King Kong Meets Magneto (X-Men First Class)

X-Men First Class Review: King Kong Meets Magneto

I had the chance to see this movie in the theaters when I was in Alaska. I was living in my apartment in downtown and the guy who found it for me was supposed to meet me for dinner. He was a black guy that I’d met at the Backpackers Inn. I think his name might have been Cody and he had a major crush on me. We had dinner planned and then a movie at the theater over by Fireweed Ave. He never showed. I can still remember him then showing up late at night, asking to go and how utterly awkward it was.

When I went into this movie last night, I kept thinking about King Kong. (No, wait, it will make sense) When people sit down to watch King Kong, they don’t wonder if Kong will be released into the wild or if the girl will get to visit him in a zoo. Every audience knows the ending. It is inevitable. Going into X-Men First Class, I already knew that Magneto would end up the villain. How could he not? Even people who don’t like superheroes know that Magneto is evil, irredeemable, lost. That actually made the movie better, more painful.

The relationship between Erik and Charles, (Magneto and Professor X) was done phenomenally. Their friendship had to be built up in order to be torn down, right? I think this process was perfect. Charles saved Erik beneath the water and then gave Erik his single good memory of his mother back. Both of them were intellects, a match in powers, but entirely different in temperament. Charles was, from the very first, the only thing that kept Erik in check, the only thing that could bring him back when he started to slip.

In the very end, Charles was still the only thing that could influence Erik when he was at the height of his power, of his anger….but it’d be the last time he did it.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE:

I have one very big complaint about this movie and one very big favorite.

Complaint:

While any viewer could see the changes in Erik throughout the movie, his abrupt shift in position at the end was WAY too abrupt. It was obvious that he felt apart from humanity due to what Kevin Bacon had inflicted on him in the camps. It was also incredibly obvious, at least to me, that his philosophy regarding mutant and human relations leaned far closer to that of Shaw (Kevin Bacon’s character) than they did that of Charles. Once again, if not for Charles influence on him and his hunger for vengeance, it was clear that Erik would have become Magneto far earlier.

When Erik walked into the submarine, per Charles’ plan, he was still mostly on their side. He went in INTENDING to come back out to the jet. People might differ with me on this, but he’d just been hanging outside of the jet over the ocean. He’d JUST grabbed hold of Charles’ hand to avoid ripping free of the landing gear and finally, he’d just used his powers to keep Charles from being bashed to death within the rolling jet. In my eyes, this shows that he did NOT walk into the submarine intending to come out an enemy.

This is my complaint: He switched too fast. He came out angry, but Erik was always angry. He’d just killed Shaw, but I would think that would have given him a seconds peace. (While Charles DID tell him that vengeance would not bring him peace, it can bring a fleeting moment of it) I need more, a CRUX or a DECISION or hell, even a TWIST on Shaw’s last words, which would then spiral Erik into doing what he did on the beach.

My Favorite Scene:

While I may not agree with how they got to this point, I do agree that the entire scene on the beach was fantastic. It was a perfect depiction of Erik losing control, which we as the audience knew was coming and Charles as his friend (and who had been trusted into Erik’s mind) must have known. Erik believed the humans would want to kill them and was proven right when they were fired upon. He held off the missiles, turned them around and every person in every theater everywhere knew where he was going to send them, just as we knew there was only person who could stop him.

When I watched this scene, with Erik trying to concentrate and Charles yelling at him, I kept yelling, “Distract him! Distract him! Break his concentration!”

Charles did, but not in the way I was expecting.

He bowled Erik over and they exchanged their first set of blows. When the woman comes forward, gun firing, Erik defends himself, just as Charles would have defended himself, as ANY mutant or human would have. He deflected the bullets, one to the right, one to the left, BANG, BANG, BANG…..and BANG into Charles’ back.

And the highlight of the movie is Charles hitting the sand and Erik forgetting everything for just one instant as he rushes to his side. The missiles do not hit their targets, as Erik has finally been distracted. Erik, only minutes away from truly becoming Magneto, is full of panic as he draws the bullet of Charles. I really do believe that when he attempted to strangle the girl who’d fired the shot; it was out of an enraged desire to protect his friend.

“Stop Erik! She didn’t do this. You did.”

That sentence was an accusation, a truth and it hurt both of them. It drove them into the last conversation they’d have as friends. As Erik implored Charles to join him, that they were brothers, their friendship was ending and they both knew it.

“We want the same thing Charles.”

Laughing hoarsely, painfully. “No, my friend, we do not.”

I knew this was where the story would end up, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Unfortunately, I can’t turn off X-Men First Class when they hit the beach the same as I turn off King Kong when he begins to climb the building, not when my favorite scene is the final one.

This is a ruby, a painful one I won’t be watching very often, but a ruby indeed. 

The Cal Leandro's series (Death wish)

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover….or its review:

Once upon a time, I spent six months in Alaska. My job on the railroad made me miserable. I was beaten down by bullying. I was lying daily for the sake of my own survival. I walked around in a disguise built out of lies, telling people my phone calls home weren’t to my mother, but to friends, that my being all natural and homeschooled weren’t damaging choices, but destiny deciding ones. I faced each day as if they were battles to be won and each night as a brief reprieve.

I did, however, have a few saving graces.

(1)   My mother’s care packages

(2)   My phone calls home

(3)   Reruns of Supernatural on the hostel television

(4)   The C and M used bookshop

I discovered the bookstore upon pure accident. I was riding by on my blue bike, my main mode of transportation and noticed it. It was located between my hostel and downtown. It was a tiny, hole in the wall place. There was nowhere to lock up my bike and nothing else nearby…..and yet I became a regular. I stopped in several times a week. It was almost impossible for me to ride past without stopping in. I only ever met two of the employee’s, an older woman with jokes about birds and young boy, (not a man) who rarely spoke and did restocking out of sight. I don’t remember either of their names and by now, they probably wouldn’t know mine. They’d recognize me on sight though. I’d come in, go to the same aisle and plop down on the floor.

