X-Men First Class

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2013)

Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) embark on the journey that brings them to their ultimate fate of being sworn enemies. Before they were enemies they were two strangers searching for answers about their mutations. Charles, and Erik are accompanied by teen mutants, including Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), Dr. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) and more fellow adolescents. Charles and Erik seek help from these young mutants to take down Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), the leader of the Hellfire Club, a secret society that wants to dominate the world. Meanwhile, the U.S has failed so badly with operations over in Cuba, that we begin to see The Cuban Missile Crisis unfold.
James McAvoy was good as the soon to be Professor "X". I thought after seeing the trailer that his character's mutation would look the same every time he reads someone's mind. But those scenes were done with a stylish feel that was in a good way, and awesome to watch. It's because McAvoy does the hand movement very subtly, and if you don't know him, you would think he was just listening in depth to your conversation.
Michael Fassbender was definitely the one who out acted everyone. The fearlessness that he brought to the role of Erik was remarkable. He strikes every anger filled note with perfection. Fassbender previously had a cameo in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds' and he is in one of the best scenes of the film.
Kevin Bacon was good, I liked his ability more than I liked his acting choices. His sidekick Emma Frost/White Queen played by January Jones is by far one of the worst actresses around right now. She plays every role with the same stiff body language and one note dialog delivery, and it becomes very irritating.
My favorite teen mutant was Banshee. It had nothing to do with the acting because he barely had any lines, it was his mutation that was pulled off the best. From his sonic screech and the overall presence on-screen was epic to watch. The film also has a couple of great cameos, one in particular that has a great laugh.
Matthew Vaughn has brought us "Stardust", "Kick-Ass", and my personal favorite "Layer Cake". I was actually a fan of the first two also, so I was stoked when I heard he was going to be directing this film. He pulls off almost every scene with ease. I found the first thirty minutes to be kind of dull, but then from there the film starts to pick up the pace, and gain momentum. The film was overall entertaining and worth the two hours and fifteen minutes. I give X-men: First Class an 8 out of 10.