The mutants of 2023 travel back to 1973 to alter history in this time-bending, violent romp with occasional flashes of humor. Fans will love it. I was so sleep-deprived last Wednesday I missed parts of it and Jack cat-napped a little, too. But we enjoyed what we saw of the sequel to X-Men: First Class, including Patrick Stewart (176 episodes of Star Trek and four other X-Men movies, among many) and James McAvoy (last blogged in Trance) meeting their past and future selves, respectively, as Charles Xavier; ditto Ian McKellan (Oscar-nominated for Gods and Monsters (1998) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), I liked him in Scandal (1989), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and three other X-Men movies, among others) and Michael Fassbender (most recently in 12 Years a Slave) as Erik/Magneto. Hugh Jackman (last in Prisoners) as Wolverine is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the X-Men series (he's up to seven). Apparently director Bryan Singer (covered in Valkyrie) wouldn't go forward with the project until he had contracted Stewart and McKellen, coincidentally touring together in a stage production of Waiting for Godot, and Jackman.
There's a huge cast of returnees and newbies, most notably Anna Paquin with star billing for her three second scene and Halle Berry for not much more.
Fans may want to stream the entire 68 minute soundtrack by John Ottman (worked with Singer at least six times as well as other directors) on youtube, and should definitely wait for the bonus at the end of the credits. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences clearly stayed awake-er than we did, rating it 92% and 94% respectively.
No comments:
Post a Comment