‘X-Men: First Class’ is a cut above the rest

The X-Men movie franchise needed a desperate shot in the arm, and luckily X-Men: First Class brings the adrenaline and so much more. The prequel film uses the tried-and-true attributes of historical fiction to tell a compelling story of unlikely superheroes in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Director Matthew Vaughn has reignited this comic-book series with a singularly impressive vision.

The movie opens in one of the darkest corners in the annals of history: a German concentration camp at the height of Nazi fascism. Young Eric Lehnsherr (Bill Milner) is separated from his parents in a crowd of prisoners, but the Nazi guards seem to pay no attention to the little boy’s anguish. It’s only when he bends a metal gate that the guards realize that the boy is special.

For those who know the X-Men mythology, it will come as no surprise that Eric grows up to be Magneto, a once promising X-Men who turns sour and becomes the sworn enemy of the mutants under the care of Professor Xavier. But it’s refreshing to have this one movie where Magneto and Xavier (here portrayed by James McAvoy) as competitive colleagues, two young men trying to understand their super-human abilities.

Because Magento is a quasi-hero in First Class, the movie needs a proper villain. Enter Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, a crazed Nazi official who witnesses Eric’s metal-bending exercise and wants to harness the power for his own malevolent needs. When Eric is unable to repeat the action, Shaw kills the little boy’s mother right in front of his eyes.

As with most superheroes, there needs to be some type of family loss as a child. Batman had it, so did Spider-Man. Now Magneto finds his painful motive for using his powers for both good and evil.

Flash forward to the early 1960s. Xavier is slowly bringing together the group of mutants who will eventually become the X-Men. He’s first convinced of the presence of mutants in the world by the appearance of Raven/Mystique (a very lovely Jennifer Lawrence), his shape-shifting foster sister who dazzles with her ever-changing blue skin.

While Lehnsherr seeks revenge for his mother’s death and Xavier forms his elite group of X-Men, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) uncovers a nefarious plot involving  an older Shaw, a colonel of the U.S. Army and some nuclear weapons. MacTaggert employs the help of Xavier and his mutant research to stop the crisis from blowing out of control.

The movie is a smart blockbuster that relies mostly on its story. The special effects are nicely constructed, especially on a personal level, such as Raven’s changing skin. But the CGI never gets out of hand, and X-Men: First Class never falls into the usual big-budget doldrums. Instead, it focuses on this story of Xavier, Lehnsherr, Shaw and how a few actions could have changed the world forever.

It’s refreshing to see superheroes learning about their abilities. The previous X-Men films always took the mutant powers for granted, and a proper origin story was missing from the cinematic installments. X-Men: First Class delivers that back-story with a great deal of restraint. There is never a time when Vaughn lets one individual mutant take over too much of the spotlight. X-Men has always been a team effort, and he focuses on not just the building of the network, but also its simultaneous falling apart.

The acting is quite good. McAvoy is a perfect fit for Xavier, while Michael Fassbender is a welcome addition for Magneto. Mad Men’s January Jones fails to bring much to the part of Emma Frost, except her bulging cleavage. Byrne has some fine moments, and Bacon proves a formidable villain.

Strangely, X-Men: First Class is not about the individual actors or the characters they portray. The story is what rules here. Watching the United States on the precipice of global war takes precedence. Who knew mutants were behind the whole thing?

• X-Men: First Class

• 2011

• Directed by Matthew Vaughn

• Written by Vaughn, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman, based on a story by Sheldon Turner and Bryan Singer

• Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Oliver Platt and Rose Byrne

• Running time: 132 minutes

• Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief nudity and language

• Rating:

• Click here to purchase X-Men: First Class on DVD.