X-Men: First Class Review

Let me start off by saying I am NOT going to compare X-Men: First Class to any of the previous X-Men films! What I will say is that Matthew Vaughn just directed the BEST X-Men film in the franchise and everyone should know it!

Wow what can I say about this film that won't make me sound like a teenage boy who just reached puberty! First Class not only had everything you looked for in a comic book adaptation BUT it also has everything you look for in an action film with every single category of a great film covered. Great acting... CHECK! Great storyline... CHECK! Great directing... CHECK! To be fair I think every comic book movie made after The Dark Knight knows that it has to step it's game up but Vaughn still did a great job telling an already known story and making it his own. Kudos.

So for those who are unaware of the "First Class" of X-Men like I was prior to doing some research and seeing this film, they were the very first class of mutants that were known in the world and Professor X, played by James McAvoy took them in, trained them and taught them all how to use their powers. Even his frienemy, Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender took a few lessons from the professor while learning to better control his powers. The movie took place in a time of war when the the Russians and Americans were bitter enemies but in large part due to Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon who tired even harder to pit the two sides against one another. That's where the X-Men come in. Learning of the plot through Professor X's means of finding out information, he and Magneto, along with the help of the CIA try to stop Shaw from creating a third World War!

Every side, both good and evil has it's cast of sidekicks and the star power here was equally impressive. By Shaw's side he had Emma Frost, played by the lovely January Jones, Riptide who didn't speak a single word in the film but was pretty cool, played by Álex González, the teleporting mutant Azazel, played by Jason Flemyng and Angel, played by Zoë Kravitz. Then you had Xavier's X-Men who were led by Mystique, played by the talented and crush worthy Jennifer Lawrence, Beast, played by Nicholas Hoult, Dr. Moira MacTagger (who I guess wasn't technically an X-Man but...), played Rose Byrne, Havok, played by Lucas Till and Banshee, played by Caleb Landry Jones.

Like I said previously, Matthew Vaughn did a hell of a job telling his own X-Story and combined both the action and the dialogue filled scenes together well enough that neither faltered. I know people have mentioned the effects in the film not being up to par with what they have seen in previous X-Films specifically Beast and Mystique but to me the makeup for both were pretty damn good! That was something I paid close attention to and I honestly didn't see a problem with it! I also think that with there being so may singular mutant characters in the film, they all maintained a presence in the movie which made them relevant throughout. Without giving away to much of the surprises that were to come about in the film, X-Men: First Class was a complete film, one in which I instantly wanted to see again and one that I hope will get the recognition if deserves once more people get a chance to see it. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!