X-MEN: FIRST CLASS - Grading+Discussion **SPOILERS!**

[lurok]

The one joy I have reading other reviews here is almost universal consensus of how appalling Jones was. Does make you wonder why they never replaced her. Hopefully she'll get a well-deserved Razzie nom.

I think appalling & a Razzie nom. are a bit extreme.
She wasn't that bad, she was just bland compared to the more colorful personality Emma has in the comic. Jones simply didn't play Emma as the snob she is.

The question is, is that the actor or directors fault.......or is it a little bit of both?

Yeah, appalling might sound a wee bit strong, but maybe has different emotive power this side of pond Still, I'm a nobody next to this guy:

After watching X-Men: First Class, Lost creator Damon Lindelof tweeted his opinion of January Jones' portrayal of Emma Frost.

'Emma Frost’s THREE mutant powers: Telepathy, Transformation to Solid Diamond and last but not least, Sucking at Acting,' he wrote.

Usual Suspects is a good film not a great one. It's almost like they thought of the twist ending and then built the movie around it.

off-thread, but thought of line-up image first and twist came much, much later. There's a couple of great docs about Suspects that explain the whole creative process of film...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm still puzzled how Mystique pulled the Shaw impersonation, complete w/helmet, when she hadn't yet seen him in that outfit.

Charles showed her what he looked like.

Or not, it could be a plothole, but a minor one - limited to a graphical error.

 

[Pauln6]

Same as Mystique's uniform changing at the end. She obviously stripped naked before stepping out of the plane.

 

[od0_ital]

I'm still puzzled how Mystique pulled the Shaw impersonation, complete w/helmet, when she hadn't yet seen him in that outfit.

Other mutants, includin' Azazel, had seen him like that. Charles could read Azazel's mind. Charles put the image of Shaw in Mystique's head, so she could copy it.

That simple.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Speaking of accents, maybe it was just me, but did it seem that Fassbender's accent changed towards the end of the movie? For the most part he had a English accent more or less. But it just seemed when he was talking near the end (ie. the beach scenes) it sounded more like he had an American twang.

American, Northern Irish and more than a hint of English imo. Perhaps Erik's been quite the globetrotter. (Fassbender is Geman-N.Irish, btw.)

No, German parentage but brought up in Kerry. He did a very convincing NI accent in Hunger (I'm sure you know that you know that the NI and Kerry accents are miles apart) and a strong English one in Inglorious Basterds. Which made it all the odder that he had such a totally southern Irish (to my ears) accent throughout much of X-Men!

 

[geotecnia]

Great movie..
I think it is great... All parts are very good to me..

 

[Dream]

'Lost' Creator to January Jones: You Suck at Acting!

Lindelof went to his Twitter page the other day and went off on Jones -- who plays Emma Frost in "X-Men: First Class" ... writing, "Emma Frost's THREE mutant powers: Telepathy, Transformation to Solid Diamond and last but not least, Sucking at Acting."

http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/07/damon-lindelof-january-jones-twitter-xmen-attack-sucking-emma-stone/

 

[JarodRussell]

Classy.

 

[Captain Craig]

Whoa 3 times? As much as I love this film I don't even think I could do that.

I'll probably watch it one or two more times before it leaves theaters. I think I saw The Dark Knight six or seven times in theaters.

I'm definately going to see it at least one more time myself, for a total of two viewings. Three is my max the last few years for films I deem "big screen worthy".
The last movie I saw more than 3 times was the first Transformers, 7 times.

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm still puzzled how Mystique pulled the Shaw impersonation, complete w/helmet, when she hadn't yet seen him in that outfit.

The discrepancy to note I think would be she hadn't seen him, that I recall, in that same outfit at that moment on the beachhead. When Shaw and his group invaded the CIA building they were in Shaw is wearing the helmet then when he confronts the recruits. So she would know what he looks like in the helmet at least.

 

[Skellington]

American, Northern Irish and more than a hint of English imo. Perhaps Erik's been quite the globetrotter. (Fassbender is Geman-N.Irish, btw.)

No, German parentage but brought up in Kerry.

His mom's from Antrim. We can split the difference, I think.

 

[Yassim]

I also think the movie makes it clear that Xavier experiences the attack while connected to Shaw, that Erik is inflicting the moment on both of them.

Exactly.

All the more reason why Xavier should have "let go." When ya touch a hot stove, do ya hold your hand there & get burned, or do ya pull it away?

All the more to say, Charles is convinced he's preventing a nuclear war by holding Shaw still... he's got lots of reasons to let Shaw go, selfish and self-less, but he holds on (and lets Shaw be murdered) because he may be saving the human race... so that wins.

I'm still puzzled how Mystique pulled the Shaw impersonation, complete w/helmet, when she hadn't yet seen him in that outfit.

Other mutants, includin' Azazel, had seen him like that. Charles could read Azazel's mind. Charles put the image of Shaw in Mystique's head, so she could copy it.

That simple.

Or because the gag doesn't work at all if the audience goes "That's not what Shaw was wearing!"

 

[Captaindemotion]

American, Northern Irish and more than a hint of English imo. Perhaps Erik's been quite the globetrotter. (Fassbender is Geman-N.Irish, btw.)

No, German parentage but brought up in Kerry.

His mom's from Antrim. We can split the difference, I think.

Fair enough. Accent is definitely more Southern to my ears though.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I didn't mind January Jones' performance. I mean, her name is Emma Frost. It would make sense her delivery was, well, icy.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I take everything Damon Lindelof tweets with a grain of salt. As he established in that stupid George R.R. Martin "feud" he has a sense of humor that sometimes comes across as him acting like an ass, and it's difficult to determine sometimes when he's being genuine about something.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It would be a bit rich for someone who made a show with Emile DeRavn as a lead to criticise the acting of any other actress

 

[Skellington]

I didn't find Jones bad per se, just a bit bland. I don't think they got Emma's characterisation right. A little bit of that it's-my-world-darlings-and-you're-just-living-in-it vibe might have been more appropriate.
Hopefully the character will be better-realised in a sequel. One Storm snafu was enough.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I always thought Emma Frost would have a bit of a British accent. And she's not supposed to be passive like Jones.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

Emma Frost is supposed to be sexy, cocky, powerful, and badass.

She's basically the opposite of Jean Grey personality wise, hence their issues with one another (and Cyclops did cheat on Jean with her).

She knows she's the shit and she lets everyone know it.

The White Queen.

Frosty, cold, but damn sexy.

That's Emma Frost.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I still can't believe they got Magneto wrong. His gripe was with humanity, or, at least humans who despise those that are different. But his enemy here is not that at all, it's an uber-powerful mutant.

Was this film a joke?

The other thing is I hate the fact that Xavier and Erik are friends for a bit, recruit some other kids and part ways, whereas in the original; trilogy they have been good friends for a much longer time. I mean I know many people who, in my 20's, I was good 30's.

Everyone is giving this film positive reviews, but once they realize how shallow it really is that will change.

Oh, and I hated the very very very frequent scene changes with the convenient subtitle labels ("covert base" - thanks that helps) especially when some individual scenes last for a few seconds. Worse yet is showing the captains of Russian and American fleets acting like dolts, and the dialogue for both kinds of captains are exactly the same,. save for the need to have one guy say it in another language.

Did anyone actually read this screenplay?