clevermanka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clevermanka) wrote2012-04-27 08:49 am
clevermanka) wrote2012-04-27 08:49 am
XMFC Finally
I finally got around to watching X-Men: First Class on Tuesday night. The serger was still in the shop, and movie-watching is one of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mckitterick's Top Favorite Things Evar, so there you go. It was...okay. The movie itself was okay. Everything about the movie was great. I think I probably should have seen it in the theater, with a lot of other people who were really into it. As it was, my experience of the film for the film itself was (unfortunately) colored by reactions like this:
"They call those 60s fashions? I saw better representations of this era in Austin Powers*."
"Oh of course the black guy dies. I mean, really, scriptwriters? Really? Come on. You might as well have mixed your metaphors and put him in a red shirt instead of that blue one."
"How Really Incredibly Interesting that the Latino actor with the heavy accent has no speaking lines**."
It didn't help that the DVD was damaged, and it froze up during the "Walk the line between rage and serenity and you can move a giant fucking satellite dish thing" scene. Also, what line exists between rage and serenity, please someone tell me, because I think that would be a helpful thing to incorporate into my life, even without any mutant powers. Man, that concept just sucks. Does it come out of the comics? Because that's the only excuse I can imagine for using it.
So this isn't a total downer post, though, here are the things I enjoyed (and I did enjoy it--god knows it was miles better than Thor):
The casting was superb. Even January Jones, whom I'm pretty sure is the most vapid, frigid actress I've ever seen, was thus perfect for this interpretation of Emma Frost. I could look at Michael Fassbender all day, so no complaints there. In my teens, I totally would've crushed on Nicholas Hoult, who played Hank (Beast). OMG he was perfect and adorable. Anyway, yeah. Good job, casting department.
I loved how they built the relationship between Erik and Raven. Loved it. There was depth there that I didn't expect. My first reaction to Raven's treatment of Hank was that she was being a manipulative cocktease. But after thinking about it, I realize that wasn't her motivation at all. She was trying to find someone else (someone more appropriate than Erik) who valued her sexually as a non-human-looking mutant. When she realized this was doomed to failure, only then did she finally succumb to reality and pick her side. I think Jennifer Lawrence was just too young to make this struggle come off as anything other than flirtation. The Erik/Raven echoing Shaw and Frost's relationship was great. I love how the Erik/Raven relationship is complex and fraught, while the Shaw/Frost one appears much more shallow--just as the respective characters themselves are three-dimensional vs. two-dimensional. Just like comic books versus a movie! The meta here was fucking made of awesome.
It's too bad I'm coming late to the game on this one, because I'm sure the conversations about this movie (meta! my favorite!) would've been fantastic.
mckitterick asked me what mutant power I'd like and I came up with some weird convoluted thing about DNA, but upon reflection what it really comes down to is Regeneration. I want to be able to regenerate my damaged body cells. Seems like this is a fairly common trait in the Marvel universe, so it's not like I'm asking for the moon, here. Just imagine how handy that would come in for daily life, even. I'd never have to wear sunscreen again! And kiss that autoimmune disease (or at least the symptoms) goodbye!
* For most of the women's fashions. The men's fashions were fine.
** At least none that I remember--and I think I would've remembered that accent.
mckitterick's Top Favorite Things Evar, so there you go. It was...okay. The movie itself was okay. Everything about the movie was great. I think I probably should have seen it in the theater, with a lot of other people who were really into it. As it was, my experience of the film for the film itself was (unfortunately) colored by reactions like this:"They call those 60s fashions? I saw better representations of this era in Austin Powers*."
"Oh of course the black guy dies. I mean, really, scriptwriters? Really? Come on. You might as well have mixed your metaphors and put him in a red shirt instead of that blue one."
"How Really Incredibly Interesting that the Latino actor with the heavy accent has no speaking lines**."
It didn't help that the DVD was damaged, and it froze up during the "Walk the line between rage and serenity and you can move a giant fucking satellite dish thing" scene. Also, what line exists between rage and serenity, please someone tell me, because I think that would be a helpful thing to incorporate into my life, even without any mutant powers. Man, that concept just sucks. Does it come out of the comics? Because that's the only excuse I can imagine for using it.
So this isn't a total downer post, though, here are the things I enjoyed (and I did enjoy it--god knows it was miles better than Thor):
The casting was superb. Even January Jones, whom I'm pretty sure is the most vapid, frigid actress I've ever seen, was thus perfect for this interpretation of Emma Frost. I could look at Michael Fassbender all day, so no complaints there. In my teens, I totally would've crushed on Nicholas Hoult, who played Hank (Beast). OMG he was perfect and adorable. Anyway, yeah. Good job, casting department.
I loved how they built the relationship between Erik and Raven. Loved it. There was depth there that I didn't expect. My first reaction to Raven's treatment of Hank was that she was being a manipulative cocktease. But after thinking about it, I realize that wasn't her motivation at all. She was trying to find someone else (someone more appropriate than Erik) who valued her sexually as a non-human-looking mutant. When she realized this was doomed to failure, only then did she finally succumb to reality and pick her side. I think Jennifer Lawrence was just too young to make this struggle come off as anything other than flirtation. The Erik/Raven echoing Shaw and Frost's relationship was great. I love how the Erik/Raven relationship is complex and fraught, while the Shaw/Frost one appears much more shallow--just as the respective characters themselves are three-dimensional vs. two-dimensional. Just like comic books versus a movie! The meta here was fucking made of awesome.
It's too bad I'm coming late to the game on this one, because I'm sure the conversations about this movie (meta! my favorite!) would've been fantastic.
mckitterick asked me what mutant power I'd like and I came up with some weird convoluted thing about DNA, but upon reflection what it really comes down to is Regeneration. I want to be able to regenerate my damaged body cells. Seems like this is a fairly common trait in the Marvel universe, so it's not like I'm asking for the moon, here. Just imagine how handy that would come in for daily life, even. I'd never have to wear sunscreen again! And kiss that autoimmune disease (or at least the symptoms) goodbye!* For most of the women's fashions. The men's fashions were fine.
** At least none that I remember--and I think I would've remembered that accent.