Earlier this year, right as the first trailer was about to be released, and or just after, this site, and hell, this writer, spoke on behalf of this site and said the #1 comic book movie we were looking forward to this summer was Matthew Vaughn‘s “X-Men: First Class.”
The cast is aces (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender starring opposite each other in the same film? hell yes) and while “Kick-Ass” had incredibly juvenile material to work from (of Mark Millar), Vaughn’s direction was fantastic and the action sequences were thrilling. It seemed as if his career had been building its way all along towards a great comic-book movie (and yes, he almost directed “Thor” and “X-Men: The Last Stand“, so it has been culminating). And the concept, by “X-Men” and “X2” director Bryan Singer, was a great one: essentially transporting the story to the tumultuous1960s before the X-Men group had formed and landing mutant fear right into the heart of the era of the Cuban Missile crisis and the height of the Civil Rights movement. It seemed like a brilliant maneuver to use the upheaval of this era, and for once in a comic book movie, some serious, adult themes), as an emotional and dramatic tissue to connect the fears, worries and prejudices that the mutants in the “X-Men” films constantly feel.
However, as of late, there’s been two main issues. One, we’ve been bombarded with marketing each and every single day for the film. An image, a poster, a character poster, a character teaser trailer, a second trailer, innumerable interviews by the cast (IGN is deep in with 20th Century Fox it seems) giving away practically every detail of the film. It is the dictionary definition of marketing over-saturation (though yes, we recognize this is exactly what Joe Public may need).
Secondly, the clips that have been shown have been greatly dipping in quality. For instance, check out the new “You Can Show Off” clip, wherein Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Raven Darkholme (Jennifer Lawrence) are introduced to Hank “The Beast” McCoy (Nicholas Hoult). We surely hope this is truncated and the film isn’t cut this way, because McCoy is outed in front of his boss and gets over it in about five seconds, whereas any humane filmmaker would use this as a golden opportunity to explore the pain and anguish one would likely feel if they were outed in such a manner. Plus Mystique and McCoy seem to fall in love in about five seconds flat. The entire affair seems incredibly rushed, and again, we’re hoping the entire film doesn’t go that way, but there’s a valid concern that it might, considering all the characters the film has to introduce.
Nitpicking? Keep in mind this is a film, that on paper we actually kind of care about. It would be disappointing (and a huge missed opportunity) to see a thoughtful premise like this be botched by a rushed execution. Your take? “X-Men: First Class” arrives in theaters in three short weeks on June 3.
[Yahoo for the trailer, SOCBR for the new images, and no, we can’t post ’em all]