X-Men: First Class (2011)

Let me take you through the X-Men film timeline. X-Men came out in 2000, and revived superhero films. X2: United came out in 2003, and was a slower but still enjoyable sequel. X-Men: The Last Stand came out in 2006, and I am still one of the defenders of it today. It is an action packed finish to a great trilogy. And then there was Wolverine. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of the biggest abominations of 2009, not because it was just terrible, it’s because it’s so terrible compared to the other films. And now you can see why I was nervous about seeing X-Men: First Class. But I was blown away. The films before it had been obvious that it was a comic book movie. This was a film about two people who were friends and their friendship was strained. And it just happened to have superheroes in it. The film doesn’t follow the action movie rule of three, and I didn’t mind. There are two action scenes in the film. One is short, simple, and not that great, and the other is spectacular, long, and fun. The film stars James McAvoy as a younger Charles Xavier as he begins to form the X-Men with pal Magneto (Michael Fassbender). But if you’ve seen the other X-Men films, they’re not pals for long. I could tell you the others in the film (January Jones, Kevin Bacon, and Jennifer Lawrence), but this movie isn’t about them. It is about Xavier and Magneto. And that’s what makes it work. This movie isn’t just the best X-Men film, or one of the best superhero films, it is one of the best films of the year (so far).
8.5/10