a.k.a Magneto: The Movie.

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2012)

Under the direction and writing of the bloke 'n' bird who brought Kick-Ass to the big screen, the ever-enjoyable X-Men franchise gets a cinematic reboot. Like a more accomplished version of the Star Wars prequels, FS depicts the origin of the mythos' primary antagonist and his agenda of mutant separatism/supremacy. The success of the whole thing rests not only on the shoulders of Mr Vaughn and Mrs Goldman, but also those of the well-chosen cast. Standouts include Nick Hoult's clever-yet-conflicted take on Beast; January Jones playing Emma Frost with an air of detached ennui; Kevin Bacon in bastardly form as Sebastian Shaw; and James MacAvoy's roguishly idealistic Professor X. There's even an amusing precision F-bomb of a cameo from a staple member of the franchise.
Star of the show, however, has to be Michael Fassbender's steely-yet-sympathetic take on the Master of Magnetism. With a singleminded charisma he effectively takes 'n' makes the movie his own, conveying a full range of states, "between sorrow and serenity". Indeed, I found myself rooting for him over the clear-cut heroes of the piece. Even his glaring awkwardness in the final scene, whilst dressed in Magneto's trademark threads, can't diminish all that leads up to it. Also, he gets the most memorable background score in the whole film.
Is First Class a top-tier comic book adaptation? Sure. More significantly, though, it's the first of a new subgenre within that subgenre--the supervillain flick! Enjoy...