Now this is more like it. The summer blockbuster season feels like it hasn’t gotten in gear, what with the sputtering efforts of sequels for “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Hangover.”
But “X-Men: First Class” puts some much-needed oomph into the tired business of sequels. Or should we say
, prequel: This one flips the “X-Men” franchise back to 1962, for the sake of an origin story that takes place around the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The geniuses of “X-Men” lore are here, but as young men, and not yet as mortal enemies. Therefore, the actors who previously played them, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, are nowhere to be seen.
Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) is a dashing instructor at Oxford, researching genetic mutation. He’d know; his own status as a mutant allows him to read people’s minds.
Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), embittered by his childhood experiences during World War II, has the power to bend metal at will. He has vowed revenge against the Nazi war criminal (Kevin Bacon) who exploited his mutant gifts.
These two meet because a CIA agent (Rose Byrne, late of “Bridesmaids”) recognizes their powers, and summons them for Cold War duty.
Charles also has his adoptive sister Raven (Jennifer Lawrence, the Oscar nominee from “Winter’s Bone”) along. Nice girl, if you can overlook her tendency to erupt in blue skin and yellow eyes (she’ll later be known as Mystique).
The recruitment of a new team of young people with mutant powers takes up an enjoyable section of the movie. While the kids aren’t really all that interesting, fans of the comic book should enjoy watching the future X-Men get discovered (including an amusing scene where they decide on snazzy-sounding nicknames for themselves).
Fans will also savor a couple of well-placed cameo appearances by actors from the previous films. One is easy to guess, the other not so much; but if I revealed them, my head would be crushed by Magneto’s mighty power, so forget it.
It gets a little generic during the requisite big climax, but in most other ways “X-Men: First Class” gets the job done. Director Matthew Vaughn, fresh from “Kick-Ass,” moves things very crisply indeed, and he has a nice sense of timing within scenes.
McAvoy is fine, but Michael Fassbender walks away with the movie. His intensity, previously on vivid display in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Centurion,” gives a grounding to the comic-book origins of the picture. One early scene, when his character has traced some ex-Nazis to an Argentina bar, is a gem of swift, decisive action.
Thankfully, “First Class” doesn’t get overblown, as did the ridiculously over-the-top “X-Men: The Last Stand” in 2006. You actually are more interested in the people than in the explosions, and this is one case where another sequel would be welcome, rather than dreaded.
“X-Men: First Class”
A solid prequel that gets the job done, introducing us to the warring geniuses of the “X-Men” world as younger people: James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender play the future Professor X and Magneto. The story is set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and if the young recruits to the mutant side aren’t all that interesting, director Matthew Vaughn keeps it all moving crisply and Fassbender and McAvoy are well cast.
Rated: PG-13, for violence
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Merdian, Metro, Woodinville, Blue Fox, Cascade
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