X-MEN: FIRST CLASS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In my opinion, First Class is the most enjoyable to watch in the whole series. This is a prequel to X-Men and we are introduced to many of the characters from the first film. This includes Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), who is also known as Magneto.

The film has the same opening as the first X-Men which is where we see Erik as a young boy at a concentration camp and discovering he can control metal. However, this scene continues and we meet the antagonist of the film, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who forces Erik to reveal his metal-controlling abilities. Unfortunately, this leads to his mother being killed in front of him and his life long vengeance on Shaw. We are then showed Charles and Raven's first meeting when they were children and learn that they were raised together. This may come as a surprise to some people because, in the first three X-Men films, the two have no relationship at all and Raven is actually on Erik's side. Fortunately, this prequel explains that and also how Charles ended up in his wheelchair.

One thing we do know, judging from the previous films, is that Charles and Erik were once friends. This film shows how they met and how their relationship became damaged. Both McAvoy and Fassbender have great chemistry together and pull off strong performances as the iconic characters.

Newcomers also include Jennifer Lawrence as Raven whose performance as the blue-skinned mutant is a lot better than Rebecca Romijn's, in my opinion. She has more personality and has a bigger role than in the earlier films. I also liked Nicholas Hoult as a young Hank McCoy, also known as Beast. It's in this film, we see how he developed his mutation when one of his vaccinations goes wrong.

This prequel also features one of my favourite cameos which is when Charles and Erik go looking for mutants and they find Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in a bar, who has a great one-liner. It's worth watching this film just for that cameo, if I'm honest. 

It wouldn't be an effective X-Men film if there wasn't any exciting action sequences. Fortunately, the director, Matthew Vaughn (who is directing his first X-Men film), ends the film with a battle sequence between Charles and his X-Men, Erik and Shaw. It's really intense and it's because of this sequence that a conflict begins between Charles and Erik. It's a great way of ending the film as it explains everything that X-Men made us question.

Overall, First Class has everything that makes it a successful prequel: strong performances; exciting action sequences and a effective back story.

7/10