My first thoughts when I had heard that they were considering doing the First Class film was that we were going to eventually witness a real piece of garbage. With how much of a let down X3 was to me, and how X-Men Origins: Wolverine was less than comparable to Batman Begins, I figured they had tapped the well and were just out to make some extra money. The end result would be some rushed project with a low budget that would put out a short film riddled with plot errors, no character development, and tons of pointless action sequences riddled with nonsense.
I was wrong....thankfully.
PLOT/CHARACTER The film stands on an axis created by two points of Magneto and Sebastian Shaw. Though Shaw is not a villain I was particularly looking forward to on screen, he serves his purpose well. The idea of taking someone and associating them with the Nazis not only to connect the film but to also somewhat justify (in a psychological sense) his future war-harbinger tendencies is something of key note. Keeping the same primary villain and not simply switching it midway through (which is what I was afraid they would do) is part of the reason this film works. The main reason, however, is Magneto.
Without a doubt, the star of the film is Erik Lensherr. You might be able to argue that Xavier is the more premiere protagonist, however I'd disagree and raise you one Magneto - the more sympathetic character of the two, whom we take most of the journey with from the very beginning shot to the very end. If there's one thing I can praise this film for, it's that they took the character of Magneto and 100% made him just the right boundary between villain and hero for what we needed. Too much of a villain and you would think he didn't fit in on that side. Too much of a hero and the transition would have been too jarring. This Magneto is exactly what he should be.
If there's one thing I didn't like about the film, which is as much a compliment as it is a gripe, is that I wished we could have seen more of not only the Magneto character but many of the others as well. Though we have character development and each person that is brought to the table has their own definable characteristics (save for Riptide who doesn't even have any dialogue if I remember correctly, let alone traits and purpose outside of generic mook subordinate) I still wanted to see more. The reason I would classify this as a compliment is that I liked the characters enough to WANT to see more, not that I disliked them and NEEDED to see more. For instance, I would be perfectly fine with another half hour added solely to showing us some more connection between Xavier and Lensherr with some more time dedicated to developing a possible romance between Xavier and Moira (or at least adding to the romance between Mystique and Beast). Still, that being said, none of the characters involved feel particularly shoehorned in and there's a reason for them all to exist in this plot. Everyone has their moment and their purpose, even though two of those (Darwin and Angel) are somewhat lackluster in comparison to the others.
The cameos were fantastic in this. The quick shots in Cerebro I'm sure I'll be analyzing later, even if the crown jewel of the cameos was that particular bar scene I won't mention for those who have avoided spoilers. Another cameo I was pleasantly surprised with was the one with Mystique, which brings me to another point. I also applaud their sense of continuity for not only the big things but even the little things that often are overlooked. Though there are some hiccups, I got just as much pleasure out of tiny touches like Erik and Charles playing chess as I did with the references to hair loss and the Blackbird.
ACTING Assuredly, none involved in this film will be looked at for the Academy Awards Best Actor/Actress or Supporting Actor/Actress nominations, everyone does their job. They all make it seem believable, they all have a certain charm about them that makes their characters interesting and unique (for instance, Beast's awkwardness in comparison to Havok's bad boy swagger), and they all look the parts. The two standout performances would have to go to James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr. Those two had nice chemistry between each other and that is one of the reasons why I craved to see more of them.
ACTION / SPECIAL EFFECTS My point of view when it comes to action and special effects in films is that nothing should seem frivolous or unbelievable. If I can tell that something is CGI (within the realm of suspension of disbelief of course), then I've got something to complain about. If I can't pinpoint anything, then they've done their job, which they've done here. No complaints on the CGI. When it comes to action, I think everything should come naturally. This film is a bit low on the action scale for what some may go into a comic book film expecting, but sometimes less means more, and I'm much more pleased watching a movie like this than seeing one that is nothing but mindless explosions for 2 hours. If you're a fan of those types of films, you may be disappointed with X-Men: First Class, but if you're someone who goes into it wanting to watch a story that just happens to have action as opposed to wanting to see action wrapped in a storyline, different tale.
FINAL VERDICT See it. Though I wish there could have been more character development, it's something they can touch upon in potential sequels, and other than that there's really nothing I can criticize the film on. Everything else is up to par. It is no Batman Begins, but it is CERTAINLY no X-Men: The Last Stand. For anyone that had reservations like I originally did, it's a good lesson that sometimes the infallible things can let us down (like Spider-Man 3) but equally, those things we may have our doubts about can prove us wrong.