More tea, vicar? - Yes please!!

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2011)

I'd read a few reviews all saying the same thing: very good film, just a bit too fast-paced and with some ropey CGI; could have been the best X- Men film.
I disagree. It IS the best X-Men film. Yes, there is some ropey effects at time, and Michael Fassbender's Irish brogue comes out in the last 20 minutes of the film, and that's the only reason I didn't rate this a 10! Even so, the film is tightly directly, brilliantly filmed and scored; the plot is engaging and exciting, and the central performances are superb. I didn't think I say this, but: Sir Ian who? Sir Patrick who? (N.b. they are still brilliant, but McAvoy and Fassbender are too)
I won't go overboard, but the film had me on the edge of my seat a lot and I was SO happy to see what I wanted: a real bad-ass Magneto. Erik, as he is here, is like a proto-Bond with superpowers and a bad attitude. I loved the re-use (and subtle re-filming) of the original concentration camp opening, and the subsequent rage shown by Erik when his mother dies. Nazi helmets never looked so figure hugging... and Michael Fassbender steals every scene he's in (in my opinion).
Oh yes, and there's a brilliant cameo from a certain hairy actor who delivers the film's "f-bomb".
In summary, a exciting reinvigoration that I will see again and again, ignoring the tiny tiny flaws.