X-Men: First Class (2011)

In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III.

Director:

Matthew Vaughn

Writers:

Ashley Miller (screenplay), Zack Stentz (screenplay),

Stars:

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon

5 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James McAvoy	...	Charles Xavier (24 Years)
Laurence Belcher	...	Charles Xavier (12 Years)
Michael Fassbender	...	Erik Lensherr
Bill Milner	...	Young Erik
Kevin Bacon	...	Sebastian Shaw
Rose Byrne	...	Moira MacTaggert
Jennifer Lawrence	...	Raven / Mystique
Beth Goddard	...	Mrs. Xavier
Morgan Lily	...	Young Raven (10 yrs)
Oliver Platt	...	Man in Black Suit
Álex González	...	Janos Quested / Riptide
Jason Flemyng	...	Azazel
Zoë Kravitz	...	Angel Salvadore
January Jones	...	Emma Frost
Nicholas Hoult	...	Hank / Beast

Storyline

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.

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Plot Keywords:

mutant | professor | poland | nuclear war | x men | 

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Taglines:

Witness the origin

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] 20th Century Fox [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French Spanish Russian

Release Date:

3 June 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

X-Men: Primera generación

Filming Locations:

Englefield House, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$55,101,604 (USA) (3 June 2011)

Gross:

$146,405,371 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Marvel Entertainment, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sarah Harding was called back three times for the role of Emma Frost.

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Goofs

Many of the ships and weapons seen in the US and Soviet fleets did not exist in 1962 at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. For example the US flagship is the USS Iowa, but the Iowa was not in service at the time. Even if she had been, the ship was not fitted with the CIWS Gatling gun defense system until the 1980s. Amongst the collection of missiles fired at the beach are Harpoon anti ship missiles, which came into service in 1977, and Tomahawk missiles, which came into service in the late 1970s. On the Soviet side the flagship appears to be a Kresta class cruiser, a design not in service until 1967.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Charles Xavier: Mother. What are you... I thought you were a burglar.
Mrs. Xavier: I didn't mean to scare you, darling. I was just getting a snack. Go back to bed. What's the matter? Go on, back to bed.I, I'll make you a hot chocolate.
Charles Xavier: Who are you? And what have you done with my mother?
Charles Xavier: [telepathically in her mind] My mother has never set foot in this kitchen in her life. And she certainly never made me a hot chocolate, unless you count ordering the maid to do it.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Part of the closing credits take place in a sequence of X-symbols, chromosomes and DNA strands (reminiscent of the opening credits to Dr. No).

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes III: Not in 3D (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Concentration Camp (From [link=tt0120903])"
Written by Michael Kamen
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

User Reviews

Almost pitch-perfect!.... An X-tremely good job!

What stands out in this movie (besides the look of some of the mutants), is the clever way in which all the pieces fall into place as a prequel which cements the backdrop and tone for the previous X-men offers. This one however, stands above them though for the consideration and tact that has gone into developing these understandably complex characters. Resulting in a more complete movie experience.

The leading cast do a brilliant job in giving you a sense of their conflict with ingredients such as prejudice, ignorance, a sense of belonging and bitter revenge giving the film a more humane feel than a lot of dramas allowing you to connect with the characters more easily.

The special effects- lets not forget, are top notch as expected, but surprisingly very in-keeping with the film and doesn't take away from the other elements of it. The violence is clean but present, pitched right between a young and adult audience. There's also a decent amount of ironic humour thrown in, which, considering the party tricks on offer (by that I mean the powers and peculiarities of the mutants), just comes and goes naturally without feeling forced as like a lot of comedy moments in films of late.

Bottom-line, this is a well-constructed, well acted Marvel film. I wasn't totally convinced beforehand, casting James McAvoy as the young Xavier, a full head of hair and northern accent doesn't seem the best fit after all. I can say that he fully realised that role and showed his range in playing a more commanding lead. Michael Fassbender has great screen presence and does a good shift as the Magneto to-be and Mr Bacon adds another interesting element to the story. All the supporting cast give a solid performance with everyone focused on the exciting job at hand and no weak links.

Easily worth the cinema admission and thank god they didn't make it in hit-and-miss 3d, there's just no need! The best of the X-men franchise.