After the dreadful misfire that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, fans of the franchise would have been right to think that there would be no more big screen adventures for the X-Men as a team.
Thankfully, this reinvention of the universe – charting the early days of the friendship between Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) and the formation of the X-Men – is unlike anything we have seen before in the franchise, or any other comic book movie for that matter.
The film is epic, charting large swathes of time and history. The way it integrates the mutant powers we love into moments of history is fun to watch – like most reviews have said, here it is a cross between Connery-era Bond and the best of the X-Men storytelling – longing for acceptance.
The cast are exceptional – James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender make this friendship, and it’s inevitable end, utterly believable. They also make the roles their own – capturing the essence of the future characters portrayed by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, but not mimicking them. Kevin Bacon makes for a superb villain – the best I have seen in a blockbuster for some time. Also noteworthy is Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique – I really hope she gets to explore this complicated character further.
At over two hours in length, the film could have felt long, but director Matthew Vaughan and his team do such a great job on the script and the set pieces that the film flies by – my only complaint is that the film had to end!
If there is any justice, Fox will get another instalment rolling as soon as possible. It is great to finally have the X-Men back on fine form.
Oh, for fans, the film has some superb cameos that were simply the icing on the cake.
Hopefully this level of quality will remain for the rest of this year’s blockbusters – if so, 2011 could be a vintage year.