I’d look for the same author, same series of books every time. Rob Thurman, the writer of a random book on a random shelf in a random shop…..her book Death-wish was one of my saving graces. I’d found it on my first visit to C and M. It looked good, had two guys on the front, but probably would’ve ended up back on the shelf if not for the review. I never read reviews, but thank goodness I read this one:

"Fans of Supernatural's Winchester brothers will instantly love Niko and Cal!"

It was the fourth in a series and they didn’t have any of the others. It was an impulse buy, very unlike me.

I’ve been home two years now (how did the time fly like that?) and just finished reading Death-wish a second time, but in order. The twists hit me just as hard as they did the first time around, although I noticed the signs earlier. (There are advantages to my faulty novel memory….twists can hit me again and again!)

I wanted to share my favorite moments: (Do not read if you’re going to read the Cal Leandro’s series)

MOMENT ONE: Monster hunting brothers Cal and Niko are just driving along…when the bad guys stab through the ceiling of the car. In a matter of paragraphs, we (the reader) go from reading a snippy snappy conversation….to seeing the car rolled, the characters thrown clear and the bad guy attempting to end their lives. This moment is a perfect example of why I love Robin Thurman. She can throw action at you without the slightest bit of notice….and she doesn’t save it for the stories climax. She sprinkles them throughout and you won’t know they’re coming, until they’re slapping you in the face!

The car crash and the following hospital visit for Niko brought a new issue to mind. The “Token Human.” In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xander was the token human. In Supernatural, (for awhile, at least) it was Dean. In Dark Angel, it was Logan. In the Cal Leandro’s series, it’s Niko. (Cal is half demon) In the hospital, with Niko’s ribs bound and his forehead covered in stitches, Cal averts his eyes and says, “We can’t leave yet Niko. Right now, you look….you look too human.” Be it in Buffy, Supernatural, Dark Angel or Cal Leandro’s, the Token Human is almost always a character that the viewers forget is human….forget until they’re landed in the hospital with their paranormal comrades looking on.

MOMENT TWO:

Having just narrowly escaped death once again, the brothers were laying on a field of grass, having just “transported” themselves away from a battle they’d have lost otherwise. Niko, the elder brother that has forever been known to never give up, finally reaches over and takes Cal’s beloved gun, “If it comes down to those demons taking you….I’ll shoot you first, okay? You’ll go first.” The inference that Niko would be right behind him is silent, but very much there.

MOMENT THREE:

I try not to draw too many similarities between the Cal Leandro’s brothers and the Winchester brothers, but this is to make an interesting point. After the climax is over and the big baddie is dead, younger brother Cal tells older brother Niko that he doesn’t need protecting anymore. Cal says that Niko has done enough. If something happens someday and Cal dies, Niko has to move on, let it go, let HIM go. After all those words, more than Cal ever uses, Niko just looks at him…..and Cal sighs, bows his head. “We’re screwed, aren’t we?” He says and you know what he’s saying, that no matter what both of them say about moving on and letting go, neither one ever will, but they still have to say it.

In Supernatural the television series, brothers Sam and Dean go through the same thing. Just before Dean goes to hell because of his deal, he tells Sam to go live his life….but Sam nearly gets himself killed doing the opposite. Just before Sam jumps into the pit, he tells Dean to go live with Lisa and Ben….and he does, but it nearly destroys him. They both keep telling each other to MOVE ON, but neither does it and in all honesty? I don’t think either of them believe it or want it when they say it. THEN, then Dean goes to purgatory and Sam doesn't search for him, doesn't fight to get him back. In his last conversation with him, Sam tells their dead father figure Bobby that no, he didn’t really search for Dean, as Dean told him not to. “Sam!” Bobby exclaims. “You two always say that to each other. You never mean it! It’s a fake deal!”

Ah, the things we say but we don’t mean, but we still need to say them just to prove our loved ones will hear it and know what we REALLY mean. 

Throughout the book, I had small flashes of reading Death-wish in Alaska. I saw myself reading on my stomach on my hostel bunk bed. I saw myself cross legged at the Regency hotel, in one of the many, many beds I stayed in. I saw myself on the train when it was dead, distracting myself from Jerry and Courtney by reading instead of masking my napping by turning towards the window. There were just flashes though….until I read the part where a little demon named Xolo looked right at Niko.

BAM!

I remembered not only everything that would happen after that, (the brainwashing, the fake death, the suicidal loss) but I remembered exactly where I’d been sitting the last time I’d read it.

On the second story of the Anchorage Backpackers Inn, at the very end of the long hallway, I sat on the couch next to the wooden desk. I don’t remember if I was eating yet another of my salads, (always sitting on the coffee table) but I remember that when I realized what Xolo had done to Niko, I dropped the book. I paused, my eyes darted up from the page, I lay the book on the armrest to my right…and I just went, “whoa.” Reading that scene again, I felt that same whoa and I felt myself zapped right back to that hostel.

It was amazing.

One last thing and I know I keep getting off topic…..getting obsessed with the Cal Leandro’s books was the same as my getting obsessed with Supernatural. I did it because to get absorbed by another set of characters passions, loneliness and lives was to distract from my own. Whenever I’ve foolishly fantasized about what I’d say to Jensen, Jared, Misha, Jim, any of them, it’s this I’d like to say: Your show and your acting is a HUGE part of what got me through that summer. Thank you.

I want to give that same thanks, now, to Robin Thurman.