X-Men: First Class

When I first tried to watch this a couple of years ago, I had to stop about 3/4 of the way through because I could no longer stand watching a mess idiot kids do stupid things during the 60s. I kept seeing reviews saying this was one of the better X-Men movies. So, I just tried to watch it again. Nope. Just as bad as I remember. Actually, it's worse. The very driver of the movie (the Cuban Missile Crisis stuff) is ridiculous. It would require the main bad guys to hench so blindly that they'd believe the pile of obviously unsupported horse-feathers their boss was feeding them to the point of mass (self) extinction. And, I'm not even going to talk about the tremendous issues with the technology available vs technology used. With more adults in the movie and with less of a 60s feel, maybe this would have been OK. But, not as it is.

Like the tortured childhood path & rise of Darth Vader, this origin X-men story focuses on the downfall - or ethical choice, take your pick - of one of Marvel's greatest villains - Magneto. Everything else, from the hilarious Wolverine cameo, to the snappy 60's music video montage of the novices training to discover their full potential, makes this entry one of the most fun, yet still seriously dramatic explorations of the X-Men mythos.

I have not read the comics, but a problem for many seems to be that it doesn't follow the comics. But I enjoy the movie thoroughly, it is the only one I can watch repeatedly without being bored. This movie isn't filled with unnecessary, over-the-top action like it's predecessors. The CGI isn't perfect but hardly makes the movie bad.