Excellent Summer Blockbuster

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2011)

I had my hesitations going in to watch X-Men: First Class. I'm a big fan of the other films (for the most part), but this one seemed lackluster. The previews were somewhat misleading, however. So much more happens in the movie, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Firstly, I applauded most of the casting. Some very fine actors were included in this ensemble. Also, the storyline was great. It was the perfect mixture of background, action, humor, and mystery. It provided background into what made Magneto who he was today, as well as many of the other characters. This, mixed with the freshness of the young mutants, the typical lets-stop-the-bad-guy superhero plot, and the backdrop of the Second World War, kept me interested from start to finish.
One of the main things that made me love this movie so much was the amount of action and spectacular special effects jammed into the movie. Too much of stuff like this can seem cheap and gimmicky. I don't feel that was the case here, however. The X-men movies have such an array of potential, with all the different powers at hand. I'm glad they used it. Every other second I was wowed by their spectacular display of powers. Each action sequence fit in well with the plot, they had meaning.
In summary, First Class was a surprising treat. Fine actors, an engaging plot, and spectacular actions sequences and special effects made this an amazing summer movie.
The only reason that this didn't get a ten was because of the script. The script wasn't the best and had a lot of cheesy lines that made me grin or shake my head. It was decent though, and didn't keep this film from being great!