My Fave Five X-Men Films

Hello, friends!

As you may have noticed, I have been going through an X-Men film phase of late. With the end of Fox’s era of X-Men films, I decided to go back and watch the entire franchise, reviewing the films I had yet to review on the site along the way. Kicking off with 2000s X-Men and concluding with next year’s New Mutants, and consisting of three spin-off series, the franchise has had its ups and downs over its nearly twenty-year run. Recently, I created the definitive viewing order for all twelve of the currently released X-Men movies. But now, it’s time to look at which movies I liked most in the franchise. Here are my fave five X-Men films.

5) X-Men: Days of Future Past

I can hear you saying “What? Days of Future Past is only number 5??” Yes, but that’s nothing against the film. Days of Future Past is a magnificent film. However, it lacks the heart that most of the other films on this list has. But it does have an abundance of everything else: action, excitement, character development, and Wolverine. This is great to bring all the major characters from the core X-Men films up to that point together and gave the series the much needed reboot it needed (even if the continuity continued to make no sense afterwards). It deserves all of the praise that it has received but it is not the best film in the franchise in my opinion.

4) Logan

Over the last twenty years, the superhero genre has exploded and, dare I say, has become saturated. With the genre becoming congested, new entries need to do something different. Logan did just that. Rather than go the traditional superhero route, James Mangold and company told a western / noir film that happened to feature superheroes. The result was one of the best character studies in the genre. With the success of Deadpool the year prior, Fox elected to make this film R-rated, which enabled Mangold to give us the unleashed Wolverine we have been waiting for since he hit the screens in 2000. Over the years, Hugh Jackman came to embody the character of James Howlett, aka Wolverine, aka Logan, and Logan was the perfect farewell to the character, a sobering film filled with emotion and weight, yet brimming with hope and optimism.

3) X-Men: First Class

After the conclusion of the X-Men trilogy with X-Men: The Last Stand, spin-off films for Wolverine, Charles Xavier, and Magneto began being talked about. Wolverine’s spin-off became X-Men Origins: Wolverine whereas Xavier’s and Magneto’s became X-Men: First Class. Set in the midst of the cold war between the United states and Russia, First Class shows how the X-Men came to be, breathing a breath of fresh air into the franchise after the critical flop that was The Last Stand. First Class centered around the idea that the X-Men are family, way more than X-Men or X2: X-Men United did. It might not be the flashiest or most exciting entry of the franchise but if offers some of the best character-driven moments of it.

2) X2: X-Men United

For the longest time, X2: X-Men United was the benchmark the series needed to follow to create a great X-Men movie. It was clear since X-Men that Wolverine would play a prominent role in Fox’s X-Men franchise. X2 puts Wolverine front and center, making his unknown history the focus of the story. But where this film excels is that even though the main plot line focuses on Wolverine, the movie isn’t about him, not entirely anyway. Plenty of time is spent with the younger mutants, showing how the Xavier’s and Magneto’s conflict and general discrimination affects them. The heart in this film has never been captured since (First Class came close). And for that reason, X2 has continued to rank so high for me.

1) Deadpool

While I’ve talked a lot about heart and emotions so far, Deadpool doesn’t have the same emotional impact as the other films on this list, it was the first to be different. Despite an abominable version of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds never gave up on the character of Deadpool. Thankfully his perseverance paid off and we all won because of it. Like Jackman and Wolverine, Reynolds uniquely epitomized Deadpool. Deadpool is one of my favorite comic book characters so to see him brought to the big screen so perfectly and accuratly brought me great satisfaction. This continues to be a film I can watch over and over again and the jokes never get old or any less funny.

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And there you have it! Next year will see the release of New Mutants, the final X-Men film before Marvel Studios brings the characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s doubtful that New Mutants will find its way onto my top five given the caliber of the films on it but who knows, maybe I’ll be surprised!

