Title: X-Men: First Class Director: Matthew Vaughn Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Studio: 20th Century Fox Genre(s): Action Rated:       (For intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language)

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, there is a fair amount of non-graphiv violence, language and minor sensuality. Recommended for ages 14 and up.

There's an old saying that sometimes to finish a great work of art you need to tear down what you've created and start all over again.  The X-Men movies got the superhero genre back into a respectable business for Hollywood, but as more and more of these movies come out the latest couple of X-Men movies seemed pretty weak and unable to stand up to the competition.  So Fox has decided to go back to the basics.  “X-Men: First Class” revolves around the origins of the X-Men with a new – younger – cast of actors portraying many favorites.  In fact, Bryan Singer (who directed the first two) is even back producing the new film.  This is not a reboot though.  The new story actually fits pretty comfortably into the timeline that the previous films started.

It's pretty much what you'd expect from an origin story:  It's during the time of the Cubin Missile Crisis, and many kids are discovering they have mutant powers and don't fit into society.  Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) might have a purpose for them though: Turns out the threat of the Cubin Missile Crisis is largely thanks to a mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).  He's a mutant that can absorb explosions, so the idea of starting a nuclear war and absorbing that power is appealing.  Alright, I'm going to stop the review for a moment, but I need to say something important: This is just a movie kids, don't quote this review for your book report.  There's a reason none of this is in the history books your teacher told you to read in school.

Anyway, Xavier makes quick friends with fellow mutant Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), who has the very useful ability to control metal.  All of this is told wonderfully with great action sequences and proper pacing.  It should also be noted that this movie fixes the main problem I had with the previous two films: I cared about the characters again.  I cared about what was going on.  All the movies have good special effects and action sequences, but if you don't care about what's going on then it all amount to little more than noise.  “X-Men: First Class” properly balances the well-directed action sequences into something the audience cares about and is invested in.  And since this is an origins story (and a well-made one to boot), anyone can jump in and enjoy it.

If there is a flaw it's with the ending.  Without giving anything away, the ending is somewhat rushed to get a new series started.  So much so that the well-constructed continuity is somewhat compromised as a result.  It also should be noted that while Sebastian Shaw makes for an entertaining villain, he's not exactly a complex one like Loki from “Thor” was.  Still, this is an easy recommendation for fans of the series and new ones to boot.  It does everything you expect a good summer movie to do and does it while looking and sounding smart.  Fox reportedly is planning a new trilogy of First Class movies, and on the basis of this one film I hope they get made.