X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.

The experience of X-Men: First Class has been a rollercoaster ride... even before the movie came out! When I first heard James McAvoy was going to be a young Professor X, I wasn't sure what to think. Then there was the first trailer, which was pretty cool. Then there was another trailer... and another trailer... and another trailer... and (hideous) poster upon (atrocious) poster. Then the reviews came pouring in, and they were declaring how outstanding the movie was. The TV ads were changing themselves to quote reviews saying things like how it battles The Dark Knight for best comic book movie ever made. Rotten Tomatoes has it currently at 87%. In fact, I'd only heard one relatively negative review (and Dylan assured me they were almost all he'd heard--in fact, he'd seen nothing but lukewarm-at-best reviews, and none of these "excellent" ones). And then, after all that, I finally saw the film.

Erik (Michael Fassbender) is a Holocaust survivor, but he's still a tortured soul, in no small part thanks to a man named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is a "professor" of genetics, with a focus in mutations. He travels together with his friend and kinda-adoptive sister, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence). But when Shaw begins his attempt to start the third World War, Xavier and Erik meet and work together with a CIA again named Moira (Rose Byrne) and form their own team of mutants to fight him. Other mutants (good and bad) you'll see are Riptide (Alex Gonzalez), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Emma Frost (January Jones), Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), Darwin (Edi Gathegi), and Alex Summers AKA Havok (Lucas Till). There's one more really fun one, but I don't want to spoil it, so I'll stop there.

I've never read the comics. I watched the cartoon sometimes growing up, played a video game or two, and saw the other movies, but that's about it. I can't argue if they stayed accurate or not... except two issues. Even I know that Alex Summers is Scott Summers/Cyclops' younger brother, so there's no way he could be in the first class. And I'm relatively sure (spoiler?) that's not how Prof X gets paralyzed. Besides those, I couldn't tell you anything glaring about it the adaptation.

I like it when stories are presented like this--going back and showing how things came together. We already know the stories and characters, so seeing everything's origins was fun (since it was done right... not like Origins: Wolverine). I'll be honest: I'm not a total hater on X-Men 3. But even I can't deny looking at that and looking at this and seeing the huge difference in quality, from acting to writing to... everything, really. I'll be honest some more: I was never of the kind that thought X2 was one of the greatest comic book movies before The Dark Knight. In fact, outside of the outstanding opening sequence, I thought it was a bit too long and kinda dull. I think this film strikes a nice balance between everything and gives us an X-Men movie that is equal parts strong story, good characters, good acting, and great action.

In the acting department, I was continually drawn in by rising star Jennifer Lawrence. I thought she was amazing in Winter's Bone, and she brings a needed depth to Mystique here. From the short clips and pictures we saw of her beforehand, the makeup bugged me. But it doesn't really bug me in the actual film, for some reason. James McAvoy excels as Charles, giving us a different side of him than we saw in the other films, but still keeping that wisdom endeared on us by Patrick Stewart. And Michael Fassbender was equal parts menacing and troubled as Erik/Magneto. Of course, I can't talk about the acting without bringing in Kevin Bacon as our villain. I don't know why he was absent from practically all advertisement. He's a huge part of the movie. But yeah, he was pretty creepy and did well with what he was given.

Though I think they could have done a little more with his climax battle. He had some really cool moments, but it could have been extended a little bit, I think. Overall, I think the writing was pretty good... though there really didn't need to be two Charles-Xavier-will-eventually-be-bald jokes.

Personally, I really enjoyed the film. It had some great moments, really fun action, some good humor, great character interactions, and a couple nice appearances by other (unmentioned) characters we've met in previous films. I think it captured the heart of X-Men really well, and I can safely say it's one of my favorites of the franchise. Is it perfect? No. The first 15 or so minutes bugged me for various reasons, and there were a few things here and there throughout the rest of the film I could have liked differently. But overall, it was a very good and very enjoyable superhero movie.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

BRIDESMAIDS.

I was "dragged" (teasing term) to this movie the other day, not expecting much at all from the trailer. So what did I end up thinking? The movie focuses on Annie (Kristin Wiig), a woman whose life is heading down the gutter. But when her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged, she gets given the honor of being--well--the maid of honor. She meets up with the other bridesmaids, including Becca (Ellie Kemper), Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Megan (Melissa McCarthy), and Helen (Rose Byrne). Unfortunately, while Helen tries to take over the wedding and glory from Annie, Annie's life continues a roller coaster of emotions, as she battles with British roommates (Matt Lucas and Rebel Wilson), her douchebag ex (Jon Hamm), and Officer Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd)--a cop who Annie starts to form a relationship with.

