Turning a leaden franchise into box office gold

Rating: 8/10 (19 June 2011)

X-men First Class is a film that just feels good.
It is by no means a perfect film, but the keys to its success are its good bits burning up the bad bits. In other words, I did not walk out of the theater remembering the unpleasant pieces of the film.
X-men First Class's plot line is given in the title, and the details are the origin of two types of mutant, those who are good and those who are bad. The set pieces of the film are based around the Cuban Missile crisis, and who can save the human race from its destruction, or create its destruction
Sound familiar?
Well, that's because it is, but the key aspect of the film is not this plot line, but the execution of this well worn storyline.
The ambiguity of the characters is vividly portrayed, and I believe it is at least one of the elements of the film that makes it so engrossing. For example, the character of Erik Lensherr, given as the super villain of the series, is hard to nail down as a simple villain. For every (supposedly?) evil act he commits in this film, there is a reason for that act. We understand why he is doing it, and we sympathize with him, even agree.
Deep character study and exposure is similarly exploited in Lensherr's ally and later opposite number, Charles Xavier. We also sympathize with him; he is a man with heart. This facet of the character is developed so well by the filmmakers, that when the character is 'wheelchaired' (I'm sure this is an obvious plot point even to the most naive viewer) I felt a genuine jolt of emotion surge through my body.
The special effects in this film are only used on top of the character development and storyline, like a layer of cheese on a particularly tasty pizza. This is also what sets the film out from other (so called) blockbusters in recent years. Effects are used only to polish off the human drama taking place on screen. And would you know it? The special effects and action sequences have a real weight. A certain scene at the end of the film involving some serious military hardware was eye popping, essentially because I was so invested in what was happening on screen.
Naturally, there are some faults with the film, the film score is a touch wooden and some of the younger cast have some poor acting moments. The issue of too many characters is rather obvious with this type of franchise, and despite the fact in cannot be helped, it does weigh the film some.
But as I said, the little bit of bad by no means outweighs the good, and the filmmakers have made a double investment with me – I will be returning for at least one more sequel.