Cinema Review - X Men: First Class

After the critics reception to the third X Men instalment and Wolverine, the Marvel franchise needed somewhat of a refresh and this came in the form of an origins story revolving around the main two characters in the X Men Universe, Magneto and Professor X. If ever there were two characters in X Men that needed their pasts delved into it was these two and Matthew Vaughn has made this possible; but is it a story that is worth paying attention to?


Enter the 1960s, John F Kennedy is President, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is on the brink of becoming a professor and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is on a path of destruction in order to get to his mother's killer, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). When it soon becomes apparent that Shaw and his associates are looking to start World War Three the government reaches out to Xavier to put together a team of mutants to stop humankind's biggest threat. 


In pursuit of Shaw, Xavier and the government, including best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), the future Mystique, soon cross paths with Lensherr and, despite his willingness to release his anger at every possible moment, agrees to band together with them to stop Shaw before war is unleashed. A sparkling friendship soon develops between Xavier and Lensherr and a mutant team is banded together in an effort to restore peace. 


With Shaw also having his own team of mutants to hand he pushes the boundaries to get what he wants, humankind once again suffering, but not if Xavier and Lensherr have anything to do with it. Once Shaw's plans are unveiled it is full hands to the pump and other mutant heroes, the apprentices of Xavier's school of mutants come to the forefront and the foundations are laid down for the new future of the X Men.


Without a shadow of a doubt the X Men franchise has been re-ignited and is stronger than ever. In a bold move to invigorate new life into the saga, Vaughn has unleashed a fantastically mesmerising film that gives a great insight of two of the great comic book characters.


It is simple to say that he also hit the nail on the head with casting, a charismatic Michael Fassbender leading the way with his superb showing as Erik Lensherr and an equally impressive turn out from James McAvoy as Charles Xavier. Both are convincing in their roles and support from the likes of the excellent Kevin Bacon and rising stars Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (as Raven and Hank McCoy, respectively) just enhance the viewing pleasure.


The two hours runtime flows seamlessly, with Fassbender commanding each scene with such personality and a great turn from tamed lion to unleashed evil. McAvoy mirrors Patrick Stewart's wise and calculating Professor X down to a t and Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw is a suitably evil nemesis. 


As the second Marvel release of the year, First Class easily surpasses the earlier success of Thor and is a clear front runner early in the field for the best superhero movie of the year, better yet Fanatical Film would regard it as the best in the X Men saga, including X2 which was a pure gem. So we know just ask for one more thing, continue the saga with yet again another massively gripping and genre defining sequel.


Film rating: 4 out of 5 stars


The lowdown: Matthew Vaughn has brought to screen a perfect origins story and the great combination of powerful story, superb characters and flowing action make this the superhero movie to beat this year.