Welcome to the 3rd chapter of TAS's Reviews... my editorial on X-Men: First Class, the prequel to the X-Men film... with several continuity issues. However, I'm able to ignore these continuities considering how superbly crafted this film is. Basically, the film mostly takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis... covering the formation of the X-Men, and the dynamic between Charles Xavier and Erik, before they became enemies, which is impeccable.

The 70s aesthetic is slickly melded within the film - and similar to X-Men: DoFP, flaunts a unique tone which distinct it from most other, if not all, Comic Book Movies - the characters crafted brilliantly around this setting, which the creators behind the film take advantage of. The film mostly explores the friendship between Charles Xavier and Erik, before they became enemies, and before they became Professor X and Magneto. The friendship between the two is flawless - taking every single step it needed to take. There wasn't any halfway - they did it all, molding it into everything we've witnessed in the Original Trilogy.

James McVoy is sublime as Charles Xavier - conveying a younger, much lesser experiences depiction of the character - the writings successfully combined elements of the older Xavier in the other films, which fresh, brand new elements of the character. Michael Fassbender is equally impressive as Erik, his arc of revenge driving him into a completely different state of mind. Thankfully, both Charles and Erik go through a gratifying amount of character development, both of the characters intelligently balancing, both their arcs intertwining within one another.

This film makes me feel SO many things - I felt happy, I felt sad, I felt scared, I felt worried, I felt surprised, I laughed, I almost cried - almost every single character mattered in this film and I got unbelievably invested in all of them. All of them. Jennifer Lawrence was great as Mystique - bringing a side of the character we've never seen before in any other X-Men film prior to this one. It was tragic to see these characters become the antagonist we've seen in one films by the end of this one. The moments shared between Erik and Raven will become memorable ones - as the former does his best to remind Raven to accept who she is for who she is. The bonds between all these characters were well done.

I cannot concede the issues with January Jones as Emma Frost - she brought a stoic feel to this character, which worked well within the film. Dunno why not many people don't like her... I personally did and thought she was well casted as the character. Kevin Bacon... um... it's strange to witness Bacon in a Comic Book film, BUT he did well - my gripe with the film is it's lack of antagonist development - there might've been an over-focus with the film's protagonists. Maybe there's layers to the character I missed, but I seriously couldn't grasp any - and considering my love for this film... I didn't like the writing of the antagonists and their lack of unique, well crafted motivations.

There weren't too many set-pieces in the film, but the existing ones were undeniably well crafted. They certainly weren't on par with the jaw-dropping action sequences in X-Men: DoFP, or Marvel's The Avengers for that matter, but they were impressive. The film is thematically compelling, in a sense in which it handled the mutants are outcasts thing much better than most other entries in the series. I liked how the writers were able to express this through the characters and their unique set of interactions.

Hank McCoy is a well done character - I certainly appreciate this depiction. He certainly isn't a clean slate, he's a flawed character - mostly within his interaction with Mystique regarding the... cure... I sympathised with the character and was able to feel for him throughout his struggles. The other mutants were also great - Havoc, Banshee and Angel, notably, throughout their appearances. The film excellently utilised it's several characters - developed them throughout the film...

X-Men: First Class is an excellent film - utilising it's exquisitely done characters and developing them all, with the relationship between Charles and Erik, as they become Professor X and Magneto, at the head of the film - a brilliantly crafted dynamic between the two, with the rest of the characters also well characterised, well done and well acted. The film is well paced - without too much exposition, which allows the story to go on smoothly. The film surely isn't perfect - it does suffer from it's flat antagonists and the lack of set pieces does bother me... perhaps, a wake up call could've been much needed, but the superbly crafted storytelling and characters, top-notch performances and well executed emotion boost this film to greater heights.

Without a doubt - X-Men: First Class and X-Men: DoFP, with Marvel's The Avengers, are my all time favourite comic book movies.

9.5/10

• + Brilliant Mixture of Many Mutants
• + Fantastic, Compelling Dynamic Between Charles and Erik
• + Thematically Compelling
• + Top-Notch Performances
• + Memorable Characters
• + Many, Many Emotions
• - Flat Antagonist
• - Lack of Set-Pieces

Um... hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading - I appreciate it ^___^ I've been liking writing these reviews and hope you've been enjoying all these. My next one will most likely be the LoTR trilogy, so that's that.

Thanks,

- TAS