X Men First Class, or: an X-men movie that doesn't suck

[Lumenskir]

This movie satisfied my only requirement* for a summer blockbuster in spades. Recommended, but not mandatory.

*It moved like a motherfucker.

True. BUT! It's still part of Fox's licensing or franchise or whatever so you'd think they wouldn't allow these sort of inconsistencies. I mean, there are huge glaring contradictions not just some tiny maybe-this-could-work-ones.

Unless they have worked out a deal with fox that this film is going to somehow be incorporated with or be the link between marvel's current 'movieverse' and the previous X-men movies, I see this film as being totally confusing.

Pretty sure I read somewhere that this was a reboot of the franchise disguised as a prequel.

If not, just stop being a nerd.

[Magus]

If it's really a reboot, it basically failed entirely at "rebooting" the franchise since there is zero exposition on the fact that hey there are all these mutants and they hide in our society and etc. etc. There is no set-up, the movie just starts and assumes you know all about the X-Men universe via the other 4 movies.

The first movie for instance has Wolverine wandering around, runs into a couple of mutants, then he finds out there are more like him, probably about half the movie is just setting up the universe.

So it's certainly not a reboot...as for being a huge nerd, well, yes! But I dislike the fact that it moved so quickly, I wanted it to have slower scenes and less of them. So I hate the fact that it moved like a motherfucker.

[Lumenskir]

If it's really a reboot, it basically failed entirely at "rebooting" the franchise since there is zero exposition on the fact that hey there are all these mutants and they hide in our society and etc. etc.

You do realize that "Show don't tell" is a tenet of storytelling right? Do you really need somebody to stare at the camera and say some magic words when the character's actions in the movie (Raven always looking like fine-ass Jennifer Lawrence, Beast hiding his feet until in the presence of people he trusts, Shaw's gang only revealing their nature to people they then kill or coerce, etc.) speak to the points you're trying to make.

And seeing as mutants in the movie seem to be a relatively new phenomenon (to the government at least), the eventual metaphor-laden "Segregation and hiding of true nature" storylines can start later.

But I dislike the fact that it moved so quickly, I wanted it to have slower scenes and less of them. So I hate the fact that it moved like a motherfucker.

Nah. Summer movies, especially superhero movies, are measured by how long they can distract you from the fact that what you're watching is inherently ridiculous. You should never really stop asking "What happens next?" lest you hit a snag scene and start grumbling "What the fuck is this?"

[Magus]

Yes, what this movie did was definitely show-don't-tell, very subtle stuff going on here.

[Nique]

If not, just stop being a nerd.

If this sort of thing happened in a major film series of ANY other genre, it wouldn't just be nerds crying foul and everyone involved would be chastized for allowing such glaring inconsistencies that take you out of the story.

For me I just think there's something to be said for making their intentions with this movie clear becuase I am totally on board for rebooting X-Men, I just don't want them to pretend that this pretty excellent movie is part of the same series as X3: Mutants Take Manhattan San Francisco.

[Magus]

Except that this movie basically has all the same faults as that movie? It's not really computing to me. I think people who disliked X3 didn't watch it in the ensuing years and so they forgot what they didn't like about it.

[Lumenskir]

If this sort of thing happened in a major film series of ANY other genre, it wouldn't just be nerds crying foul and everyone involved would be chastized for allowing such glaring inconsistencies that take you out of the story.

For me I just think there's something to be said for making their intentions with this movie clear becuase I am totally on board for rebooting X-Men, I just don't want them to pretend that this pretty excellent movie is part of the same series as X3: Mutants Take Manhattan San Francisco.

Ok, maybe I'm missing something, but how exactly do you pronounce that its a reboot within the movie? Star Trek did it with time travel (and even then I still had to explain to my mom why it wasn't a part of the series she grew up watching), but what is the accepted way outside of that?

[Nique]

Not using footage from previous X-Men films in your promo material would be a good start.

Originally Posted by Magus

Except that this movie basically has all the same faults as that movie? It's not really computing to me. I think people who disliked X3 didn't watch it in the ensuing years and so they forgot what they didn't like about it.

No I felt like First Class was objectively better even though it wasn't perfect. X3 suffered from a weak story, bad directing, lazy special FX, overcooked ideas from the previous films, and a bloated cast. First Class at the very least attempted to explore Xavier and Magneto's characters in an interesting way, among other strengths.

[Magus]

Reintroduce us to the universe and characters instead of assuming we already know who and what they are and how it all works. Reintroduce the whole concept that your story is based on.

EDIT: I mean shit just the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine cameo shows us it isn't a reboot. What if The Dark Knight had Batman trying to track down the Joker and he runs into Danny DeVito as the Penguin, are we supposed to assume this is a separate series?

[Kerensky287]

Originally Posted by Magus

Reintroduce us to the universe and characters instead of assuming we already know who and what they are and how it all works. Reintroduce the whole concept that your story is based on.

EDIT: I mean shit just the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine cameo shows us it isn't a reboot. What if The Dark Knight had Batman trying to track down the Joker and he runs into Danny DeVito as the Penguin, are we supposed to assume this is a separate series?

I didn't get the feeling it was a reboot. I thought it was just a prequel that ignored X3 and Wolverine Origins. Either way, they introduced the universe and characters well enough, I thought - they made it clear Magneto controls metal, Charles is a telepath, etc. They also laid out the idea of mutations, the idea that the government doesn't totally know about them yet, and so on. I figure future additions will get going on the racism allegory, considering that First Class ended with Charles making sure only the mutants knew about the mutants.

And reboots don't necessarily have to have different characters, either. Judi Dench plays M both before and after Casino Royale, for example, so saying "it isn't a reboot because X actor plays Y character" doesn't make any sense.