Fortunately, the movie was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. The movie has been compared a lot to The Hangover, but it honestly isn't very similar at all. The similarities stop at the fact it's wacky adventures with a group of people, and one of them is goofy and strange. And similar to Zack Galifianakis in The Hangover, I'm not sure Bridesmaids would have been even half as good or funny without Melissa McCarthy. She really made the movie. Her whole part on the airplane was great, as was the scene near the end when she gives Annie a pep talk. Though the movie does take it one step too far in the extra credits scene.

I think the movie's biggest issue, though, is its pacing. Some things were too long. Some weren't long enough. The tone was a bit off, too. I mean, in one scene you could have a character taking a crap in the middle of the road. In a nearby scene, you could have a character discussing hitting rock bottom in life and just being all-around depressed (and not in a funny way). Kristin Wiig's character just went a bit too serious for a movie that has some of the gags it does. I also would have liked to have seen more stuff between Annie and Rhodes--a very sweet part of the movie that could have been built up more around the middle of the movie. Outside of that, there were issues with the length of scenes. Eventually, you're like "OK, we get it already. Move on." The airplane sequence, for example, just kept going on and on, but the jokes were essentially the same. It built to a good payoff, but the middle could have easily been trimmed. And there were quite a few scenes where this issue arose.

Speaking of trimming things, the bridesmaids themselves were only half important. Becca and Rita are completely pointless. They're basically just background characters. Yet some scenes are dedicated to showing their half of what's going on, when they have almost no importance to the overall scene or movie.

I know this review has seemed negative, but I really did enjoy the movie. It was really funny. The best parts dealt with both Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd (not together, obviously). And Jon Hamm as the douchebag ex-boyfriend is hilarious, too. He has some really funny one-liners. It isn't a perfect movie, but if you're looking for a good laugh, this would be a fun one to check out.


I Am McLovin!

INSIDIOUS.

The movie may have had one of the strangest and nonsensical ad campaigns ever (Insidious is Insidious?), but it was thankfully the word of mouth that pulled me in. Written and directed by the guys who brought us the first Saw film and produced by the guy who brought us Paranormal Activity, Insidious tells us the story of the Lambert family. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have just moved into a new home with their children. But after Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into something reminiscent of a coma, very bizarre things start happening. Slowly but sure, along with the help of Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), and a paranormal team including Elise (Lin Shaye), Specs (Leigh Whannell), and Tucker (Angus Sampson), they find out what's going on and exactly what they need to do to fix it.

Despite an awfully slow beginning, the movie delivers its fair share of scares. I mean, this is one freaky little movie. Sure, there's some jump scares, but there's also that fear embedded in you like "what if there's something watching me in that dark corner of the room while I'm in bed?" And these aren't just night scares. Oh no. It's in the daytime, too. Don't take that PG-13 rating for granted. This is no teeny-bopper horror. This is a well-made scary movie. It even manages to use "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" in not one, but two creepy scenes.

I think the story is the coolest part, though. It's pretty original, or at least not done incredibly often. It follows a haunted house formula, but--as the trailers spoil--it's not a haunted house, but a haunted person (I hate that the trailer gave that away. That would have been a great mid-movie twist). Fortunately, the trailer didn't give away the why. I won't spoil it either, but the reasoning behind what's going on is quite original, at least to me, and I really liked the ideas this movie brought to the table. Also showing some originality, there's a fun part that turns cliches on their head. You know how there's that scene in every haunted house movie where someone begs to move and get away and never come back, but they just end up staying and riding it out? This movie plays with that cliche and almost laughs in its face.

The acting is decent. The movie gets really fun acting-wise about halfway through once Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, and Angus Sampson join the show. Whannell and Sampson give us our comic relief of the film, and they do a pretty good job at it. Shaye basically plays the Zelda Rubinstein character, but she does it very well. And yes, there are some Poltergeist parallels by the time we reach the third act. Sadly, in comparison to these later characters/actors, Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne mainly come off as dull. Byrne is the scared, crying wife/mother and Wilson is the aloof, sometimes macho husband/father. There are two other kids, but besides the baby that never stops crying, there's nothing really of note to mention of them. In fact, they're pretty much nonexistent in the second half of the film.

If you like ghost/haunting stories, definitely check this one out. It's scary/freaky and well made. Director James Wan makes some interesting and fun camera choices, and there are a lot of lighting tricks he uses to keep us on our toes, waiting and holding our breath that something doesn't pop out of nowhere. Also, because he's James Wan, you know he's gonna attempt some kind of twist, but you can see it coming a mile away. Honestly, don't go into this movie for any kind of twist. Go to it because the story is pretty original and it's pretty dang scary (mixed in with a few laughs).


A Keanu 'Whoa'

(P.S. Try not to sit near any annoying women who have to commentate on every little thing throughout the entire movie like "This is the part where they dim the lights and the previews start... see?," "Oh, that's a really nice house," "Oh, that's a nice couch... I want that couch (which is being sat on by dead people during a scary scene)," "Oh! They just said that the boy gets up and walks around at night, but remember... he's in a coma!" Etc.)