RatCreature (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ratcreature) wrote2011-06-13 09:09 pm
ratcreature) wrote2011-06-13 09:09 pm
X-Men: First Class
I watched X-Men: First Class this afternoon, and even managed to find a showing that wasn't dubbed.
I had a lot of fun watching this (though it helped that I was slightly spoiled and thus forewarned of their fail, when of course they killed Darwin as the noble sacrifice, and had Angel join the villains). The pacing and the action definitely worked for me. It also did a good job to make Magneto sympathetic, and also rather awesome in the violent competence way.
It didn't really set up Charles as having a much different ideology though, considering how ruthlessly he deals with regular humans, even allies like Moira who only might be a danger. I mean, it didn't seem like it was implied that she consented to a partial mindwipe for everyone's safety sake. And he seems to basically agree with how Erik frames the future as human vs. mutants with mutants being safer if they just rely on their own. His thesis seems to have said as much, too. And he chose to side with Erik when it came to the CIA not running Cerebro (one of my favorite moments in the movie, btw), even though at that point the CIA hadn't really done anything threatening, and they were hunting for other dangerous mutants.
So I guess I choose to interpret their parting at the end there as not yet a true enemy kind of split. Especially since I can't see how this Raven at that point would choose sides against Charles. And Erik kept the Magneto nickname the kids came up with, so that seems telling that he doesn't feel too badly towards them yet.
And I sort of hope there'll be fanfic exploring more how Charles' views helped Erik arrive at his own "mutants first" and "brotherhood of mutants" ideology so fast after just finding other mutants, while hunting Nazis and his mother's killer, who turns out to be a mutant too. (I don't think he knew Shaw as fellow mutant until the boat fight, right?)
I also wondered at some of the characters' backstories. I can see how omitting much allowed this to have the pacing I enjoyed, but I wondered what Emma Frost's story here was. I'm rather unfamiliar with her comic backstory, but the times I encountered her in X-Men comics she wasn't a villain, though I'm vaguely aware that she reformed at some point in the comics.
Also, did I miss something about why Alex was in jail in the first place? My assumption was that maybe he had harmed someone because he was unable to control his energy blasts, which would also explain why he preferred solitary confinement, i.e. to avoid harming other inmates in conflicts or in self-defense or the like. OTOH how would some energy blast injury have been connected to him without anyone official becoming aware of his dangerous mutation.
I had a lot of fun watching this (though it helped that I was slightly spoiled and thus forewarned of their fail, when of course they killed Darwin as the noble sacrifice, and had Angel join the villains). The pacing and the action definitely worked for me. It also did a good job to make Magneto sympathetic, and also rather awesome in the violent competence way.
It didn't really set up Charles as having a much different ideology though, considering how ruthlessly he deals with regular humans, even allies like Moira who only might be a danger. I mean, it didn't seem like it was implied that she consented to a partial mindwipe for everyone's safety sake. And he seems to basically agree with how Erik frames the future as human vs. mutants with mutants being safer if they just rely on their own. His thesis seems to have said as much, too. And he chose to side with Erik when it came to the CIA not running Cerebro (one of my favorite moments in the movie, btw), even though at that point the CIA hadn't really done anything threatening, and they were hunting for other dangerous mutants.
So I guess I choose to interpret their parting at the end there as not yet a true enemy kind of split. Especially since I can't see how this Raven at that point would choose sides against Charles. And Erik kept the Magneto nickname the kids came up with, so that seems telling that he doesn't feel too badly towards them yet.
And I sort of hope there'll be fanfic exploring more how Charles' views helped Erik arrive at his own "mutants first" and "brotherhood of mutants" ideology so fast after just finding other mutants, while hunting Nazis and his mother's killer, who turns out to be a mutant too. (I don't think he knew Shaw as fellow mutant until the boat fight, right?)
I also wondered at some of the characters' backstories. I can see how omitting much allowed this to have the pacing I enjoyed, but I wondered what Emma Frost's story here was. I'm rather unfamiliar with her comic backstory, but the times I encountered her in X-Men comics she wasn't a villain, though I'm vaguely aware that she reformed at some point in the comics.
Also, did I miss something about why Alex was in jail in the first place? My assumption was that maybe he had harmed someone because he was unable to control his energy blasts, which would also explain why he preferred solitary confinement, i.e. to avoid harming other inmates in conflicts or in self-defense or the like. OTOH how would some energy blast injury have been connected to him without anyone official becoming aware of his dangerous mutation.
no subject
Emma Frost in comics canon is the daughter of a very rich but rather abusive family and she turns her back on it to go and be her own woman. With some help from her telepathy, she goes to college to study teaching (because she wants to help other children whose families reject them) but eventually decides that she wants power. She joins the Hellfire Club with Shaw, then later starts her own school for mutant kids and becomes not entirely unsympathetic (as many X-Men villains do!) Later she joins the X-Men as a teacher, and then joins the team, but she's always more interested in the protection of the children and teens than fighting bad guys.
no subject