X-Men: First Class

After two financially successful but not well respected films Fox have decided to re-boot their X-Men franchise by going back to the beginning.

The one thing that this film proves is the positive influence that Bryan Singer has on the series. He made two brilliant films with the first two X-Men movies then declined the next two which were not as well received. Now he returns in a writing and producing capacity and has significantly improved things. Bryan and his team have cleverly woven an historical event into the comic book mythology. The use of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a catalyst for a battle between humans and mutants is very well done. Setting the film in the 1960's also gives it a fresh look and feel like your seeing a whole new aspect to the series. Director Matthew Vaughn has proved himself an excellent director on another comic book style film 'Kick Ass' so has proven he is competent at action films. There are certainly some great sequences here that are wonderfully realized. One thing I did love was the very James Bond feel Matthew has given the film. The early scenes with Erik/Magneto searching for Sebastian Shaw are very reminiscent of Sean Connery in the early James Bond films. When Daniel Craig gives the job up I'm sure Michael Fassbender would make an excellent replacement.

Matthew has definitely assembled the best looking group of mutants he could find. Part of the problem with ensemble films like this though is that not everyone gets much screen time. However the ones that do are excellent. James McAvoy makes a good younger Patrick Stewart. I do think that the hair makes it hard to see the resemblance though. He does give a good performance and does not make his ability look stupid. The same can be said of Michael Fassbender. His character his given a better story to work with so has more to work with as far as emotion is concerned. Jennifer Lawrence hits the big time and proves she too can handle the action. Kevin Bacon makes a great villain as usual. The rest of the cast are excellent in their minor roles and help flesh out the story.

For those who were not too pleased with the previous X-Men film, you don't need to worry any more. Byan Singer has returned and injected a much needed boost of class to the franchise.