The “X-Men” series is one of the most successful film adaptations of a comic book in movie history. Back in 2009 we got to see how Wolverine, the #1 mutant, got his start. Now here we see how it all began for the rest of the characters and the entire “X-Men” society.
“X-Men: First Class” begins in 1944, during World War II but most of the movie takes place in 1962, during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it uses the historical events of that time in the storyline.
James McAvoy stars as a young Professor Charles Xavier, who is studying how mutants (like himself) are created and how they develop their special powers. In an early scene, we see how Charles met his first mutant, Raven, when they were both kids. Around the same time, in a Nazi concentration camp, we see a young Erik (who would later become Magneto) watch as his mother is killed by evil mutant Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon. Eric and Charles later meet up, become best friends and join forces to try to defeat Shaw and prevent the start of a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia.
Since “First Class” is a prequel to all of the other “X-Men” films it definitely helps if you’ve seen at least some of the other movies or have read the comics and it’s interesting to see how they all got started. On the other hand, if you know nothing about “X-Men” at all, this is a good place to start, though you’ll miss out on a lot of references and inside jokes.
The plot of “First Class” is interesting and though it sounds a little complicated, it’s actually easy to follow. I would have liked to have seen more of Shaw. To have a great “good vs. evil” movie you need a great villain, and Bacon didn’t get enough screen time. But he and the rest of the cast do give solid performances. Michael Fassbender is very good as Erik. January Jones (“Mad Men”) and Jennifer Lawrence are also effective in their roles.
My biggest disappointment with the movie is with the special effects, some of which are very poor. Since this is the 5th “X-Men” you’d think there would be a “wow” moment or two, but there just aren’t. This is being considered an action film, but there’s a lot more dialogue than action scenes in the 2+ hours of the movie, which isn’t a bad thing, because we do really get to know and understand these characters.
“X-Men: First Class” is rated PG-13 for action/violence and some brief adult material. It’s appropriate for the 10 and older crowd, especially fans of the series, who will enjoy the whole back-story, including a few funny cameos.
On “The Official Kid Critic Report Card”, “X-Men: First Class” gets a C+. Interesting story and good performances, but not enough suspense and weak special effects.
If Marvel decides there’s at least one more “X-Men” film in the series to be made they can go one of two ways: 1) Continue after the story of “First Class” leading up to the start of the original film or 2) Make the mother of all prequels: “X-Men: Babies” – how they really all began. I’m guessing we probably won’t see that one.