I hate to say it. I really do. I'm actually looking forward to seeing
X-Men: First Class! Good God, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little... As I'm sure you all must surely know, I've been one of the biggest haters towards the movie. When it was announced that Matthew Vaughn would be directing, and that it would be set in the 1960s, I was fine. "Could Fox finally be about to make a good comic book movie?" I wondered. It was Bryan Singer's revelation that it would not follow the original five and some seemingly dubious casting and character decisions that had me all but ready to burn Fox's headquarters down though. Apart from one or two decent enough decisions (Michael Fassbender as Magneto!) I could find nothing to like about
X-Men: First Class. it was truly shaping up in my eyes to be one awful [frick]ing movie. And it was at that time, I decided to write a rather controversial editorial.
What was that editorial?
Why X-Men: First Class Will Probably Be The Worst CBM Ever! Extreme, but that really was how I felt. Hell, I still do to a large extent. So what changed my mind!? Well, those unexciting set photos sure as hell did nothing to alter my opinion. The only thing the really assured me of was that Vaughn had successfully made a convincing looking period piece. To be fair, I thought the costumes were good (or at least a million times better than the leather monstrosities of the first three films) and Magneto's helmet was PERFECT. I was feeling a little more positively towards the film perhaps, but still had little to no interest in seeing Fox butcher any more of my favourite comic book characters. Then, the trailer was released. And all of a sudden, I was suddenly looking forward to
X-Men: First Class as much as
Thor,
Green Lantern and
Captain America: The First Avenger! Phew, I feel like I need to take a shower after confessing to such a thing! After all, we're talking about the same studio that made movies like
Fantastic Four,
Elektra and...well...every other bad comic book movie you can think of! I do realise that it's far too early to suddenly declare this latest effort as being better, based only on a teaser trailer and handful of impressive interviews with the cast. Only seeing it on June 2 (gotta love living in the UK) will ultimately decide whether it's any good or not. I do however think it's important to note that I no longer think it will be as bad as any of us either predicted or expected.
That trailer had everything in it that I always wanted to see in an X-Men movie. I hated Singer's two and Ratner's equally as much. (I won't go into why as I've done that plenty of times before elsewhere) Vaughn however has seemingly managed to find the perfect balance of politics and action, just as the comic books always have. The Blackbird scenes should be truly epic, while the rest of the action looked like it had been translated directly from the comic books themselves. (at least I could see nothing as lame as the Wolverine vs. Wolverine fight from the first one) And as much as I like Ian McKellen, how great is it to have a Magneto who actually looks menacing rather than one who looks like he should be in a retirement home? McAvoy also impressed me as Xavier, while they've nailed the looks of Beast, Emma Frost and Mystique equally well.
The problem that remains, is the drastic changes from the source material. I'm pretty sure that whatever the movie ends up being like, I'll find it hard to get over them. The fact is, it's out of our hands. However much we all complain, studios like Fox will continue making these movies. Why? They make a crap load of cash. We can talk about boycotting these films as much as we like, and perhaps the critics will dislike this as much as they have the past few. Even so, over two million people signed up to the Facebook page in anticipation of the trailer reveal. The response from non comic book fans? Pretty damn positive. It even changed my mind and many other fanboys, as you can see from this editorial, which is pretty astonishing considering that I once flat out refused to go and watch the movie. What I'm saying is that it might just be worth giving
X-Men: First Class a chance. There's no denying that it will not be a good adaptation of the source material. But maybe, just maybe, they'll do enough right with the characters and story to make a decent film.
Recent reports have seemingly hinted at them introducing characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey in the sequels. While this is far from how the comic books did it, we could really be in for something great here. It's easy to hate Fox. Everything they do is seemingly another reason for us to do just that. But perhaps it's time to have faith in them doing the right thing. They've hired Matthew Vaughn for this, and the brilliant Darren Aronofsky for
The Wolverine. Take a look at what we know about
Captain America and
Thor. Both of those are seemingly completely original stories not based on any specific stories. Steve will be a part of the USO. Bucky will have no mask. A powerless Thor lands on Earth and calls himself Donald Blake. Pretty far from the comics, but Marvel Studios earned our trust with
Iron Man and
The Incredible Hulk. Maybe
X-Men: First Class is doing the same. If for one am looking forward to it. And I NEVER thought I'd say THAT.