It might be churlish of me, but where was Matthew Vaughn five years ago? Making "Stardust" probably; a reasonably successful fantasy/romance hybrid. But more importantly he was not making "X-Men: The Last Stand". You see when Bryan Singer decided to make the eternally lamentable "Superman Returns" and ditch the franchise that had been his calling, he left a very big void in his absence. Of course, everybody knows how bad that decison was in retrospect: arguably Singers career has not fully recovered from the response that film received. After working steadily up with some classy and stunningly well made indie thrillers, his jump to the big time resulted in (along with "Blade") two films that kick started the craze for comic book films that have been ever popular for over a decade now. "X-Men" was fantastic success for a number of reasons. It appealed to people who thought they didn't like comic books, it led to one of the best sequels of all time, and it proved that comic book movies could be a valuable commodity. So after two highly successful movies Singer was faced with either making the third and possibly fourth chapter in the franchise, or with rebooting Superman for a new generation. Fox denounced him to do both and so Singer chose Superman and placed a young up and coming director in his place. Someone he could trust with the franchise. Someone with an eye and a vision on where to take it all. Vaughn, fresh off the success he had with his directorial debut "Layer Cake" was that man. And he.......didn't take the job. After all that, the man walked away from the project. Vaughn cited the reasons for his departure as the simple fact as that he was still learning the ropes of his profession. The deadline for the release of "X-Men 3" was rapidly nearing and the time he was alloted to film the movie was too small. So Vaughn walked and Fox brought on board hack for hire, Brett Ratner to helm the final installment and thus irrevocably screwed up the entire franchise; destroying any possibility for a fourth chapter and beginning the downward spiral continued by "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" three short years later. Early last year and word comes that Fox are planning a prequel/reboot to their franchise. Gossip hinted that none other than Singer was back on board to save the flailing franchise. But then wouldn't ya know it, yet another film steals him away. That film "Jack, The Giant Killer" is not due out till next year but that still left a void in who would take over for First Class. Enter yet again, one Matthew Vaughn, riding high on the critical and cult success of "Kick-Ass", a gloriously morally questionable and hilariously anti-superhero film. Now this is where it gets ironic. With just a little over a year to deliver the film (most of these types of big budget and effects laden extravaganzas usually take two years to finish) the man actually takes the job. So in a round about way, it brings me back to my original point: Where was he when we needed him? It seems odd that he is a directing a film that has the same deadline as the very similar one he stepped away from did, five years ago. Where was he then? As this film testifies to, he is more than up to the job and could have saved us the travesties of the last two films. But is his return too late?Prequels, by their nature have an uphill struggle ahead of them. Put simply, fans of the original films will always know how a prequel must end, if it wants to segue effortlessly in with it's older siblings. However, more times than not this robs it of any natural tension the story line should have. It is one of the main reasons why Lucas' new "Star Wars" films didn't work. We knew how everything would turn out. So going into this, we have a certain expectation for the characters in knowing how they are going to get to the people that begin the original film. This is a problem that "X-Men: First Class" very neatly manages to sidestep almost entirely throughout it's running time. Sure there were a few moments here and there I caught myself anticipating a plot point as a result of having seen all the other films that happen after this one, but for the most part Vaughn and writing partner Jane Goldman's script managed to keep me enthralled. In this film we follow a young Eric Lensherr (a typically fantastic Michael Fassbender), better known to you and I as Magneto, and Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and find out how they became friends, before turning into the characters from the original trilogy. Set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this is the first film in the franchise to successfully have a distinct look and feel, completely separate to that which has gone before it. Vaughn has great fun with his swinging 60's, putting the soon to be called X-Men into all sorts of adventures by way of the old James Bond flicks. The main bad guy even has his own villainous submarine. So as evil Kevin Bacon plots to start a nuclear war for his own nefarious reasons, it also coincides with the discovery that there are those in the world with mutant super powers. Vaughn takes time introducing his cast, contrasting following Prof X as he tries to find more of his kind with Lensherr on his own personal man hunt to get revenge on the Nazis responsible for all sorts of horrible antics to him when he was a child. To be fair, Lensherr is the more interesting of the two; barely containing a past full of intense rage and sadness. So while we get to know Prof X and Magneto fairly well, some of the other mutants feel slightly short changed, with only an extremely cringe worthy scene in a mess hall serving as to introduce them. Only Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones) make the most of their limited time to truly make an impression. Everyone else feels entirely forgettable. Worse still is poor Kevin Bacons 'Hellfire Club'. Sure his Sebastian Shaw is an acceptable villain - his subordinates are atrocious. One mute (who's name I'm nearly certain is never mentioned) does nothing but make poorly rendered CG storms, Azazel (Jason Flemyng) does nothing but look cool and Emma Frost (January Jones) seems completely lost in the mix. Jones drowns amongst the cast, serving as the only real weak link among them all. In fact, it stands out more when the casting is one of the main reasons the film works as well as it does. With such a huge ensemble and interweaving story line to work from, Vaughn had an awful lot to fit into the running time, even at it's 2 hours and 20 minutes. But somehow, just when it seems like he's going to drop the ball, he manages to keep everything on track. But as much as the film is good, it never really manages to feel anything less than rushed.
Vaughn had an extremely tough deadline to make this film. Initial glimpses of characters seemed atrociously photoshopped together as an afterthought. For more proof, see the main poster up above. Fox had no time to market this film as they would have liked. Every interview Vaughn gave from set told how unforgiving the schedule was and how he was feeling the pressure of it all. But somehow, I kept the faith in the movie. And how right I was, because even though the film has it's fair share of faults, it goes some way to getting the franchise back on track. The film has a few plot holes, (why exactly is Shaw doing what he's doing?) characters are forgotten (where does Rose Byrne go for the second act?) and some lines of dialogue are pretty harsh on the ears (baby Xavier and baby Mystique's first meeting comes to mind) but overall, the film is pretty darn enjoyable. A fantastic split screen montage of the newly formed X-men training their freshly honed powers works far better than that opening bonding moment mentioned earlier. The main dichotomy between Magneto and Professor X is what gives the film it's soul. Xavier's naivety mixed with Lensherr's frustration at being an outcast is always compelling. An interesting argument about acceptance that is only fueled by the fact that both are neither entirely right or wrong in their opinions. Vaughn paces the film incredibly so you won't have time to pick up on continuity errors (linking it into the films gone before it casts immediate 'No, it couldn't have happened like that because in [insert X-Men film here], [insert X-Men character here] is doing/saying [insert impossible X-Men continuity error here]' over all the other films) and other minor quibbles. Anyway, by the time that fantastic extended action climax happens you won't care too much about such things. However after it's underwhelming opening last week, it might be a case of too little too late from Fox. Fans have been burned by two sub standard "X-Men" films before and might be unwilling to take another chance on one. It's a shame, as this film mixes interesting discussion on themes of intolerence and discrimination, fun fan boy details (love that cameo!) and fantastic effects-laden action sequences. If this is what Vaughn can do with such a small amount of time, then imagine what he'll do with the sequel.
Verdict: 6/10
Matthew Vaughn manages to turn in the complete polar opposite of his last comic book movie. The film is always fun and interesting and gets the franchise on track in a big way, but some annoyances in plot and dialogue only enhances the fact that the film could have been something really special, had they just had a little more time.
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