Largely X-ellent with a few weaknesses

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2011)

There was a time when sequels/prequels were subject to the law of diminishing returns, and while that's still often true, X-Men First Class is a genuinely fine film in it's own right. A little more violent than the earlier movies; it's also surprisingly funny - perhaps not so surprising when some of the behind-the-camera talents include Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn.
The film is largely set in 1962, the year Marvel Comics really came into their own after The Fantastic Four's debut in 61' - we do get a brief round up of Charles Xavier's and Eric Lenscher's life up to that point. I wasn't sure how I'd take to James McEvoy and Michael Fassbender taking on the roles played by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan respectively; but they're both excellent, and I really liked Jennifer Lawrence's younger version of Mystique. In fact the whole cast do well, with Kevin Bacon heading up the villain list as Sebastian Shaw, planning World War III via the Cuban Missile Crisis to ensure mutant dominance. If this is a cliché so be it, but actually the film rather playfully echoes the 60s Bond movies, and the war room is straight out of Dr. Strangelove. January Jones' Emma Frost is almost like a Fem-bot from Austin Powers!
Inspite of the numerous special effects the film never loses the characters from being the central focus of things. One thing I did find annoying was the endless captions flashing up at a change of scene. I don't need "Moscow, Russia" to appear when the camera swoops over Red Square! This constant captioning does become annoying as things go on. There are some illogical inconsistencies - Mystique's joining Magneto at the end feels very forced, especially when you think of the predicament her best friend is in.
On the whole, though, this is a very good origin movie for The X-Men, superbly acted and presented. Great brief cameo from Hugh Jackman, too. No post credit sequence, I'm afraid.