from G-Men to X-Men..

Of course X-Men : First Class is where the war between the mutants and human actually started. By now, we have known that mutants has existed since WWII, somehow their sorrowful fate (mainly of Magneto's) intertwined with the race-eradication process during the Holocaust era. We were taken back to where the teenage Magneto..or Erik, his real name, lost his mother to the cruelty of Klaus Schmidt (who later known as Sebastian Shaw) and then became the lab rat of Schmidt's insane and ambitious experiment. We were also introduced to the young Charles Xavier and Raven who would later be famously (and notoriously) known as Professor X and Mystique. These 3 characters; Professor X, Magneto and Mystique, are the super-seniors of X-Men.

Then, after almost 20 years passes, the bad-ass mutants found their way to meddle into the human's atrocious business by taking advantage of the Cold War to wage their own war towards the homo sapiens. By now we meet Erik, already an adult, is in search of Schmidt who has now become Shaw, to avenge his mother's death and the torture he went through under the experiment of Shaw. In the meantime, Charles and Raven somehow unofficially aiding the CIA to investigate the involvement of the bad-ass mutants led by Shaw. During the process, Erik and Charles met and subsequently bonded by friendship and their same mutant 'nature'. Together, with the help of a CIA scientist and an agent, they recruited several more young mutants to help them address the current situation. These young mutants are conflicted, they knew of their differences but yet unable to accept it due to the difficulties of living among normal people.

Fast forward, the other side of the mutants has now realized that they are not only going to fight the humans but also the diplomatic, peace-keeping band of mutants led by Charles and Erik. Finally, the moment of truth came when Erik finally encountered Shaw, and as the final scenes ended the story, we started to see how the X-Men started to evolve. Now we understand;

a. how Erik became Magneto (and how he got the helmet..);

b. how Professor X became wheelchair-bound (and then started his academy..);

c. how the relationship between Magneto, Professor X and Mystique started;

d. how Mystique changed her heart (and preference..); and

e. how Beast became Beast, of course..

Yes, it's like learning the history of X-Men. Please don't get confused with the involvement of WWII, Holocaust and Cold War in this 'history'. Get your facts right. Somehow, fictions can be derived from facts, and fictions can be mixed with facts. The reality has become the background of the story, crossing political and geographical borders. However, at some point, this fiction can be the mirror image of what has happened in reality. In conflict between two sides, there's always the third party that acts as batu api, or provocateurs (heih..betui ka translation aku nih..). 

Okay, anyway..during the 'recruitment' sessions by Charles and Erik, it's interesting to see a few famous mutants in a flash, like Storm when she was little and Wolverine. And in this movie, we get to see the not-yet-X-Men-but-soon-to-be mutants wearing the black and yellow suit, as in the original senior version. All in all, this is a mutant movie with lots of feelings and emotions involved. Be yourself. Learn to accept your unique qualities and you will earn the respect of others. An enjoyable watch.

google image