'X-Men: First Class' Makes The Grade!

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2016)

X-Men: First Class unfolds by deliciously setting up the yin-and-yang between the mutant population's two most powerful people. On the one hand is Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), who is eager to help mutants like himself - he's a telepath - and his shape-shifting best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and seek acceptance from non-mutant humans. On the other hand is the metal-manipulating Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), who's bent on destroying the former Nazi scientist (Kevin Bacon) responsible for killing his mother in the Warsaw ghetto in 1944.
Set primarily in 1962, the script sets up Charles and Erik as allies. Their mission is to stop that Nazi doctor, now a businessman named Sebastian Shaw who also has mutant energy-absorbing powers and has gathered his squad of mutants, from pushing the Americans and Soviets into launching a nuclear war. But in battling Shaw, Charles and Erik also argue between themselves. Charles seeks acceptance of mutants from humans, even encouraging his lab genius to create a serum to make mutants appear "normal." Erik takes a more radical stance, arguing mutants should never have to hide who they are and should fight humans, even the more sympathetic ones.
Using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop, X-Men: First Class delivers a riveting action drama, mixing whiz-bang special effects with a story of Shakespearean proportions, and in the process writing a fascinating mutant-based alternative history of the early 1960s. Dropping a genre film in the middle of a historic event immediately and successfully adds depth, substance and helps place the characters in the proper chronology.
On the acting front, McAvoy's Professor X is more relatable than Patrick Stewart's in the original trilogy. He is still as much a genius, but maintains his boyish charm and an accessibility that has yet to have been afforded to X's character. Fassbender similarly takes his Magneto to a new place, trading the campiness of Ian McKellen's character and focusing more instead on Erik' anguish and tragic past, delivering a standout performance. Together they provide a wonderful centerpiece for the film with their two characters, displaying some great chemistry.
But the glue that holds the whole film together and balances everything on a thin wire like a stage magician is Matthew Vaughn. He keeps the complex globe-hopping story moving fluidly, peppered with moments of good humor and high drama. The movie deals with the age old dilemma of power over peace, but credit is deserved to Vaughn for managing this aspect so attentively, and being delicately precise with the emotional baggage involved. Most superhero movies would not even attempt to cover a subject like this with such a high maturity level.
Whether or not you're an avid fan of the comic book series, this class graduates with top marks!