X-Men: First Class
2011
****
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Bacon, Caleb Landry, Lucas Till, January Jones, Oliver Platt
The first X-Men movie was kind of an origin story, but this reboot goes further back to show how Professor X and Magneto became friends and how their paths inevitably diverged. They face a common enemy, a powerful mutant and former Nazi who orchestrates the Cuban Missile Crisis in order to start World War III. Matthew Vaughn follows up Kick-Ass with another entertaining comic book adaptation. The action set pieces feel fresh and the X-Men characters have always had more layers than some of the other Marvel franchises. The whole is a bit long and CGI-heavy, though. Followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.
