Overall - good X-Men prequel

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2011)

I'm glad to see that the X-Men series has rebounded after the very disappointing "X-Men Origins - Wolverine" movie.
"X-Men - First Class" benefits by a much better script and the brilliant pairing of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the younger Professor X and Magneto. The film is carried by the two actor's excellent chemistry and personally I don't think they could have cast better performers for both parts.
Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult stood out as well and bring good depth to their characters Mystique and Beast.
However there are notable flaws from my view that have to be mentioned - Though I like Rose Byrne as Moira - I'm disappointed in the other X-Men they chose to include in this entry and how they portrayed them - Angel Salvadore a girl who is essentially an over-sized tinker bell - please! I kept waiting for her to whip out her magic wand and pixie dust - Havok and Banshee - poor but tolerable - but what about the character Darwin - boring - and not only that, he just shows up and then they kill him off - why have him in the movie in the first place? - and Azazel and Riptide - come on - when you have so many other better characters from the X-Men roster to choose from? I'm no X-Men historian but wasn't Iceman one of the original founding members?
Kevin Bacon was OK as the villain and the character Emma Frost seemed a bit wasted and fades quickly from the plot but a good solid story and certainly the makings of a good series - overall - well done.