What are some of your favorite X-Men films? Are you looking forward to a reboot of the characters when the appear in the MCU?

Until next time, cheers!

X-Men: First Class Review

Synopsis
In the midst of the Cold War, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) is trying to incite World War III. The CIA recruits Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) to stop Shaw. Xavier and Lensherr put together a team of fellow mutants consisting of Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), Darwin (Edi Gathegi), and Havok (Lucas Till). Together they must learn to control their mutant powers to defeat Shaw.

Review
After X2: X-Men United, the X-Men franchise didn’t quite hit the same quality with X3: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. They lacked a good story and heart. X-Men: First Class finally breaks the downward trend and present a story that not only has a lot of heart, but has a great cast and is a lot of fun.

First Class starts off with the same scene as X-Men with a young Erik in the German concentration camp being separated from his parents and bending the metal gates. It was smart to start the same way so it’s obvious this story exists in the same universe as the X-Men trilogy. Some of the events that happen throughout the movie make it seem like it is a reboot but by sharing a scene with the original movies it says ‘Nope, same place, new story.’

I thought this movie was awesome as a period piece. The fact that the story wove around actual events (the Cuban Missile Crisis) was pretty cool. Some movies try a similar approach of using historical events as their backdrop but aren’t always as successful as First Class. The setting was also used to show off Shaw’s character. By manipulating both sides he was able to display how smart and strategic he can be. I felt this was an great representation of his character.

The cast of First Class is amazing. Kevin Bacon is always enjoyable to watch on screen, but he is especially fun here as the villainous Sebastian Shaw. He’s very suave and laid back, but when he gets serious, watch out. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique do well, too, but I would have to say my favorite performance would have to be Michael Fassbender as Magneto. Fassbender brings a charisma to the role that portrays the confidence, but at the same time the vulnerability, of the character. The students of Charles and Erik are fun to watch, too, especially when they are showing off their powers. And there is a great Wolverine cameo.

Despite being an ensemble movie, the plot never gets too convoluted. In the beginning, Shaw is set up as the big baddie and the rest of the movie is either him and his team of mutants trying to start manipulate the US and Russian governments or Charles and Erik and their team of mutants getting ready to stop Shaw. Other than a few of the supporting bad mutants, most of the characters get their fair share of screen time and character development, leading to a fun little training montage. Most of the time is spent focused on Charles’ and Erik’s relationship, but this is to be expected since their bond is such an integral part of the X-Men’s history. Even though you know how their friendship plays out, seeing how it begins makes the breakup even more painful.

After the disappointments that were X3: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class sets the X-Men franchise back on course. The casting was perfect, particularly the core cast of Kevin Bacon, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence. The chemistry between McAvoy and Fassbender really made the relationship between Charles Xavier and Magneto come alive. Even though the cast was fairly sizable, every character received their time in the spotlight. First Class has set up the franchise’s future and I can’t wait to see how Fox builds off the events of this film.

Rating
4.5/5

Also check out my reviews for X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Mathew Vaughn – Director/Screenplay
Bryan Singer – Story
Sheldon Turner – Story
Ashley Miller – Screenplay
Zach Stentz – Screenplay
Jane Goldman – Screenplay
Henry Jackman – Composer

James McAvoy – Charles Xavier
Michael Fassbender – Erik Lensherr
Kevin Bacon – Sebastian Shaw
Rose Byrne – Moira MacTaggert
Jennifer Lawrence – Raven / Mystique
Zoe Kravitz – Angel Salvadore
Nicholas Hoult – Hank / Beast
Caleb Landry Jones – Cassidy / Banshee
Edi Gathegi – Armando Munoz / Darwin
Lucas Till – Alex Summer / Havok
Oliver Platt – Man in Black Suit
January Jones – Emma Frost
Alex Gonzalez – Janos Quested / Riptide
Jason Flemyng – Azazel
Glen Morshower – Colonel Hendry
Matt Craven – CIA Director McCone