X-Men: First Class (2011)

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

Synopsis:
Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr gather a team of mutants under direction of the CIA to stop Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club before they trigger World War III.

Impressions:
After the twin disappointments of X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you'd be forgiven for writing off the X-Men franchise, but this movie is a pleasant surprise. It has fun with the setting as a 60s spy thriller and throws in a lot of fanservice for fans of the X-Men franchise. Now, a significant portion of the plot was scrapped from X-Men Origins: Magneto and this was some of the coolest material. I mean, a polyglot Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr: Nazi Hunter is awesome. The anvilicious subtext is cringeworthy, but it doesn't detract from the quality of the film. There are a lot of good performances. I've already praised Michael Fassbender, but I also liked James McAvoy as Xavier and a lot of the secondary cast was pretty good as well. Special effects are a bit iffy but not too distracting. Storywise, I enjoyed the development of Charles and Erik's relationship. In fact, a lot of the character stuff is pretty good.

This is easily one of the better X-Men movies and it's a fun watch regardless of some spotty bits. Give it a shot.

Rating:
Watch It