I must say, rebooting the X-Men franchise by creating a prequel of prequels (I thought Wolverine: Origins was a prequel) and using a whole new set of cast was a pretty bold move; given the fact that the franchise was sagging with not-so positive reviews. However, they managed to execute it flawlessly. X-Men: First Class stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, Rose Byrne and Kevin Bacon as the leads.
X-Men: First Class reveals the beginning of the X-Men series, how everything was brought together, patching and developing the relationship between Professor X and Magneto, and how mutants were brought together to face the challenges of blending in to the society as normal people.
The one thing that impressed me the most in the film was how they inserted a fictional storyline of mutants into history --- the incident of the Cold War and how the world was at the edge of World War III, about to be sparked by nuclear weapons. They even inserted clips of the late President John F. Kennedy giving his speech in turn of all the events that have happened in history. Everything seemed so seamless to me with no obvious plot holes at all. And of course, needless to say, the CGI effects used were amazing!
There were many characters in the film, each with their own unique and mostly, tragic stories to tell. Director, Matthew Vaughn, hats off to you for managing enough time within 2 hours and 11 mins to develop each and every one of them. It was believable, and it managed to reach the audience with an emotional impact.
While every girl was probably swooning over James McAvoy in his portrayal of Professor X, I was particularly blown away by Michael Fassbender's strong acting skills. He plays Erik Lehnsherr, or more popularly known as Magneto. He portrayed his character well, brimmed with agonized emotions due to his tortured past, and having that look on his face as if he was on the verge of emotionally exploding any time to avenge the death of his mother.
