Best X-Men movie I have seen

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2011)

I wasn't expecting much, but it was AWESOME! It was really long, which was a good thing, because I enjoyed almost every minute of it. The characters were great - as in, I felt that all of them performed really well.
I had enjoyed X-Men and X2 well enough, but my only X-Men exposure having been the X-Men: Evolution animated series, I found all the characters extremely different from what I was used to. Maybe if I had read the comics or watched the original animated series, I might have enjoyed it a bit more, but it really bugged me when characters I knew and loved had completely different personalities. I did not enjoy X3 at all and I haven't and don't plan on watching Wolverine.
The characters in first class were mostly new, so I didn't have any preconceived idea of what they should have been like. And as far as Professor X, Magneto and Mystique went, I had no expectations for what they should have been like when they were young.
I thought the character development was great. I thought the tension build up was great. (I was literally clutching my purse at tense moments, especially when you know what's about to happen - like when Hank was injecting himself with the "cure".) There were some great cameos, and there were a lot of genuinely funny moments. And the fact that most of the mutants were teenagers who were learning to use their powers was reminiscent of X-Men Evolution episodes, so I really enjoyed that.
I watched reviews which thought the ending was too rushed and they should have waited another movie to build up the Charles/Eric relationship and the Magneto/Mystique relationship. I think I do agree with that, although if Eric didn't become Magneto in this movie, and if Charles didn't become Professor X and get in his wheelchair - the climax would just not have been as satisfying. But even though they have parted ways, I hope the sequels will attempt to develop the relationships even further.