X-Men: First Class

Flying submarine! Sorry, that was one of my favourite parts of the trailer and dang it was good seeing it on the big screen. If you have any doubts about this flick, pop them into a submarine and toss it in the air. It's all good from here on in.

The coolest duo since Batman and Robin (the TV series, not the film) (and yes, I should use a Marvel reference but whatevs), Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, director and screenwriter respectively of that effing awesome flick Kick-Ass, have joined forces again with a few other kick-ass screenwriters, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (both of Fringe fame), while story credits go to Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air) and the man who brought us the first couple of X-Men flicks, Bryan Singer.

In the 1940s, Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender - Inglourious Basterds) sees his mother get shot at a Nazi concentration camp by bad guy Sebastian Shaw (all six degrees of Kevin Bacon). Shaw gets away after the end of the war by Erik relentlessly tracks him down to avenge his mother's death. Oh, he can move metal and stuff.

Now in the 1960s, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy - Wanted), newly appointed Professor and all round nice guy, has a way with the ladies thanks to him being all telepathic and stuff. His flatmate/ward/BFF Raven (Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone) feels kinda blue because she is, blue. She wants to look like everyone else and to not be a mutant anymore. 

The two meet up after the Shaw becomes a threat to the United States after telling the Russians that Cuba is a lovely place to launch a nuclear attack on the US. 

The CIA, in the form of Agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne - Insidious) gets a team of young, fellow mutants together to help stop World War III. 

The team includes, Hobbit-footed scientist Hank (Nicholas Hoult - A Single Man), shape-shifter Raven, sonic-boom boy Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones - The Last Exorcism), adaptable Darwin (Edi Gathegi - New Moon), the winged Angel (Zoe Kravitz - Californication) and energy-beam-shooting-dude Havoc (Lucas Till - Battle LA). 

The team spend a really cool montage together at Xavier's place learning how to use their abilities and more importantly, how to control them.

On Shaw's team is the tough as diamonds Emma Frost (January Jones - Mad Men), hurricane-bringer Riptide (Alex Gonzalez - Lex), and pointy-tailed transporter Azazel (Jason Flemyng - Clash of the Titans).

Everyone has obstacles to overcome all the while preparing for nuclear war with the Russians. Sides are swapped, limits are reached, submarines are sent flying in the air and dagnammit was it all done so very, very well.

Vaughn and Goldman must do all comic-book films from now on. This film was effing awesome. Goldman's script was hilarious, dramatic, and full of action. Vaughn's directing was superb. I loved the split-screen during the montage which in itself was great. There's one scene in particular near the end (I won't spoil) that involves two head-shots that is frikken masterful. Goldman has somehow condensed the whole of Anakin Skywalker's character arc from of Star Wars Episodes 1, 2 and 3 into one whole film while still letting us get to know the new mutants, showing us the friendship between Erik and Charles grow and flourish, only to then plant the seed of doubt in Erik, who in turn passes that seed onto Raven, and still have time to solve the Cuban missile crisis. What an effort!

Performances all round were great, I loved the dude who played Banshee, he reminded me so much of Ron Weasley (in a good way)! I adore Oliver Platt (Frost/Nixon), and really wish he had a bigger part.

The film had a very strong 'Bond' feel about it, as other reviews have mentioned, given the time period in which it is set. Kevin Bacon would make one hell of a Bond villain - Jones is the consummate Bond girl

One point of contention - more attention could have been paid to some of the CGI, some scenes were a bit rough around the edges. 

I will be seeing this again. I could not stop thinking about how much I liked it while I was watching it.

Things I learnt: Kevin Bacon would suck at playing Statues; every film should have a flying submarine; bring on the next instalment.

Xcellent (oh yes I did)

Nine out of ten.