Nicely crafted, and full of originality.

Rating: 8/10 (19 June 2011)

There are many moviegoers, who are annoyed by the constant releases of superhero movies. Some may even say that superhero flicks are "the reason behind Hollywood's decline in quality." I really disagree with what these people say. Superhero movies can be fun to watch, but not all of them are great. I think the major flaw with recent comic book-based movies is that they lack originality, the thing that allows to distinguish one superhero film from another. Yes, I sometimes think that some superhero flicks are the same in terms of content, except with different powers.
However, X-Men: First Class was something new, something... original. Since the film is a prequel, originality was the last thing I expected. First Class felt like a brand new film, free from its predecessors. It had charm as a distinct superhero flick, something that Vaughn's previous film, Kick-Ass, came to lose as the film progressed. Although it had its own flaws, X-Men: First Class did not get tedious as the film progressed, and I think it's one of the best superhero films of the last few years.
As the title (mildly) implies, the movie focuses on the origins and early days of the X-Men. It is also set in the backdrop of Cold War. Charles Xavier is a telepath who takes interest in other mutants, and hopes for society to accept them. Erik Lensherr is a Jew, who is hunting down former Nazis as revenge for the death of his mother. As the tensions between America and the Soviet Union rises, Charles is recruited by the CIA to stop mutant Sebastian Shaw and his Hellfire Club, who are planning to start a third World War. At the same time, Erik attempts to complete his revenge job by killing Shaw, who was the man responsible for killing his mother. Eventually, Charles and Erik meet and form a friendship. Together, they recruit young mutants for the CIA, in hopes of stopping the Hellfire Club and their diabolical plans.
The well-assembled cast was basically the high point of the film. McAvoy nails his performance as young Charles Xavier. But the scene stealer of the film was Fassbender, who "magnifying" as young Magneto. In addition to the two main leads, the supporting characters were also nicely cast. Lawrence, as Mystique, was a great replacement for Romijn. I've yet see Winter's Bones, but seeing her performance in First Class brings up expectations for the film. Kevin Bacon's role as main antagonist Sebastian Shaw was fantastic. It was like seeing a combination of his role in Hollow Man (mediocre movie) and Frost/Nixon (great film). Byrne, again, was typecast as "a morally righteous character", playing CIA agent Moira MacTaggert. Byrne, as an actress, is really underrated, but most of the characters she portrays are too similar to one another. Platt played a minor, yet quite likable character, the Man in Black. Seeing him getting killed off during the first hour of the movie was disappointing. Did he really need to die so early? Wait, I reinstate. Did he even need to die in the first place? Ironically, I wanted his character in 2012 to die in a painful death, yet he survived in the film. Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine in a cameo, and it's absolutely hilarious.
The thing that First Class did that X-Men: Wolverine did not was it allowed the audience to view humanity again, like in Singer's films. Although I enjoyed it, Wolverine was too concentrated on the revenge concept to be called really good. In my opinion, making the film a fictional biography would've made it more inspiring. First Class also allowed the audience to see the philosophy of mutants in society from two perspectives: Xavier's belief that society will one day accept mutants, and the belief of Erik that mutants must make their own "brotherhood" within society. In the previous X-Men films, the latter idea was not emphasized enough. Indeed, it was brought up, but First Class made it much more relatable.
The CGI was quite detrimental to the quality of the film. It's better than the bloated effects of Prince of Persia, but it still didn't look convincing enough. Especially the part when the submarine washes ashore on the island. When it comes to superhero films, visual effects are pretty much essential, and the VFX of First Class was not pretty.
The writing served as quite a problem for the film. The story and the characters were written fine, but the dialogue had quite the problems. Mystique/Raven's (repeated) line to the Beast, for example, was beyond clichéd. Also, Magneto final line was not really stunning. Criticizing clichéd dialogues in blockbusters may not be an obligation. Still, the scripting in First Class felt like an exception.
Incorporating the Cuban missile crisis into the plot was the best thing that ever happened in a X-Men film. I'm quite fond of seeing actual historical elements in fictional stories. Hence why I loved the storyline of Metal Gear Sold 3, which also utilized Cold War aspects within the fictional mythology of the series. Kennedy appears in an archive footage, by the way.
Overall, Vaughn has done a fine job crafting a unique superhero flick. As I've said earlier, the CGI was far from being an Oscar contender, and the dialogue suffers from predictability to laziness. Nevertheless, the cast and its direction make the film highly enjoyable. X-Men: First Class is a great way to spend two hours with solid entertainment. If the new X-Men films continue to be more like First Class, then I don't mind the franchise continuing for another ten years.