X-Men: First Class (2011)

Not a lot to do on a Sunday afternoon with no one around so I caught this in a matinee.  There was a lot of hype surrounding the film, as are with most Marvel films, so I was going in with somewhat high expectations.  I am quite a fan of the comic book movies, but they are what they are... action movies, and the depth can be shallow.

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.

41/50 Eggs


I was surprised by the level of character development early in the film.  Compared to the last "Origin" X-men movie about Wolverine, First Class greatly elevates the level of acting.  McAvoy is mostly responsible for the heavy lifting throughout the film.  There's been a lot of praise about Michael Fassbender as Magneto, but I can't say I was overly impressed.  Unlike in Wolverine the side characters actually earn enough discussion that makes me actually care about them.  Like all Superhero movies some of the action was quite gimmicky but not much I can fault there.  Kevin Bacon was a surprise to me.  I hadn't seen him in any of the trailers I saw so going in I didn't even expect him in the film.  I thought he did a good job, and was cast well, but nothing spectacular as is the case with most Kevin Bacon roles.  The action sequences and effects were up to par with a high budget Disney movie, so even though I enjoyed them they weren't unexpected.  Overall i was impressed and i am hoping to see a sequel in the pipeline as soon as possible. I would highly recommend people to go and see this.