X-Men: First Class - DVD Review

'considering just how many cooks the screenplay had it's a wonder there's still so much ripe dialogue contained within'

Director Matthew Vaughn does a fantastic job bringing an individual style to X-Men: First Class, which sees it at least try, on several occasions, to mark itself out from the superhero herd. Two scenes in particular see Vaughn doing something a bit different; Beast's (Nicholas Hoult) transformation is seen from the character's eye-view, accentuating the standard X-Men theme of difference and, in particular, how to address and cope with it. A key scene towards the end of the film involving Eric (Michael Fassbender) and a coin is also notable, Vaughn taking time out from the standard conflict narrative to produce a bit of a shock, particularly amongst younger viewers.

At a script level, X-Men: First Class is one of those screenplays that looks like it has been produced by committee. Sheldon Turner and Bryan Singer have story credits whilst Vaughn, screenwriting partner Jane Goldman, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are all credited with scripting contributions. Considering just how many cooks it had it's a wonder there's still so much ripe dialogue contained within. An early scene of Charles Xavier chatting various people up in a bar is painful, whilst the scene where the young mutants choose their names is chalkboard-draggingly awkward. 'We should all pick code names, I want to be Mystique', says Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), like a child advance-reserving her favourite toy.

At one-hundred and thirty-two minutes, the film takes its time to tell its story but does come up with a well-worked narrative that provides several distinct acts, each of which are different but none-the-less rather pleasant. The first and middle thirds, concerned with the mutants individually and then with the assembling of the team, are the best, Vaughn keeping the pace fast and the limited action joyful. As the middle third turns towards the finale though, it feels like we get a bit bogged down. Character interactions become obvious and clichéd and action scenes become more and more drawn out. It's hardly the build-up the climactic battle required.

There's also probably too much here for Vaughn to deal with, even within that expanded runtime. Certain characters - Moira (Rose Byrne), The Man In Black (Oliver Platt), Angel (Zoë Kravitz), to name but a few - get absolutely no meaningful backstory or development, save a couple of throwaway lines. Even the main relationship (Eric and Charles) doesn't seem to get the time it needs or deserves and it ends up bowing out on a premature note. Vaughn brings a lot to the party but its a party that feels over-crowded, occasionally immature and often fluffed. The First Class report would probably read something like, 'working well within themselves, could do better'.

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