Review of X-Men: First Class (2011) by Maineutral R — 22 May 2014

While the night might seem eternal, the sun will always rise again. First Class is the sun on the X-Men saga, after falling dreadfully to their close death with The Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine. Reinventing the saga, the origin of Xavier and Magneto's friendship and rivalry is told, bringing us to where it all began. All with a good script, great performances and our delightful cheesiness just like in the comics.

First Class approaches the wrecked friendship of Professor X and Magneto as the movie's strongest element. We see how the met, how they enjoy being friends, and the events and thoughts that drive them to be enemies in a personal war. It's curious how this X-Men film (one of the best, of course) has some of the most boring mutants and yet results in a very likeable entry. This is thanks to Matthew Vaughn's stylish direction and sharp focus, with attention to detail and tone. The movie's tone makes the film practically impossible to bore, so does the story, making us curious in how this will be resolved, every event, every character.

There are some action scenes too, but those appear only when necessary, just like in the good X-Men films! The thing here is making the movie dramatic enough to care about story and not enough to become over-the-top. Many fans had weird feeling towards the villain Sebastian Shaw, being different from the comics here in the movie. They are right, it is different...better, actually. I think they adapted this villain well, transcending from its paper form to the screen performed by Kevin Bacon, who convinces as the villain.

Just like any X-Men movie, there are some underused or undeveloped mutants, but here they make sure they are at least, interesting the enough. Well done. I almost forgot: there is some humor here, and well, it's good, just what a comic book movie needs. First Class also has the "Epic Beginning" feeling. What's that? It's when you see the origins of a story you already know: you know what the characters will be in the future, and seeing how and why, it makes you feel good, seeing all the went through to get to that point. That always makes any event exciting, and works most of the time. The music's good, the special effects are good and it's simply a fine entry in the series.

X-Men First Class is one of the best comic book movies, and gives new life to the saga, hope all sequels can keep up from now on. Fun, exciting and even delightfully cheesy, this new X-Men shows again why we all love the mutants...well, the inside story in the comic says another thing but, yeah.