A slick origin story. Stylish and gripping.

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2011)

I guess the way to start this review is to tell you what I thought of the other films. I thought the first two films were great. Then came the dreaded downgrade in quality that was The Last Stand. I thought the Wolverine film was enjoyable, but flawed overall. This new entry is now a pleasant return to form.
Rebooting the time line of the series to the days of the Cold War, the film follows the early days of the founding X-Men, Charles Xavier (Played by James McAvoy), a highly intelligent telepath, and Erik Lensherr (Played by Michael Fassbender), a man with the powerful ability to control metal. Once they meet, they form a team of others like them, those with extraordinary abilities (otherwise known as mutants). But danger starts to arise when an enemy team of mutants, led by the powerful Sebastian Shaw (Played by Kevin Bacon), begins to initiate a chain of events that would begin World War 3 unless the X-Men can stop them.
First Class not only excels as an action movie, but also manages to feel fleshed out, and three dimensional, instead of feeling like a monotonous back to back action set piece. Director Matthew Vaughn and the film's powerful cast give the film an unusual heart, specifically between the complicated friendship between Xavier and Lensherr (McAvoy and Fassbender are a perfectly matched duo). But let's not forget the film's attention to other themes, such as prejudice and conformity. The narrative is not always perfect, and Fassbender has brief habits of slipping in and out of accent, but everything manages to be solid.
As far as action goes, this a fun ride to sit through. Each action sequence is impeccably paced by Lee Smith (The marvelous editor of Inception), including the film's epic and enrapturing third act. There's also a stylistic attention to visual detail, whether it be the elegant production design, the well done visual effects, and fantastic makeup and sound design. Oh, and I also got a kick out of a brief cameo by Hugh Jackman.
First Class is the best of the comic book summer, and I give it *** out of ****