X-Men: First Class (2011) PG-13

Although I love superhero films, I've never been in love with the X-Men franchise. I enjoyed the first X-Men film, but the next three films didn't do it for me. Especially X-Men Origins: Wolverine. What an awful piece of trash that film was. It seems these days that prequels are the safe way to go. Everyone loves a good introductory story. It's probably best that you've at least seen the first X-Men film or have a little background information on these mutants. Otherwise you may get a tad lost early on. That being said, I'm not going to pretend I know a whole lot about these so called X-Men. What really gave me high hopes about this film (and I wasn't alone) was the fact that Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake) was directing. Not to mention the solid cast of young rising stars.

The story begins at a concentration camp in Poland of all places. The year is 1944. A young boy is separated from his parents and bends a steal gate with his mind. Witnessing this impossible event, Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon) must have a look at the boy. The young boy named Erik enters his office. He asks Erik to bend a silver coin with his mind, but Erik fails. Now upset, Dr. Schmidt has Erik's mother brought in. If he is unable to bend the coin, then he will shoot her. When Erik fails once again, Dr. Schmidt kills his mother. An irate Erik begins screaming in anger, and as a result the entire room begins to bend and break. It's very clear that Erik has magnetic powers. Dr. Schmidt is very pleased.

We now shift over to New York state where young telepath Charles Xavier finds a beautiful shape-shifting young girl rummaging through his fridge. Her name is Raven, they instantly become friends as they take solace in each other's mutation.

Fast-forward 18 years, it's now 1962. Erik, Charles, Raven and everyone else on earth is now 18 years older. Makes sense right? Erik (Michael Fassbender) is on a manhunt all across the world to find this Dr. Schmidt who killed his family and turned him into a mutant. Erik is filled with rage and will stop at nothing to hunt down and decapitate Schmidt. Meanwhile in England, Charles is thought of as a young genius as he is publishing his thesis on mutation. He and Raven (Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence) are still close friends.

State-side, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) goes undercover in a shady night club. She discovers a group of mutants threatening a U.S. Army Colonel; they discuss nuclear weapons. This is the point where we are introduced to Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Emma Frost (January Jones) and their leader Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). Shaw is of course Dr. Schmidt. He hasn't aged because of his anti-aging power he gets when absorbing energy. Azazel can disappear and appear anywhere he likes at any time and Emma also has telepathic abilities; she can also turn into diamond crystal form.

Moira brings these mutants to the attention of her superiors, but they just laugh at her. So she gets a hold of Charles Xavier, who of course specializes in mutation. They meet in an English bar. Charles is a bit intoxicated, but is instantly taken back by Moira's beauty. She explains her situation, and he agrees to help in any way he can. So, they travel to CIA headquarters, along with the shape-shifting Raven. After two CIA officials basically laugh in their faces, Charles and Raven put their abilities on full display. Speechless and shocked, the two officials don't know what to say. But a man (Oliver Platt) in the back of the room claims he has the perfect facility for these mutants to put together a team to battle Shaw and his mutants. I hope you're hanging in there. This film isn't easy to put into words. Lots of information.

So, Charles, Moira and Raven begin to recruit mutants to join their team in order to stop Shaw and he evil wrongdoings. It isn't long before they come across Erik. When it is revealed that Dr. Schmidt and Shaw are one in the same, Erik is on board. They also recruit Hank (Nicholas Hoult), Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Alex (Lucas Till), Sean (Caleb Landry Jones) and Armando (Edi Gathegi).

Hank is beast-like, he can run like the wind and climb things. Hank is also extremely smart. Angel just happens to be a stripper who has wings. Alex can shoot flames out of his chest, but he has a terrible time aiming and controlling the flames. Sean has a sonic scream, which can help him fly, as well as make people vibrate out of control. Armando can adapt to anything, and I mean anything. These young mutants gather one night and give each other superhero names. Hank is now Beast, Angel stays Angel (for obvious reasons), Sean is Banshee, Raven is Mystique, Alex is Havok, Armando is Darwin. They also give names to Charles (Professor X) and Erik (Magneto).

A budding romance between Mystique and Beast is cut short when their base is attacked by Shaw. One mutant is killed, and many U.S. officials are killed. Mutants all around the world are now shunned and made out to be villains. Even the good ones. Can they stop Shaw's plan of world domination and nuclear war? Can Charles and Erik see eye-to-eye, despite having different motives for going after Shaw?

There really isn't a dull moment in this film, but it never quite gets to the heights of the likes of The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2 or even Iron Man, Watchmen or Kick-Ass. American superhero films seem to get spit out left and right, month after month, but more often than not they're decent films. Of course there's going to be duds like Green Lantern, The Green Hornet, The Spirit and Jonah Hex, but there's also good films like Thor, Batman Begins and Hellboy.

What really puts this film over the edge is the performance by Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank). Every time he's on the screen you pay close attention. Henry Jackman's soundtrack centers around Fassbender's Magneto, which worked out really well. There's also a very funny cameo performance by Wolverine himself, Mr. Hugh Jackman. This is one of McAvoy's (Wanted, Atonement) better performances and Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later, Sunshine) is always sensational. We all know what Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone, The Beaver) is capable of, and her Mystique character is ten times better than Rebecca Romijn's.

Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man, The Weather Man) is no stranger to the big screen, but he's just coming into his own and his future is bright. Caleb Landry Jones (The Last Exorcism, No Country for Old Men) is also someone to keep an eye out for in the near future. There's no shortage of eye-candy (or cleavage) in this film thanks to January Jones (We Are Marshall, American Wedding), Jennifer Lawrence and Rose Byrne. The old, rusty veteran Kevin Bacon (Mystic River, Apollo 13) is effective enough, although I think he's better when speaking German here.

There are plenty of good films you can check out this coming weekend. This is definitely one of them. Solid performances, good visual effects, a good storyline, clever dialogue and a good soundtrack add up to a solid superhero flick. This film may not be first class, but it's a class above the majority of superhero films.
B