Marvelous Mondays AND Blindspot series 2015: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Plot: In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III.

Rating: 7.5/10

 

Now this is what I call killing two birds with one stone! My Blindspot choice for March is incidentally a Marvel movie so I was really happy to watch it and get both done.

In typical Natasha Fashion, I watched Days of Future Past first and liked it so much I needed to see the movie that came before it.  I did, and although First Class was really good it has nothing on Days of Future past. I think Future Past carries such a punch because the world of the X-Men is falling apart and that they are down to their last hope.

I once again loved James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in their respective roles. They are both so good at what they need to portray – McAvoy is a brilliant scholar and Fassbender is a powerful man determined to get his revenge on those who hurt him. Fassbender was slightly lame when he finally killed Shaw – he was immediately into the “villain” mode, and I think he worked too hard on reflecting the now slightly dark side of his character.

I also really enjoyed Mystique in here – she is still young and fresh and not as angry as she is in Days of Future Past. Jennifer Lawrence did a really good job with her – Mystique’s youth is evident but she’s faced the world’s intolerance her whole life because of her condition. I really liked how she undergoes transformation – you can see her skin changing. I do think Mystique’s skin looked way cooler in here, I read that Jennifer Lawrence had make-up for this role but her reprisal of Mystique in Days of Future Past wore a suit because she was so allergic to the makeup.

I still think Nicholas Hoult is way too adorable for it to be legal, and his struggle with what he is as Beast was sad and authentic.  It was nice to see Rose Byrne where she’s not being and idiot in some comedy – she can obviously do better than that and I would love to see her in more movies where she has a role and character development.

Kevin Bacon was entertaining as Sebastian Shaw – he was cold and ruthless and cruel. I thought the fact that he was also a mutant was a nice little twist to the story.

My biggest problem with First Class was the length – it was exceptionally long and not strong enough to carry it. It didn’t carry the emotional punch that Days of Future Past carried, and McAvoy’s broken charm in DoFP was more compelling than the roguish ego he had in First Class.

Overall a great film, but I still think that Days of Future Past was better done.

March 16, 2015March 14, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Marvelous Mondays, Movies, ReviewsTags: James McAvoy, Magneto, Marvelous Mondays, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Professor X, Reviews, Rose Byrne, X-men First Class 13 Comments

Marvelous Mondays: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Professor X: “So many battles waged over the years… and yet, none like this. Are we destined to destroy each other, or can we change each other and unite? Is the future truly set?”

Plot: The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants. (IMDb)

Rating: 8.5/10

As the first Marvelous Mondays post for 2015, I am actually bringing a post to the table. Yep, me! Zoë has already reviewed this movie here, and I am happy to agree with her that it was an excellent movie.

X-Men: Days of Future Past wasn’t a movie I was rushing to see or anything. I chose to watch it on a long road trip to make the time pass, and man, am I happy that I did it! I can’t recall seeing any of the other X-Men movies, and I was thus very surprised that I could follow appropriately. I do think if you have more knowledge of what went down in the other movies it would enhance the impact of this one, but there is enough information in to make sure you are able to understand the Mutants have lost basically everything.

It is a rare thing of beauty to witness two of the greatest actors of our time together on screen: Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. They have so much class and I really enjoyed how their characters can’t help but convey a sense of smugness when recalling their youth.

As if the two legends mentioned above are not enough, you get the unbelievable talent that is James McAvoy on screen as the young Professor. I have always been slightly indifferent to him even though rumours of his brilliance have always been rampant. He was so good and multi layered and real that I now desperately need to watch more things with him in it. He is definitely my pleasant surprise of last year!

I loved the graphics in here. The portals right at the beginning is just too cool and I wasn’t overwhelmed with CGI (hem, hem, HOBBIT). That scene with Quicksilver where he puts on his earphones was really a wowzer, I won’t lie. I also found the concept behind the Sentinels very sinister and really well thought out (yes, I know that they come from comic books but remember that I’ve never touched on the X-Men franchise before)

Even with my limited knowledge I found the entire cast well capable of their roles and well chosen. I really do like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and found those bone claws just intense looking overall. I thought Michael Fassbender was excellent as well as Magneto, at once very charming but it was also obvious that he was very dangerous and that it wouldn’t be a good idea to mess with him.

I think I can admit that I really don’t get the hype around Jennifer Lawrence, but I do find her a very good actress. She wasn’t my favorite in the movie but I liked what they delivered on her past and how she had to realize her decisions would ultimately make or break the Mutants’ future.

It was a lot of fun seeing Peter Dinklage as Trask. I do think that he was underused and it would have been very powerful to see why he hated the Mutants so intensely, whether he was just a complete racist (because that is how I perceived him in here), or if he had a possible reason for doing what he did.

