150W: X-Men: First Class

Short reviews for clear and concise verdicts on a broad range of films...

X-Men: First Class (Dir. Matthew Vaughan/2011)

After the dismal X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the lacklustre X-trilogy finale in X-Men: The Last Stand, this instalment is considerably stronger. Charles “Prof. X.” Xavier (with full head of hair) in McAvoy and Erik “Magneto” Lenscherr in Fassbender demand our attention in X-Men: First Class. Indeed, their bromance lifts this film to heights that are stronger than many of the previous instalments. Jennifer Lawrence is Raven (Or young-Mystique), this time a friend of Prof. X. The standard “mutants with or against the world” dynamic is repeated through the villainous Sebastian Shaw (Bacon). Rival to both Erik and Charles, he uses the 1960’s cold-war to pit Russia and America against each other - with mutants picking up the pieces. X-Men: First Class is so much fun. With creaky-CGI, it rises to the challenge of reinvigorating the series through a playful plot. It's is exciting to see where the X-Men will go next…

Rating: 7/10

Incredible Soundtrack #16: X-Men: First Class (Jackman)

The music attached to a film creates the environment, I believe, moreso than the literal environment depicted through the visuals...

This is one of my more recent soundtracks. Normally I choose soundtracks with a little bit more established credability and, with X-Men: First Class, it is new enough to have garnered a bit attention but I don't think that it will remain 'as important'. But, c'est la vie, I like it at the moment. It is worth noting that the composer, Henry Jackman is no relation to Hugh Jackman.

Henry Jackman has, on the other hand, worked with Hans Zimmer before - credited as 'music arranger' for Zimmers soundtrack to The Dark Knight. You can hear the repetetive string arrangement Zimmer has used before and, I believe, sounds a little too similar to the Tron: Legacy soundtrack which, though composed by Daft Punk, I believe was hugely influenced by Zimmers composing style.

1. First Class - It was this opening track that gained my attention in the first instance. It sounds freakishly like the opening track for Tron:Legacy, but I think it has a little more of an 'heroic' edge - which obviously suits X-Men:First Class...





11. X-Training - There are two memorable montage sequences in the film. The first one, whereby they recruit the mutants uses a Gnarls Barkley song ('an instrumental version of 'Run'), the second one is when they are training. Both of which are brilliant. This is the training one.



19./20. X-Men/Magneto - The 'Magneto' theme is brilliant - and there are multiple different versions of the theme in the soundtrack. These last two tracks are the most definitive - especially the second track that plays during the closing credits. These specific choices use some brilliant electronic sounds that signify the magnetic power Magneto has and it sounds great!