Three years ago, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn
reinvigorated the Marvel franchise with the clever historical revisionism of 2011’s
X-Men: First Class, which boasted a superb new cast, cool retro
style, globetrotting intrigue, and a refreshing emphasis on character. Bryan
Singer, the series’ original creator on board as director for the first
time since 2003’s X2: X-Men United, confidently carries
that same momentum, combining the gravitas of the early films with the
playfulness of Vaughn’s follow-up. Making for exceptional pacing and relentless
drive, Singer pulls together an ambitious, suspenseful film and secures a
future for the franchise at the same time he continues to reinvent it.
The X-Men series has always
been somewhat unique among its kind because it wears its allegorical heart on
its sleeve. By chronicling the adventures of a despised minority, it pokes
around some interesting social and political issues. The theme of ostracized,
oppressed outsiders empowered to fight against their social stigma in ways both
good and evil runs throughout the seven films to date. The central conflict is the
endless moral argument between Professor X and Magneto, between the idea that
mutants should fight for the redemption of mankind and the insistence that they
should defend themselves by any means necessary. This time around, their
misunderstood humanity is amplified by extreme physical vulnerability, their
struggle framed by a genocidal battle in the near future.
