Best in the X-Men Saga

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2011)

X-Men First Class is an epic adventure revealing the origins of the X-Men Saga. It is set in the 1960s at the beginning of the Space Age and at the height of the Cold War. Russia and the U.S.A are on the brink of a nuclear war, endangering the whole world.
Before they took the names of Professor X and Magneto, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) were two youthful mutant men just discovering their powers. They search for other mutants, like themselves, to recruit so they can band together and stop a very great threat to the world.
X-Men First Class answers a lot of questions that have interested many fans since X-Men came out, such as: how did Charles get put in a Wheelchair, how they got their names Magneto and Professor X, and how the X-Men got together in the first place.
The acting in this character driven movie is great and was cast really well, especially Kevin Bacon as the evil Sabastian Shaw and Jennifer Lawrence as Raven/Mystique. There are a lot of psychological parts during the movie, and it's not just comic book action. You really can get the emotional depth. This movie had messages in it. Mystique in this movie started out not liking herself at all, trying to cover up who she was, she was ashamed of who she was. By the end, though, Mystique learns to except herself and before she leaves says, "Mutant, and proud!" This means that you should accept yourself and be who you want to be.
The action scenes in this movie were very well set up and suspenseful, you couldn't have the movie or the storyline without it. This movie was pretty violent, has a lot of fighting, and some traumatic scenes (like when the Nazi Schmit shoots Erik's mom right in front of him.) It also has a little explicit language and a couple of sexy scenes. Rated PG-13, I would not recommend it for kids under the age of 13.
Over all, I think this movie was the best one yet in the X-Men Saga.
Reviewed by Jonah Menegaz, age 13, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic