Three reasons to watch this movie: Bacon, Fassbender, and McAvoy

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2011)

Admittedly, I had certain expectations going to see this movie. Some of them were met, some were exceeded, and then some weren't. I'll start off with the bad just to get them out of the way. I'll include a fact or two from the movie but, hopefully, nothing important.
The biggest problem I had with this movie is that the director seemed so fixated on the "period piece" rather than the friendship between Erik and Charles that it almost felt at times that the mutants were an afterthought in comparison to the plot of creating another World War. There was very little delving into their friendship let alone the creation of the X-Men team. I'm sorry, but one week of training isn't enough to teach Havok or Banshee to control their powers. I'll trust that is what the sequel will be for, though.
The concept of the outcasts, of "us vs. them" and "peace vs. war" was played up nicely. The tension was obvious from the start and the blind ignorance that is to blame was also obvious, even a bit too obvious. The writers did a great job at skimming the surface of the problems to come so I hope that the sequel also delves into the causes of this ignorance more. What would also be nice is too really see how Magneto and Professor X deal with these issues on their own terms.
McAvoy and Fassbender steal any scene they're in, whether together or separately. The best thing for this movie was to cast these two together. That being said, I do believe that McAvoy and Fassbender weren't used to their full potential. What little time you do see the two together philosophizing was never enough given their chemistry on screen. I just wish more time had been spent on these things rather than Shaw's plot. But, when you have someone like Kevin Bacon in a movie - any movie - who knows how to play up a character like Shaw, you can't waste him. Every move Bacon made as Shaw, every expression made and line spoken with a specific tone of voice was delivered flawlessly. Over all, I would watch the movie again not because of the plot, but because of it's three main actors and the strengths each of them brought to their characters. When each of them was on screen as Eric, Charles, or Shaw, I believed them. The score I gave this movie was because of them.
As for the remaining supporting cast, they did their jobs well enough. Lucas Till as Havok, Jones as Banshee, and Hoult as Beast definitely stood out, though I know I'm not the only one to say that I had gotten use to Kelsey Grammar as Beast. It was obvious that January Jones as Frost was there as nothing more than eye candy given she played the role with nothing more than a straight face. Kudos to Lawrence for playing Raven in full body makeup as much as she did. She did an excellent job as someone struggling with her identity. The remaining characters came and went, even Rose Byrn and Zoe Kravitz. Byrn was given very little to work with while Kravitz was given more screen time than what was needed for her character.