According to the history books, in 1962 the Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba for a number of nuclear missiles aimed at attacking the United States, after a number of unsuccessful missions by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban government. After seeing Matthew Vaughn's X-men: First Class, I can safely say you can burn your history books.

X-men: First Class dives into the historical revisionist genre, taking on a different approach to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The story revolves around a young scholar on mutations, Charles Xavier, being chosen by the government to investigate the possible involvement of a super-mutant, Sebastian Shaw, with the Cuban and Russian government. To prepare themselves for the prospects of all out war, Charles teams up with one of Sebastian’s mutant victims, Erik “Magneto” Lehnsherr, to recruit a team of mutant teenagers that would help prevent World War III.

The concept of the story provides an engaging twist to the comic book genre. I have always had a soft spot for historical revisionism. Taking an event and changing specific details is an interesting way to get the general public to think differently about a particular event. James Ellroy wrote many historical revisionism pieces that shined a darker light on the highly praised John F. Kennedy. Reading it made the audience feel as if maybe there was something not so golden, about the public's golden boy president. The same effect is in full force in X-men: First Class, giving us a full view of suspected motives from the powers that were pulling the strings during the event.

Where the story ultimately fails is in it's structure. The cohesiveness of the plot is lessened by the fact of the filmmakers wanting to accomplish too much, in such little time. The film starts with the scene fans saw in the original X-Men, where a young Erik is being taken from his mother in a concentration camp, and bends the bars trying to get back to her. From there the story divides from showing Erik's lust for revenge, and Charles' academic history, until the two meet to form a team that will stop the film's antagonist from advocating World War III. The film could have easily started where Charles and Erik first meet, and audience's would have known their entire history without us having to see it. Furthermore, there are occasional moments in the film where the pacing is interrupted by a story beat that felt like an afterthought. These parts can be distracting, but luckily they never disengage the audience from the main meat of the story.

Other part's of the film didn't feel developed enough to be convincing. I was very disappointed in the development of Charles and Erik's friendship. This is a friendship that has been hyped since the first film, and the filmmakers showed their friendship develop through montage. If anything in this film did not need a montage, it's their relationship. Erik and Charles are polar opposites when it comes to their views, yet it's always been known since the beginning of the comics that they were best friends. The film starts them off having their own differences, but the way their friendship progresses is never properly shown. This is an aspect to the comics that has always been the most interesting, and if any element deserved more time it is their growing relationship. I never believed their friendship was as strong as they claimed it to be.

The tone may be inconsistent, but it never proved to be that much of an annoyance. At times it's a heist film, taking inspiration from Soderbergh's Ocean Eleven films and wrapping it with a 1960s era atmosphere. The editing and direction of a few of the scenes, such as Erik and Charles recruiting other mutants, makes me believe this was an aspect done on purpose, as they were handled the same way one would find in a heist film; with much charm and suave confidence. At other times, the film is overly dramatic, stuffing a serious theme within it's charismatic tone. The film is rarely able to flow between the two tones successfully, but they never seem to hurt each other either. It's a minor distraction more than a negative quality.

Despite the numerous corny one-liners, the acting is one of the best aspects of the film. Almost the entire cast are able to embody their characters, and give engaging performances. James McAvoy inhibits all of the characteristics his predecessor had embodied in the original X-men films. He has the subtle charm, the leadership, and confidence that Professor Xavier needs to have, but there was always a sense that he was still learning just as much as the others were, which is perfect when considering where the character is suppose to be in this time of his life. Michael Fassbender was also quite intriguing in his role, and his chemistry with McAvoy was one of the highlights of the film. However, I found myself wanting more range from his character. Erik was portrayed in the original X-men film as someone who was calm and collected, but with a very cold demeanor and twisted motive. He was a version of Professor Xavier that had gone wrong. The Erik in X-men: First Class is just an eagerly angry avenger a majority of the time, only displaying the true Erik occasionally within the film. Even if Fassbender may have left me wanting more from his character, he still proved to be well fit for the role.

The real stand-out of the film was Jennifer Lawrence, and her portrayal of Mystique. After seeing her performance, I can't take Mystique's portrayal in the original X-men trilogy seriously. This Mystique displays a unique struggle within herself to accept her flaws, and in her inner-fight she becomes obsessed with finding love. Even when she finds it, she can't get enough of it, becoming a junkie for affection. There's a scene where she asks Charles if he would ever date her. Charles is obviously uncomfortable because he sees Mystique as a sister, but even that type of love is not enough for her. Lawrence embodies all of these qualities with the same level of commitment we saw her display in her Academy Award nominated role in Winter's Bone, and while I wouldn't say this performance surpasses her most acclaimed role, she is still a scene stealer in this film. Her performance resonates long after you are done watching the film.

As fun as the jokes are, Kevin Bacon is a worthy villain for the film. He is more of a despicable character than a maniacal one, and this helped give a sense of legitimacy to his performance. These comic book films can often be plagued with villains who have simplified motives, such as revenge or some plan that is more complicated then it really needs to be. Bacon's Sebastian Shaw served a purpose to the narrative, eerily reflecting the logic and motives of Erik, while foreshadowing that Shaw is ultimately just holding a mantle that Erik will soon conquer and take to a new level of extreme.

The other mutants do an admirable job, but no one ever stands out. The X-men franchise has had this problem in the past, where they just threw in characters to make the fans happy, without exploring the character fully. Make no mistake, each mutant you ever saw on screen, has a rich and layered personality in the comics, with an intriguing history to go with it. That's one disappointment that is reoccurring in these X-men films: the filmmakers are not utilizing these aspects in the minor characters. Even a hint of these personalities would be enough to enrich the film a lot more than a one-dimensional interpretation of the character could ever do.

In spite of the story having structural problems, and feeling bogged down in trying to accomplish too much then they needed to achieve, the film is still a fun experience, with performances that will keep you engaged. You leave the theater craving more, and actually wishing that some of the right decisions made by the filmmakers for this film were made in some of the original X-men films. It's a solid return to form for the X-men franchise after two horrendous efforts, and I can't wait to see what Vaughn has in mind for us in the next X-men film.

8 out of 10