Probably the best X-Men movie ever made.

Rating: 8/10 (11 September 2011)

There's quite a history to the X-Men, even before the movies came out. From the beginning, the iconic mutant team created by the likes of Stan Lee represented the outcasts and rebels that suffer the persecution of "normal" people. As the movie adaptations progressed, the antics go higher and higher, more of the famous mutant characters are introduced, and the popularity of actors such as Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Steward, etc. increased among fans. For this special prequel, we see literally the old days when Professor X and Magneto were the best of friends.
Now to the plot: It's the 1960s, during the infamous Cold War tension, where a young Charles Xavier and Mystique are recruited by the likes of CIA agent Moira MacTaggert to help stop the evil Hellfire Club from starting WW3 so only mutants can rule the world. The club consists of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), Emma Frost, Azazel, Riptide, and later Angel Salvadore. Along the way, Charles encounters and befriends Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, who seeks revenge on Sebastian for killing his mother back in WW2. With the imminent threat on its way, Charles and Erik gather more mutants to help save the world: Havok, Banshee, Darwin, and Beast. It's time to take a stand.
I didn't expect mush from this film when I first heard about it due to the abundance of X-Men movies out there; I though this one would just blend in with the crowd, but thankfully I was wrong. First Class is just full of cool effects, a nice story, great action scenes, and excellent character development (especially the Charles/Erik friendship and Mystique/Beast romance). There were nice jokes like when the Professor and Magneto actually find Wolverine in a bar to recruit him and he just plain tells them off.
There weren't that many problems with this film, although one noticeable problem was how little Darwin did and how he was killed off fairly early. Such mutant potential was just wasted. The final fight also could have used just be a little longer but that's a minor complaint. I also felt that Magneto became his classic evil self a little too early but that's a minor one too. The biggest complaint I have is the film's biggest blooper: Charles gets paralyzed by a bullet in the end and in the previous X-Men movies you see an older Charles in a few flashbacks clearly walking! Someone didn't pay attention. Not to mention he was friends with Magneto at the time too.
Okay, bottom line, this is still a great movie. They should fix the problems mentioned above in the next movie. They should use Apocalypse in the next movie. That would be awesome! And maybe they can bring in Sinister too. If you want some good old mutant superhero fun, then check this baby out.