X-Men: First Class / The Hangover Part II

By إبن البيطار (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsDue to a slow-down in film releases (I guess there’s a lull before the summer storm), we manage to play catch-up and catch the top two releases of the moment this Friday night. As a bonus, that bloody Rio Orange advert has finally been withdrawn and replaced with a new one. Which I am now heartily sick of having seen it twice.

X-Men: First Class

“Peace was never an option.”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: An “origins” tale for the X-Men, likely to be ripped apart by comics geeks for not being a word perfect adaptation of some issue of the comic from 1963.

See it if you like: superhero films with a story as well as decent action sequences.

I gather this is the first of a new trilogy of X-Men films and it’s both a sensible and enjoyable way to kick it off. Sensible in that it tells the tale of the formation of the X-Men, the first mutants being found, trained and unleashed on the world. Enjoyable in that it has a decent story as well as some well-crafted set pieces.

A fault I’ve found with too many superhero films recently is they’ve aimed for the big spectacle and let little details like plot, character development and dialogue fall by the wayside. I didn’t enjoy Thor for this reason and I confess I have my concerns about Green Lantern. I hope it proves me wrong. First Class doesn’t fall into these traps and instead manages to wrap a decent enough story with enough pizazz to keep the eye-candy addicts happy.

Oh, and there are also plenty of fit women in typically revealing superhero outfits. Jennifer Lawrence (Raven / Mystique) just made it onto my my “oh, man, I wish” list. Blue make-up or human form, I don’t care. Woof.

Throughout the film there are several nods to the events to come, while setting things into historical context. True events are moulded to fit the mutant storyline such as the Cuban missile crisis being caused by mutants somewhat less friendly than Professor Xavier‘s (James McAvoy) motley brigade. Said group are led by Kevin Bacon‘s Sebastian Shaw, a character who’s role is effectively taken by Magneto later on in X-history.

This is the best of the X-men films without a doubt. I’d rank it up there with the better superhero films as well. A decent cast, excellent effects but at heart a good story which focuses on the characters. How things will pan out in the next films now that the characters are established is anyone’s guess, but in the meantime this is well worth seeing.

The Hangover: Part II

“What is wrong with you three?”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Seen The Hangover? It’s that. In Thailand.

See it if you like: watching a remake of an enjoyable film from only two years ago.

I’m sorely tempted to just refer you to my review of The Hangover and tell you to read it with sunglasses on and the aircon off. That’s pretty much what the scriptwriters have done here.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still funny. It’s still outrageous, tasteless and over the top. But it’s lost that shock factor that made the first one so good. It also helps if – like the first instalment – you avoid the trailers before watching.

It’s another wedding, this time in Thailand. The same bunch are going. They decide to have a quiet drink two nights before the wedding… and wake up unable to remember what they did or where they went the night before. Oh, and one of them is missing. See what I mean? The only difference is the setting.

In its defence, had I seen this without seeing the first one I’d have rated it far higher. It’s still funny, it still makes you cringe – it’s just too much like its predecessor and too soon afterwards. I’m picky about my tasteless, monkey-porn, chicks-with-dicks filled comedy.

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