James McAvoy overacting....

He looked so gay in this one. Maybe because he was overacting.

he gave a brilliant performance, excellent casting.

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James is awesome. I thought he played his role well and I really liked his and Fassbenders friendship in the movie.

Overacting? He was "underacting" to me. Terribly unexpressive and flat actor.

Boycott movies that involve real animal violence! (and their directors too)

You're wrong. Normally I try to be diplomatic, but JM was amazing in this, especially at the end when he 'breaks up' with Erik. That scene is heart wrenching, mainly because of James.

There’s one person here who basically thinks he completely lacks expression and depth as an actor and judging from the lack of response to their post save for my own, I’m guessing people here just don’t want to argue with a person who lacks the sort of view most of the rest of the world were born with. It’d be like arguing with a blind person who tells you they don’t like the color purple. But you, you I sort of get because I see where you’re coming from and from there, follow it to the point you’re trying to make but that’s where I have to stop because I’m sorry, my friend, the conclusion you reached just isn’t right. 

While there’s more than one way to skin a cat (dunno how true that expression is, never skinned one myself), the way McAvoy chose to approach this character is actually pretty ingenious and very bold. He deliberately strayed as far away from Stewart’s (pardon me if I don’t add the Sir) portrayal as he could get because he wanted to leave room for the character to grow (what with there being two more exciting sequels planned for the franchise) and with a character as revered as Professor X, given that he’s a comic book character, overt subtlety won’t work if you want to show character arc. 

Professor X wasn’t born wise, he couldn’t have been since his character is still human (mutant as he may be), and while he could’ve been portrayed in any amount of ways that’s different from McAvoy’s, there’s no doubt that McAvoy humanized a character that’s essentially, well, God-like in his later years. An actor who isn’t worth his salt wouldn’t have even thought of that, much less be brave enough to carry it out. And carry it out he did. Highly believably so, too. If you don’t think so, it’s really not his fault. It’s your own for not letting yourself believe. And it’s not that I think he could do no wrong–he sure could, but the truth is, he hasn’t yet so far. Not in a way where you can easily point a finger and say, “Hah! He blew that performance and I’m sure the world at large would agree with me!” Not without being 100% delusional, anyway.

So, contrary to your opinion (considering everything I’ve said above), he actually turned in a portrayal that turned out incredibly understated and nuanced. You’re just not looking at the whole picture. While I’m thinking most people did and appreciated it, there are also some who misconstrued his portrayal as irreverent and some, like your good self, who somehow missed the point he was trying to make and when that happened, I guess what he did with the character didn’t come out natural to you. Please note that I’m using the word natural here in the context of visual storytelling that has to be done in under 2.5 hours, not real life or even long episodic dramas, btw.

I’d argue that opinions like yours exist due to subjectiveness, and hey, the whole point of discussion boards is to share our opinions and by extension, see if anyone can change them. But while whether or not a person appreciates McAvoy’s acting ((which prioritizes story and audience so his style will differ based on how he thinks the story should be told in order to get the audience to feel and react a certain way) or even if he’s the best working actor out there now is very much subjective, him being a good one is not. That is fact. Just because he, and any other talented actors out there for the matter, don’t fit someone’s preconceived notion or mould (a very narrow one, might I add) of a good actor, doesn't mean they aren’t. The world of the performance arts is a gigantic gray zone and there is room enough for more than one kind of good actor within it. There may be a certain math to acting, but acting itself is not math. Some people just don’t seem to realize that.