In The Beginning...

There was Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnserr.  It's the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Marvel universe is just learning about the existence of Mutants.  In "X-Men: First Class" we see the beginning for the famed Marvel X-Men, and the genesis of the villain Magneto.

As I said above, this movie is set in the early 1960s.  Erik Lehnserr (Michael Fassbender) is hunting the Nazis responsible for his imprisonment and his mother's death.  While seeking out the man he most blames for his mother's death (played by none other than Kevin Bacon), Lehnserr meets Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and a friendship is formed.  But, Lehnserr and Xavier have different ideas about the futures of Mutant Kind and Human Kind that comes to a head at the Bay of Pigs.  Out of this event, Professor X and Magneto are born.

I really enjoyed "X-Men: First Class".  I watched it while on the plane back from Brazil last week.  While not as good as the other Marvel movie of the summer, "Thor", "First Class" is one of the better X-Men movies.  The story was great, and while it was an action film, there were some humorous moments, including a cameo by Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and several hair jokes by Charles Xavier (in the X-Men movies set later, Xavier is played by bald actor Patrick Stewart).

James McAvoy continues to be a fantastic actor.  From Mr. Tumnus to Charles Xavier, he gives his all to every role.  This was the first time I've seen Michael Fassbender in a movie, and he was terrific as Lehnserr/Magneto.  At times, he really steals the show.  Finally, any movie with Kevin Bacon is automatically excellent because we have another movie we can use for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

"X-Men: First Class" is a 4 to 4.5 star movie.  If you are an X-Men fan or a fan of Marvel comics in general, give this movie a shot.