When I first saw promotional material for "X-Men: First Class," I'll admit I thought the concept was ridiculous.
While the original "X-Men" and its sequel were both quite good, "X-Men: The Last Stand" seriously damaged any reputation the series had, and "Wolverine: Origins" was nearly as bad. What good could a prequel do?
Now I'm prepared to eat my words, as "X-Men: First Class" is exactly the kind of film the X-Men franchise deserves.
The film takes place in the 1960s, focusing on the early lives of Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) before they take the names Magneto and Professor X.
Xavier is preparing to graduate with his degree in genetics, getting support from his pseudo-sister Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), but both hide their secrets from just about everyone else; Xavier is a mutant with telepathy, and Raven is the shape-shifter who will one day be known as Mystique.
Both of them are willing to reveal their secrets when CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) discovers mutants rule the Hellfire Club, a secret organization that influences decision making in both America and its communist enemy Russia.
Meanwhile, Lensherr is hunting Nazi scientist Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon), a man who experimented on Lensherr when he was a boy in the concentration camps.
Lensherr and Xavier decide to combine their efforts when it is revealed that Schmidt now goes by the name Sebastian Shaw, and is the leader of the Hellfire Club.
Now, the two must put together their own team of mutants to combat Shaw's efforts and keep the world from being destroyed by nuclear war.
"X-Men: First Class" is everything a movie about a team should be. Instead of focusing on one character more than the others, like earlier entries in the series, each character in "First Class" is given some attention.
This will probably be the first time comic fans hear about long-time X-Men such as Banshee and Havok, and, while some details have been changed, what viewers are presented with is a good first look at the characters.
Of course, this kind of characterization wouldn't be possible if they hadn't done a great casting job. It appears that every character was assigned an actor who can properly portray them instead of simply putting whoever looked the best in the role, a problem that "X-Men: The Last Stand" suffered from.
Bacon's physique may not be the best for Shaw if going by his appearance in the comics, but the "Footloose" star is able to bring the cold, calculating evil Shaw is supposed to ooze, yet also the wit and the charm the character has consistently portrayed.
McAvoy also deserves praise for his performance as a young Xavier, bringing the perfect attitude to the character and performing in such a way that a proper teacher always should.
My personal favorite of the mutants featured was Darwin, as played by Edi Gathegi, whom you may know from "House." Although he doesn't receive nearly enough screen time, the actor clearly put his all into the role, and that kind of dedication makes his performance all the better.
The use of the Cuban missile crisis also works as a wonderful backdrop for this story. It was a terrifying time in America's history, and it goes to show that, just like people were afraid of being outed as communist, others were afraid of being outed as mutants.
A lot of the credit also goes to director Matthew Vaughn, whose earlier work "Kick-Ass" shows that he can do a great comic book movie when given the chance.
My only complaint about the film is it doesn't seem like distributor Fox cares about those who are also fans of the comic books. It was as if they threw characters to the wall and just used what stuck.
Thankfully, in the hands of a competent creative team, the end result was great, but if they keep this up, who knows what kind of damage they could do.
Regardless, I'm proud to say there is finally a recent X-Men first class film worth watching, and, while it may be a bit long, it does its job right.