I guess you can all see that I was very impressed with this movie, and that I think you should watch it if you haven’t already.

January 5, 2015January 1, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Marvelous Mondays, Movies, ReviewsTags: Charles Xavier, Ian McKellan, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Magneto, Marvelous Mondays, Michael Fassbender, Mystique, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage, Raven, The Professor, X-Men: Days of Future Past 8 Comments

Marvelous Mondays: Days of Future Past by The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger

Today’s Marvel installment if from my bestie Bkushi over at The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger. If you haven’t, go to her site and quickly click on her follow button. I guarantee you it is worth it! Thanks for taking part mah friend!

“Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.”
– Charles Xavier

SYNOPSIS: The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from X-Men: First Class in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future. – via IMDB

So after all this time, I saw that Days of Future Past was still chilling on Chemistry Kidney’s list, and I thought this was unacceptable in the most extreme kind of way. How was this possible? Does this movie not deserve love, if not at minimum its due? Well, I am here to right that.

For one, I was really excited about this movie. I was excited because Bryan Singer was coming back for it. I was thrilled because it was part of the new segment of these movies, featuring James McAvoy (and you all know how I feel about him), Michael Fassbender and some more fantastic actors and actresses. I was over the moon because it was going to be a mash up of the old and the new actors. Initially I was not sure how this was going to work out, but I had faith. I avoided reading too much about this movie because I wanted it to be fresh and new when I went in.

I was so amped to see this, and I was not disappointed at all. Days of Future Past touts some simply amazing effects (especially Blink’s portals), and the cast handled their roles incredibly well across the board, too. The story, which should have been incredibly complex, is presented in such a way that it does not lose the audience, which is no simple feat to achieve. It never once comes across as though it is treating the audience as though they don’t have the brain capacity to follow it either, which is also great. Anyway, Hugh Jackman returns to helm the role of the insanely popular Wolverine once more and it was a much better outing for him, considering The Wolverine was such a let-down. Wolverine features prominently here, but it never becomes only about him. There was such a vast amount of characters in this movie, but it didn’t cumbersome, though there are a few I would have liked to see more of. Maybe in future movies. Too many characters usually result in a terrible ordeal, but the balance was struck pretty well here.

James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender take up their roles of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr and both excel at it once again (as though I expected anything else). McAvoy plays a more disillusioned and broken Charles, and he plays it fantastically. Tortured, bitter, depressed and prickly, he is holed up with Hank McCoy Nicholas Hoult plays Beast really well, and I think him and McAvoy work well together, too, and the arguments that Beast has with Wolverine are excellent. There was a ridiculously hilarious bit about the revered JFK and Magneto, and it had me laughing quite a bit, seeing as how I find the Kennedy assassination wildly enthralling. Anyway. Evan Peters, whose pictures popping up just before the launch of the film did nothing to allay worries about his character appearance (though his performance was never in question), stole the show in each and every single scene he featured. It was sheer perfection, and I think he was an excellent embodiment of Quicksilver. The film struck a perfect balance between action, drama, and wittiness, and needs to be commended for that.

I feel, sadly, that Peter Dinklage was criminally underused in here. Trask represented a character that could have been so much more intense and layered had they just spent some more time on him, though I understand the movie needed to move some things along (as it is, Days of Future Past comes in at 131 minutes). Still, I would definitely have enjoyed seeing more of him. A younger Stryker features too, and naturally I had fun with that. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Mystique, and is still impressive as ever in the role. The story revolves more around her decisions and the way she thinks than anything else, but it worked for this. She is an incredibly popular mutant, so that worked out just fine. I adored seeing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen return for a last outing as the mutants we have come to love over the years, and while their roles were not huge, they were pretty integral to all that was happening. The Sentinels themselves looked great and were well done, and it is easy to see why they would be so terrible and scary.

Overall, there is a lot to say about this movie, but I am going to stop for now. Obviously I was rather taken with this movie. If you have not seen it, go now and rectify that immediately. This was some of the most fun I’ve had at cinema in a while, and it loses none of its rewatch value, either. It is my favourite X-Men flick to date.Days of Future Pastis fun, smart, fast and entertaining – everything an X-Men film should be.

November 24, 2014November 20, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Marvelous Mondays, Movies, ReviewsTags: Blogathon, Charles Xavier, Days of Future Past, Erik Lehnsherr, Evan Peters, High Jackman, James McAvoy, Magneto, Marvelous Mondays, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Nicholas Holt, Peter Dinklage, Reviews, Wolverine, X-Men 18 Comments