I’ve been exceedingly lax in the reviewing of things. Time to post some updates already.
In my first cinema outing in over a year, I went and saw X-Men: First Class with family and friends today. The overall story, pacing, and acting were well done and a good time was had by all. There was plenty of big-screen spectacle, and combined with a first-rate story and solid character development, it was worth the price of admission.
One item I’ll address right away is January Jones’ portrayal of Emma Frost. Prior to viewing, I’d heard and read nearly universal praise for the film, lots of great performances, yada yada. In stark contrast, Jones was nearly universally panned, terrible acting, etc. Maybe that’s the case, maybe it isn’t, but in my humble opinion, she really wasn’t in the film enough to matter anyway. Maybe in the follow-up if she has, say, FOUR lines instead of three, we’ll be able to more accurately reassess. Her character may have been present during some key scenes, but so were the guys labeled in the credits as “extras”.
The film, for those who haven’t heard, lays out an origin story for some of the main characters in the X-Men world, and how they came to be the way they are. James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier starts out the movie still in command of his legs AND his hair, and we get a good look at the beginnings of Magneto, played with flair by an excellent Michael Fassbender, with some solid backstory on why he’s a rather angry guy. In a move which provides solid underpinnings for the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon for many years to come, we have Mr. Bacon here in excellent form as bad guy Sebastian Shaw. We also get a bit of development of others such as Mystique and Beast. The backdrop for the story leads up to and through the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.
Overall, in a time when I’ve found myself NOT rushing off to the local theater unless I really think a movie can justify the ticket price in entertainment value, I’d recommend this one. It’s good big-screen popcorn fare and a solid well-acted story to boot!
Beyond this point be spoilers…aaaarrrrrr
The main nitpicky moment that comes to mind is one of the young recruits whose mutation is the ability to rapidly adapt to survive. As such, he can turn into a lot of things, depending on the need, and has the nerdy x-men moniker of Darwin. He dies fairly early and fairly quickly as the result of an “energy thing” done to him be Kevin Bacon, to which he apparently can’t adapt. Really. A character with that kind of potential really didn’t need to be killed so quickly. This is what happens when I’m not consulted on script writing.
We had the opportunity also this weekend to go to the actual theater (live action) where we took in a local production of Lend Me A Tenor and it was, in a word, fabulous. The setting, Bozeman, Montana’s Ellen Theater is a lovely throwback to classier times, and this play, a comedy, was thoroughly enjoyed by my whole family.
The story (written by Ken Ludwig) centers around a young man who is the assistant to a man putting on an opera which is to involve the world famous tenor Tito Morelli. The young man is an inspiring opera singer of sorts, and he’s also interested in the affections of his boss’s daughter. We also have an eager bellhop, an amorous female opera singer, Tito’s hot-tempered jealous wife, and an exceedingly Italian Tito in a story that takes place entirely within one hotel room over the course of a very long, very chaotic day. Your actors may vary, but the local cast here put on an excellent and hilarious performance. It’s smartly written, and when performed well, it’s a real treat. If you happen across a local production of this, I’d recommend checking it out.
