X-Men: First Class

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, X-Men: First Class explores the origins of the popular superhero team. In the early 1960s, Holocaust survivor and metal-bending mutant Erik “Magneto” Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) hunts down Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a nefarious mutant supremacist who killed his mother during the war. Shaw’s involvement in the clandestine Hellfire Club brings him to the attention of CIA operative Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne), who reaches out to mutation expert (and telepath) Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) for help. Once Shaw’s plans for political maneuvering and global domination become clear, Erik and Charles team up and begin recruiting mutants to combat him. Their differing views on human-mutant relations, however, suggest the alliance won’t last for long.

From recent Christopher Nolan Batman series to the forthcoming The Amazing Spiderman and Man of Steel, reboots seem to be all the rage these days. In the case of the X-Men franchise, there is considerable merit. X-Men: The Last Stand, with its shoddy characterization and simplistic plotting, left a bad taste in the mouths of many filmgoers, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, though fun, did little to remedy that.

For comic book purists, X-Men: First Class is more of the same. When compared to the source material, considerable liberties are taken with both character and setting: shape-shifting seductress Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is turned into Xavier’s adopted little sister, and the initial X-Men lineup presented here leaves out Cyclops and Angel in favor of Havoc and Banshee. Some of the changes are unsettling: Hank “Beast” McCoy’s (Nicholas Hoult) admittedly formidable intelligence is stretched to absurd proportions for his age, and the transformation of McTaggart from scientist to spy felt a little too plot-convenient.

That aside, most of the changes work. Having blue-skinned Mystique feel Xavier’s rejection, for instance, sets up her enthusiasm for Magneto’s pro-mutant extremism in later times. Similarly, the debates between Xavier, who believes humans and mutants can exist in harmony, and Magneto, who believes that mutants will never be accepted, sets up the conflict at the crux of the first three X-Men films.

The biggest asset here, however, is not Vaughn’s innovations, but the general competence and sense of purpose he brings to the film. While the pace is brisk and there is plenty of action, you never feel like you are watching a glorified cartoon. Echoes of the Holocaust and the Civil Rights struggle, combined with a Cold War setting and plot, give this a mature, weighty feel.

The acting is also top-notch. Fassbender, as Erik/Magneto, is less a man with an agenda than a force to be reckoned with. He pulls of a coup by outdoing his predecessor in the role, the esteemed Ian McKellen.  McAvoy as Xavier isn’t quite as strong in comparison, but his somewhat carnal and vain take on the character forms an interesting contrast with Patrick Stewart’s saintly interpretation. The underrated Bacon is both smarmy and menacing as Shaw, and Hugh Jackman, in his brief Wolverine cameo, nearly steals the film.

X-Men: First Class is an overly ambitious work that strikes a false note at times. But it injects the franchise as a whole with some much-needed credibility and vision and opens the door for all kinds of future possibilities.

8.25

Rosie's Cafe (CLOSED)

NOTE: Rosie's Cafe has since closed.

Located at 2412 A S. Elm-Eugene St., Rosie’s Café offers home cooked Southern cuisine for dine-in or carry out. It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and meal combos and daily specials are available.

Housed in a converted gas station, Rosie’s goes to prove that the Lindley Park neighborhood doesn’t hold a monopoly on repurposed businesses. However, all similarities between Rosie’s and the Filling Station end there. Rosie’s does not offer anything to entice a young crowd or any crowd for that matter. The interior is barebones and tiny: there are maybe half a dozen stools along two counters, and that does it for seating. You will also be eating on Styrofoam and plastic, and you won’t have a television to watch, music to listen to, or anything else in the way of ambiance.

Once you get past the fact that Rosie’s is “dine-in” in name only, you’ll find that the food is equal parts tasty and cheap. The extensive breakfast menu is heavy on meat (steak, pork chops, country ham, etc.) and egg combos, and you can feed yourself well for under $5. The lunch/dinner menu is a bit more limited. They are big on burgers and ($1!) hot dogs here, but you can also get something more filling. I opted for a pork chop, potato salad, and slaw, and I was not disappointed. The chop was nicely breaded and not the least bit dry, and the sides are what you’d expect from a Southern kitchen. The best part? That and a drink cost me under $9.

Rosie’s is not a viable option if you want to take in a nice meal, but if you are just looking for cheap eats or something to go, you’d be hard-pressed to find better food at these prices.

7.75