X-Men: First Class Review ⁰

by Sinoun • Reviews

The mood for the X-Men First Class trailer was sombre and serious – a step up from the previous X films and a giant ascension from the major Wolverine letdown. It also reminded me a bit of the Watchmen trailer; subdued and stylized, enticing viewers through subtlety rather than gratuitous explosions and cheap CGI. But where Watchmen was overly ambitious with its actual delivery, First Class struck a fine balance between ambition and expectation – it understood its audience and gave them exactly what they came for; a substantial, yet digestible summer blockbuster.

Central to any good comic film, are well-developed characters. In First Class, the two main protagonists are handled with compassion and instilled with credibility, with careful attention paid to the fragments of their lives and to the details that paint the picture of who they were prior to inheriting their super-mutant statuses. Before they were Professor X and Magneto, they were Charles and Erik, two friends allied in their mission to save humanity from the villainous Sebastian Shaw and an impending nuclear war. Overriding the initial friendship however, are opposing views on the coexistence of humans and mutants. “Killing will not bring you peace,” warns Charles. Erik, whose past was riddled with injustice and torment, asserts that “Peace was never an option”, thus laying the ideological differences that would go on to create the monumental rift between them.

James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, as Professor X and Magneto respectively, were made for these roles. Major props to the casting director for recognizing true talent and enabling some credible onscreen chemistry – bromance in all its realness. I’ve always loved McAvoy for his brilliance and his boyish good looks and as Charles he shines – charming and sympathetic, wise and trustworthy. Michael Fassbender’s Magneto feels like a revelation – he’s as hot as he is troubled, burdened with internal turmoil and a thirst for vengeance, struggling to make his mark in the mutant world and save his fellow mutants from mankind’s cruelty. His heart is full of rage, but Charles teaches him how to summon his true strength with a calm serenity he doesn’t even know he had in one of the film’s more touching moments.

Both Xavier and Magneto are created with integrity and grace, rendering them more real, giving us reasons to care about their legacies. There is no good or bad, just two men with different world views, charting their destinies as legendary characters upholding pivotal roles in the human evolution saga. The supporting cast of misfits and mutants makes for a fun ensemble, an army establishing their positions on different ends of the superhero spectrum. Aside from some filler material, some requisite juvenile montage and the occasional yawn-inducing long-stretches of inaction, X-Men takes its superhero storytelling pretty seriously. Not since Dark Knight has there been a comic-film as engrossing and inspiring, as intelligent and entertaining as the backstory of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. Batman set the bar for great superhero films and X-Men has made an admirable attempt to reach it, even though it hasn’t quite hit the mark.

What I like most about First Class is that it satiates the need to know the humanity behind the superpowers, providing situational explanations of who these characters are and what makes them so. Had this film been the very first, the true beginning, it might’ve set the tone for the rest of the X-Men movies, a franchise of stories with substance that make them more than just a money-making empire, but a legacy of artful, compelling characters in a turbulent world; a super hero saga embedded with important lessons for humanity.

Of course, as with any comic to movie adaptation, there’s bound to be a few, if not many, inconsistencies. One of the drawbacks of creating a story-line appreciable by even non die-hard X-Men fans is that it veers from the original comics and is made less authentic. But the ability to select an effective and entertaining narrative from the vast libraries of the Marvel galaxy isn’t necessarily an easy undertaking. The end result is enjoyable for what it is. We’re not talking Oscar material here, just an entry into the league of X-traordinary summer films.

Bridesmaids Movie Review ⁰

by Sinoun • Reviews

Despite all the raunch and rowdiness that makes up Bridesmaids, at its core, it is still a chick flick of standard conventions. While not a bad movie, I only wish it had amassed all its great potential to transcend the familiar rom-com territory and chart out a new path for female-centric comedies. It fails when it relies too heavily on the same devices that make mainstream movies so predictable and formulaic, but redeems itself with the funniest of funny leading ladies.

Kristin Wiig plays Annie, a woman whose long list of personal troubles compromise her ability to carry out her duties as maid of honor for her best friend’s upcoming wedding (played by Maya Rudolph, one of my favorite SNL alums). Both actors are supported by a group of madcap characters who round out the rest of the bridal party, with a standout performance from Melissa McCarthy, another virtuoso of comedy. As if her own problems weren’t enough, (no man, no money, a failed bakery) Annie also finds some unexpected competition in Lillian’s new friend (Rose Byrne) a beautiful and wealthy trophy wife who tries to outshine her as the better “best friend”. A hilarious toasting scene at a dinner party demonstrates their burgeoning rivalry beautifully.

While guys will probably enjoy it just as much, it’s certainly a movie to see with your closest gal pals, as it capture the dynamics of female friendships and fragile scenarios with a perceptive eye and open heart. Emotions can and do get confusing when it seems your best friend’s life is nearing perfection while your own is crumbling with no signs of happiness in sight. I respect the film’s ability to draw out honest and intense emotions from its characters, when the alternative could’ve been to just feign delight and then talk about your friend behind her back, as Maya Rudolph’s character humorously quips is the “normal thing to do”. Let’s face it, jealousy can and does get in the way of friendship sometimes – while we love our friends and want them to be happy, their external perfection can highlight our own personal shortcomings, making us feel like losers. (This is why insecure people often make the worst girlfriends). But solid bonds can not be broken and Bridesmaids takes its characters over some zany and hilarious hurdles to prove this point.

In the end, I feel the movie could’ve benefited from better editing: less body humor (overdone bathroom jokes, anyone?) and a lot more of the subtle, refined, witty variety of comedy we see in the first half of the film. The trailer leaves out the best scenes and punch lines, which is good for audiences who all too often are fed the best material in the promos. Bridesmaids keeps its meat for the main course. Still I just couldn’t help but feel that as everything was coming together, the movie had fallen apart for me. Brace yourself, or better yet, “hold on” for the cheesiest of cheese-fests at the end. (Admittedly, a guilty pleasure for many of us).

Despite my reservations, the negatives shouldn’t stop you from giving Bridesmaids a chance, (perhaps better saved for a 5-dollar day) because it still has a lot going for it. If you can forgive the sappy last third of the film, you’ll bear witness to Kristin Wiig’s brilliant humor, a performer gifted in the art of timing and subtlety, who shines in almost all her scenes. I don’t think Tina Fey will be losing her comedy crown any time soon, but Kristin Wiig is a legitimate contender and a rising star in her own right.