It's summer blockbuster time. Just put down that copy of 100 Years of Solitude and give in. Mutants, giant robots, exploding planets and evil supervillains: these are the things that make America great.
The question of the day is this: How good was X-Men: First Class? My son and I just saw it and both thought it was excellent. With its perfect-pitch, retro-60s look and feel (even down to the "X" graphics at the film's end) and some superb superhero acting (Michael Fassbender as Magneto), the film has something for both comic-book geeksters and ordinary folk.
The use of mutants as a stand-in for issues of race is always what makes the X-Men a more interesting storyline than other titles. But is this X-Men origin story in the top-10 Marvel films (who cares about DC, really)? Is it close to the wry humor and real vulnerability of the first Spiderman? Could it touch the first Iron Man for shear fun?
I put it in the top 3.
OK, now on back to García Márquez or Proust or whatever.
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