GRADE: A

I am a diehard X-Men fan and have been since my days as a youth watching the animated television series religiously on Saturday mornings. To this point, I have not been overly impressed by any of the other X-Men films. The first was ok, the second more of the same, the third was awful, and X-Men: Origins Wolverine was a let down. The previous films never really focused on the humanity of the characters; it was always more about what they could do as mutants. They all pretend to be character driven at points, but slowly give in to showy visual effects and an excess of mutants to keep the story moving along. X-Men: First Class ignored almost everything from the first four films and went its own route for the ‘reboot’ prequel. Suffice to say, this was easily the best X-Men yet.

The story kicks off almost the same as the first X-Men where Erik (Magneto) is sorted away from his parents at a concentration camp in Poland. The 2011 scene, unlike the one featured in the first film, actually set a tone for X-Men: First Class. This take was darker and more realistic whereas the first four leaned more towards a fantasized masses-friendly version. I have always wanted these films to have a more realistic approach similar to that of Batman Begins. I knew Matthew Vaughn would be the perfect fit to take the reigns of this film — read the last ten paragraphs of this post.

Anyway, the film is set right in the midst of the nuclear standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1960′s — one thing I love is when filmmakers fabricate historical events to include characters or story lines. The Cold War was already filled tension, imagine adding mutants to that equation. Well it turns out neither the US nor the USSR really had intentions of harming one another. The two sides were coerced to conflict by the wealthy and extremely powerful Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). When the two sides are about to unleash their forces on one another, in the middle stands Charles Xavier and his young team of mutants attempting to keep the peace.

The chemistry and the bond between James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender’s Erik Lehnsherr drove this film. This brotherly relationship was the reason why this film flourished. Their budding relationship was challenged and strengthened as the two experience turmoil with one another and learn to test their abilities. Not only were the characters well rounded from the script standpoint, but Fassbender and McAvoy, to say the least, were absolute gangsters in their roles. I have always loved McAvoy as an actor, but Fassbender just ascended to greatness in my eyes — cannot wait to see him blow up in coming years. His revenge driven character had convincing flashes of malevolence and vulnerability that make this character the most compelling in this story.

One essential piece to this film’s success was Kevin Bacon as the antagonist. He was excellent as the ruthless power-hungry villain Sebastian Shaw. His character was impossible not to hate right off the bat as a member of the Nazi Party using cruel tactics to bring out young Erik’s abilities. This was the best role I’ve seen Bacon playing in a long while. I couldn’t take my eyes off him ordering around his minions, blackmailing Soviet and American leaders, and most of all displaying his fascinating ability to harness any amount energy and unleash it upon his victims.

This is the second film in a row — Unknown being the first — I’ve seen January Jones in where I thought she was a joke of an actress. Her delivery was flat and completely unconvincing. I bet she wishes her sagging bustline would completely distract the viewers away from her terrible acting skills — it did work some of the time, but it’s hard to distract me from the rotten smell of poor acting. Jones was the only weakness in terms of acting in this film, which makes her stand out even more. Too bad Alice Eve wasn’t cast in the role of Emma Frost, because she is beautiful and talented.

The best thing about this long drawn out film was the way it ended. The beginning parts of the script molded the characters and their back stories superbly. The story is slow moving initially, but towards the end the ride downhill speeds up exponentially leading to the perfect climax for all the storylines and characters. As a viewer, you can feel it building to this inevitable conflict and the beginning of the war between mutants and humans.

A huge credit needing to be dished out goes to Director Matthew Vaughn. Not only for making the best X-Men yet, but for executing this project in such a short timeline. This film was pieced together in less than a year, putting Vaughn’s back to the wall since day one. This is an especially note-worthy achievement considering the amount of special effects involved in making mutants and their powers look and feel real. His vision for this project in terms of his directing was excellent with many breathtaking shots of mutants exercising their special abilities.

Another really fun tidbit are the cameos from actors in the previous X-Men films. It really was special to see them unexpectedly show up on screen.

Overall, X-Men: First Class was the X-Men film I’ve been waiting for my whole life and the best movie I’ve seen so far in 2011. Yeah, it was that good. I knew I loved the movie when I was laying in bed last night unable to sleep as I went over my favorite parts in my head and digested everything that had taken place on screen earlier that night. The production was flawless, the actors all embodied their characters (minus Jones), and most of all, the script was set on creating characters the audience could sympathize with and rally around.

What Should You Do? Go and see this film whether you have liked these movies in the past or not. This is a fresh take, and people of all ages and personalities will love this film. It is the first blockbuster of the year besides Thor that actually deserves your theater money. Skip The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides… X-Men: First Class is the real deal.