So the ultimate bromance started with Professor X and Magneto

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2011)

At last, I finally saw X-Men: First Class, seemed to take forever. I grew up with the cartoon X-Men, the good ol' 90's, how fun they were. When they made the movies, it seemed like we actually had great comic book films as well. The thing that makes X-Men so wonderful is that growing up, a lot of us feel different and X-Men was a way of saying that it's cool to be different and to embrace yourself. Everyone knows the characters and we each have our favorite. But to see where it all began was what I really wanted to know, what was the friendship between Charles and Erik like before their feud started? It's pretty much the equivalent of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, two men who had the same principles , but different concepts and how to execute their plans. Also this movie for me at least seemed to be a mixture of X-Men and the Bond films, I know this can't be just me, because a lot of the styles were similar and the villains seemed really inspired. X-Men: First Class could have been a sell out film for the summer, but turned into a really great film.
In 1962, Erik Lensherr is tracking down Schmidt to take revenge for killing his parents. In England, Oxford University graduate Charles Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation; Raven, his foster sister, lives with him. A man named MacTaggert is seeking Xavier's advice on mutation, convinces him and Raven to join her at the CIA, where they convince Director McCone that mutants exist and Shaw is a threat. The CIA executives sponsor the mutants and invites them to the CIA's secret "Division X" facility. Xavier locates Shaw, arriving in time to stop Lensherr, who had attacked Shaw, from drowning as Shaw escapes. Xavier brings Lensherr to Division X, where they meet scientist Hank McCoy, a prehensile-footed mutant whom Xavier inadvertently outs as a mutant. Xavier uses a mutant-locating device to find and recruit mutants for training to stop Shaw. He and Lensherr find other mutants and now vow to stop Schmidt from taking over the Cold War and making it into WWIII.
The effects are very CGI at times, but every Magneto effect was killer, especially him lifting the submarine out of the water, it looked incredible. The powers for the newbies were cool and a lot of fun to choose which one I would rather have, I think I want each power for a different day. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender had great chemistry and their friendship was extremely strong on camera. The scene between them where Xavier is telling Erik how to control his powers was extremely moving, no pun intended. My only complaint being is that the film is a bit long and does drag on a bit, it seems like every film released in the theater is over 2 hours long. If the film carries on well, I'm perfectly fine with it, but in this case, the film could have been trimmed down a bit. But still, the movie is definitely worth the watch, it's a great summer blockbuster and in general a good movie that was a worthy addition to a terrific series of movies.
8/10