Thoughts on X-Men: First Class

I went to see X-Men: First Class this weekend. It is an entertaining reboot of the franchise and offers intriguing new perspectives on Professor X and Magneto, but the remaining mutants were an odd mix (though their powers were depicted convincingly). Beast was interesting (and an obvious choice), but an American Banshee (and a teenaged one at that) was off-setting. A young Havok was also an interesting choice, yet I missed the rest of the original "First Class": Cyclops, Ice Man, Angel, and Marvel Girl. Mystique starting out as X-Men offered an original take on the character (as was her relationship to Xavier), and it is interesting now to consider her arc in the original three films in light of this one.That said, the other X-Men--Darwin and Pixie--were lacking in much development and rationale for their inclusion (unless Pixie was only present as a counter for Banshee, who also flies); likewise, an American Moira MacTaggert (and an CIA opp to boot) seemed a strange choice. The villains caused similar confusion. Sebastian Shaw as a Nazi and Magneto's "Xavier" was very strange, and I cannot fathom the inclusion of Riptide and Azazel (perhaps he's here to foreshadow the origin of Nightcrawler from X2). However, the use of Emma Frost (here displaying much flesh and her secondary mutation) made sense given Shaw's presence.