spots were extremely close.  Disney’s documentary Earth landed the fifth spot with an estimate of $8.55 million while the DreamWorks animated feature Monsters vs. Aliens grossed an estimate of $8.52 million.  Those two can very well be switched when the actual results come in.

As for our predictions, Phil was the only one to guess all five films on the Top 5, but unfortunately none were in the right order.  After tallying the results, my predictions were the closest to the results with Sheehan not too far behind.

Check back on Friday when the first week of May presents us with the first weekend of the Summer Blockbusters:  the romantic-comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.