WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I must admit, I was really sceptical about the recasting of Professor Xavier when making X-Men: First Class, however I think James McAvoy ended up being a really good choice! In places he did remind me a little of Sir Patrick Stewart and the way he and Michael Fassbender worked together, potentially made it one of my favourite X-Men films.
Bright Young Things
I admit that I struggled to figure out when this film was set however I can only assume it was the 1930s considering that would be when the original novel Vile Bodies was written. The focus of the story is on Adam and Nina, so McAvoy’s character of Simon Balcairn is an ancillary one. It’s hard to tell whether he is genuinely a friend of Nina’s or if he is simply at each of these parties in order to get more information on the young socialites for his articles in the paper. His largest scene is just over half an hour into the film, and it feels like he is having the luncheon with Adam in order to get something out of him but because he doesn’t get what he wants, he ends up attending the party he wanted like he wanted but in disguise, unfortunately not a very good one considering he is caught out by the Prime Minister and kicked out. This causes the worst article of lies he seems to have ever written. And they say to fear a woman scorned, maybe that should be changed to journalist. This is his final moment it seems, as Simon Balcairn chooses to commit suicide straight after.
Last King of Scotland
Gaining its name due to the fact that Idi Amin declared himself “King of Scotland” in the 1970s, this film follows parts of his rule through the eyes of fictional doctor Nicholas Garrigan, played by James McAvoy. Based on the book of the same name, McAvoy’s character was created by Giles Foden in order to give more of an insight into the rule of Idi Amin, however there are certain things that Garrigan is involved in that never actually happened, like the death of Kay, Amin’s wife, from a botched abortion – all because Garrigan gets her pregnant! With this in mind, if you want to focus on the authenticity of this film, you really need to ignore his character completely but that’s not what we’re here for. For me, it seems Garrigan wants the notoriety more than helping with the well-fare of the Ugandan people or else he wouldn’t have taken the job as Amin’s personal physician. Yes, I know it’s also a plot wheel to show a closer insight into Amin’s rule but still. What I did like, and this is probably because of Amin’s known love for the Scots, that Garrigan was made Scottish meaning that McAvoy could use his actual accent as part of playing the role.
Side Note: Prepare yourself for his torture scene, it’s a little brutal!
Starter for Ten
For those who do not know, Starter for 10 is a reference to the opening question in University Challenge which is the main theme of this film. I want to start off by saying I love this film! Like Brassed Off (if you haven’t seen it watch it) it’s a beautiful British story and of course an underdog one to an extent. My only annoyance is that McAvoy’s character of Brian is actually a bit of a dick, but I guess it’s not on purpose! The worst bit is, he doesn’t start off that way. Brian is just a normal, humble young man from Southend (even though he doesn’t exactly sound like an Essex boy but then neither do James Corden and Dominic Cooper) and super awkward! Which is why I refer to this as an underdog story because he is what would typically be considered as “working-class” going to a rather prestigious university and being smart enough to join their University Challenge team – who are underdogs in their own right as they haven’t won for 3 years. I’ll be honest, I think the dickishness comes from him trying to impress Alice, the pretty girl on the team, when he is simply himself around Rebecca. Until he calls her Alice! It’s why I think he cheats, but my biggest problem is that he doesn’t truly apologise to anyone for the way he’s behaved.
Honorary Mentions
Unlike some of his co-stars in X-Men: First Class, McAvoy was not an unknown actor when he was cast as Professor X – having appeared alongside Angelina Jolie in Wanted, as well as starring in Wimbledon and having a pretty key role in Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as Mister Tumnus. He even had a couple of voice roles in Strings (English version) and Gnomeo and Juliet.
