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Rating: 9/10 (30 September 2013)

"Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster and I'm looking for my creator" – Erik Lehnsherr
After the weak finale to the original trilogy and the shambles that was Wolverine's origins story, fans of the X-men universe would be more than entitled to feel apprehensive, perhaps even disinterested when plans to bring Professor X. and Magneto's back-stories to the big screen were announced. However, Bryan Singer was back on board as a writer and producer, and Matthew Vaughn was directing after enjoying success from critics for his work on "Kick-Ass". The result was astounding; a refreshing take on a series which had become littered with bit-part, pointless name-droppers, increasingly poor attempts at bad-ass one liners, and a worn out Wolverine who was carrying the series upon his beefy shoulders far too often. Everything from casting to score just worked in this film, not without its flaws/ weak points, but it must certainly go down as one of the greatest comic book films made to date, especially in the Marvel universe.
In a familiar opening scene, a young Erik Lehnsherr's traumatic experience at the hands of the Nazis is revisited, this time introducing the icy, concise, ultimately powerful mutant, Sebastian Shaw. Erik awakens to his metal bending powers when Shaw murders his mother in front of him, showing that rage acts as medium through which his powers can be channelled. Elsewhere we see the juxtaposed, light-hearted story of the brilliant young Charles Xavier, and his childhood friend, Raven. An adult Lehnsherr's lifelong quest is to pursue and exact his revenge on Shaw, and when Xavier aligns with the US government to track Shaw (who is planting seeds to start a world war), the two young men meet and become fast friends. From here on out, the mutants become embroiled in the Western effort to prevent nuclear war during the 1960's Cold War era, whilst Shaw and his team use their abilities to force both sides hands into destroying humanity; then the world can belong to mutant- kind.
Whilst the story of First Class remains largely unoriginal (evil mutant intent on ridding the world of humans), its presentation is what sets it apart from previous X-men films. Where we had dilution of the story and the principle actors in previous efforts from secondary characters (Storm, Sabretooth etc.), the "sidekicks" in First Class have a genuine part to play in moving things along, and keep the film running at an appropriate pace, rather than slowing things down. At times, the young mutants-in-training detract from the darker tone of the film, which is slightly off putting, but bring colour and vibrance to other areas. The training scenes at Xavier's mansion in particular are artistically stylish, with each mutant's character being developed both physically and mentally in preparation for the films enthralling conclusion. A special mention goes out to Jennifer Lawrence, who, along with a much deeper script dragged Mystique from an underused piece of VFX eye candy into a commanding and dominant character, her chemistry with the rest of the cast is excellent, particularly Nicholas Hoult's Beast. On the side of the villains, January Jones also brings more substance behind Bacon's Shaw as indestructible telepath Emma Frost, which was something largely missing from Magneto's Brotherhood in the original trilogy.
However, the genius of this film lies in the casting of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as the films protagonists. The chemistry between the pair is on par with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, amplified by a far more mature and darker script, rife with room for emotional expression between the two. It's not often that the Superhero genre is graced with acting of such quality and profundity, and these two deliver in abundance. For reference, the scene where Xavier connects with Erik's mind at the mansion is one of the most powerful scenes I've seen on film, graced by a beautiful score from Henry Jackman.
Kevin Bacon also performs ably as a villain, something that few could have predicted, however his scenes in the early stages of the film are much stronger, particularly those involving young Erik Lehnsherr (maybe it's the German language scenes). He gets a little lost in the exploration of Xavier and Erik's struggles late on, and is a little over-shadowed by their prominence at the conclusion, which was probably necessary for the story, but was ultimately a shame.
A stand out factor in First Class is its score. In previous X-men titles, this has either been non-existent or larger than life and a little silly in places. Henry Jackman aligned his music with the darker tone of the film however, bringing elegant strings and upper register piano to poignant moments, and merging brass lead lines with dubstep/ electronic elements for action scenes. Like the score from "Inception", Jackman also brings the electric guitar into a classical score in a style that just seems to work for creating a crisp edge whilst retaining majesty.
X-men: First Class probably lacks the depth of plot and a better element of finality for its primary villain (though arguably the show is meant to be stolen from Shaw by the real villain in the X-men universe) to be considered a classic film, before even addressing the fact that it is a comic book adaptation. However, a darker tone which in places draws from "Batman Begins", a refreshing setting complete with cold war espionage tactics and stylish news segments, a fantastic score and genius casting/ acting makes First Class, for me, one of the greatest comic book film adaptations ever.