X-Men: First Class (2011)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Director

Matthew Vaughn

Country

USA | UK

Cast

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Jason Flemyng, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, Kevin Bacon, Caleb Landry, Zoë Kravitz, Álex González, Glenn Morshower, Matt Craven, Rade Šerbedžija, Ray Wise, Michael Ironside, James Remar, Annabelle Wallis, Don Creesh, Brendan Fehr, Aleksander Krupa, Laurence Belcher, Bill Milner, Morgan Lily, Hugh Jackman, Stan Lee

Plot

Before Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were arch-enemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants, to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known: World War III.

Opinion

Although normally prequels suck, I was really excited about this one because it stars Michael Fassbender - one of my favourite actors - playing Magneto - my favourite mutant. But here it is, the resurrection of a dead franchise.

X-Men: First Class is classy and thrilling filled with great action and strong emotions, in other words, absolutely first class - sorry for the pun.

The collaboration between Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn was the perfect blend: Vaughn's great direction and Singer's compelling story manage to clear the X-Men's name.

The film not only takes us back to the roots of the beginning of the friendship between Charles and Erik, but introduces other mutants and develops the old one - Beast is great.

The acting is top class. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are superb, and every scene with them together is absolutely fantastic - credits go to their friendship too. Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult are a stunning supporting cast. Great performances also from Rose Byrne and January Jones.

Quotes

Charles Xavier: Erik, you said yourself we're the better men. This is the time to prove it. There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.
Erik Lehnsherr: I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again.

Rating

9.0/10