Part sequel. part reboot, full-on entertainment

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2011)

Having seen the previous four X-Men movies and in varying degrees enjoyed them all, I wasn't going to miss this fifth outing and by and large I was not disappointed. Like the last three episodes of "Star Wars" and the J J Abrams version of "Star Trek", this is prequel (as well as something of a reboot) which explains how familiar characters became the ones we know so well. Above all, we meet young versions of Charles Xaxier/Professor X (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and learn how the former finished up in a wheelchair, how the latter acquired his helmet, and how the two became mortal enemies.
British director and co-writer Matthew Vaughn - who first burst on the scene with "Layer Cake" - sets most of the narrative in the early 1960s at the height of the Cold War (although I don't remember skirts being that short then), so we are presented with an alternative vision of the causation and conclusion of the Cuban missile crisis. Lots of mutant powers and special effects are on display which keeps the action moving and the entertainment levels high. Call me weird, but I'm a sucker for a blue-skinned, shape-shifting woman and Jennifer Lawrence is especially appealing as Raven/Mystique.