I entered X-Men: First Class with a little trepidation. The previous reboot film Wolverine: X-Men Origins was a complete disaster and the one before that was not much better. However my sense of worry was soon eased as I realized I was watching a rejuvenated franchise thanks to some fine young actors. The story begins with the slawart mutants Charles Xavier and Magneto as children. Charles, who has the ability to read minds, discovers he is not alone when encountering the young Raven, a shape shifter, breaking into his parent's mansion. Magneto, or Eric is in a concentration camp where an evil Nazi (Kevin Bacon) has become aware of the young boy's power and begins to run cruel tests on the boy. Now, as adults played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, the two mutants go their own way, one seeking to spread mutant awareness and the other seeking revenge. Soon they will band together and train others like them to fight Bacon's evil character who seeks world destruction. However, their philosophies on how they should deal with their own identities soon drive them apart. What makes X-Men: First Class superior to the recent outings is the acting. McAvoy and Fassbender, who have both done fine work before, bring power and believablity to their characters making you care for them. When the plot gets beyond silly when Kevin Bacon is revealed to be the cause behind the Cuban Missile Crisis, McAvoy, Fassbender, and the rest of the cast bring things down to a believable and enjoyable level.
