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2 X-Men: First Class
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Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones
Who’d have thought SFX ’s two favourite films of the year would be prequels (oops, spoilers)? In particular, after the woeful Last Stand and the best-left-forgotten Wolverine , who’d have thought an X-Men prequel written, shot and released in little more than a year would best the cinematic debuts of fellow comic book colossi Captain America , Thor and Green Lantern ?
With Kick-Ass ’ Matthew Vaughan at the helm we needn’t have been worried. The tale of the men who would become Magneto and Professor X isn’t just a mutant extravaganza; it’s a gripping cold war thriller, with the mutant’s origins smartly woven into a fascinating secret history. Perfectly cast, with action setpieces that rival Nightcrawler’s Whitehouse siege in X-Men 2 for ingenuity and a dramatic levity rare for popcorn blockbusters, X-Men: Second Class is a film we want on our screens very, very soon. Just don’t let Brett Ratner direct that one, eh?
Best moment: In a film where a man plucks a submarine out of the ocean , it’s one of the smallest moments that impresses the most. Erik Lensherr (aka Magneto), on the hunt for Sebastian Shaw, tracks a pair of Nazi stooges to an Argentina bar. As the real reason for Lensherr’s visit slowly dawns on the dead-men-drinking Henry Jackman’s stunning score builds to a heart-racing crescendo, the scene climaxing in an eruption of magnetic violence. Best of all is Fassbender’s ice-cool reaction to the massacre – taking a swill of his beer and running a hand through his hair – like a moment from the most vindictive Bond movie you’ve never seen.
Jordan Farley
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