Set upon the outbreak of the cold war, “X-Men: First Class” is the much awaited prequel to the first three films – and with a lot of expectations to live up to, it certainly fulfils the hype and fits in well with the franchise’s plot.
Starring the home grown talents of James McAvoy as Professor X and Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy, “X-Men: First Class” is an action packed thriller with plenty of explosions and a great storyline. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, producer of such action films as “Layer Cake” and “Kick Ass”, “X-Men” is definitely a chip off the old block.
The film begins with the childhood of Charles Xavier, who later becomes Professor X, and Eric Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), who later becomes Magneto, a character that in the later films always appears to be at odds with Xavier, but never quite a real enemy of him.
A harrowing experience in a World War Two concentration camp gets Eric angry, and from that point on his amazing power to manipulate metal is unleashed.
This film explains why it is that Magneto and Professor X seem to be both friend and foe, as we journey on with these characters in to early adulthood, and an institute for mutants is set up.
Humans are becoming increasingly threatened by the mutants, and there is fear that war could break out between these two factions, as well as the impending cold war situation the world is in. This leads to an amazing finale that has devastating implications for Xavier and also several more of the mutants on his team.
This film is a brilliant all round action movie and is destined to be a summer blockbuster. It’s rare that an action film has as good a plot as this one, with intricate facts that make the film fit in with its predecessors being used to brilliant effect and make it feel like it really was meant to be made from the start.
There is also the possibility of another film after this one as the characters are still young, and a long way off becoming the age that they are in the first three X-Men films – so there could be plenty more action and adventure to come from this marvelous franchise in the near future.
This film is definitely not to be missed if you are a fan of Marvel comics.