A fine return to form for a franchise that had begun to lose its way.

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2011)

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."
Congrats to Matthew Vaughn for getting the X-Men franchise back on track after the spiraling quality of X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. First Class is an exciting prequel that changes the tone drastically from the other X-men movies, takes some risks, and delivers a movie that stands with X2 as the best in the franchise.
The positives start with the cast, which is almost universally great. You might think that some of the lesser known characters heavily featured in this installment might be a detriment, but it really gives an opportunity to focus on the most important characters: Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Erik Lenhsherr (Michael Fassbender), Raven Darkholme (Jennifer Lawrence), and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon, clearly having a ball).
The story is tight and interesting throughout. Real life events are weaved through the X-Men universe, grounding the plot in reality in a way that really works. It's easy to follow for newcomers, while there are tons of little things that will leave those familiar with X-Men lore with quick grins on their faces.
The movie isn't perfect, however. The plethora of B-characters occasionally lead to clunky action scenes because of the nature of their powers, and some repeated abilities result in sequences that are perhaps a little too reminiscent of precious movies. The film is actually better when it focuses less on big action set-pieces, which is odd for a superhero flick but indicative of how well-written the script is.
I also had a problem with Beast, who started out as a great addition to the movie and ended up as somewhat of misfire because of a really poor costume job. It just looked bad. All the other costumes and special effects were fantastic, though.
First Class is a total success, in my book. Entertaining throughout, full of memorable moments, and cast exceptionally well. It doesn't feel like the previous X-Men films, but that's not a bad thing. First Class stands on its own despite its prequel status, and turns the franchise around with some timely and fresh ideas.