I can't imagine that there was a lot of need for an origin story concerning Professor Xavier and Magneto for the audiences that never read the comics. For fans of the comics who already knew the story, it couldn't have been too exciting given that the movies have taken so many liberties with the canon already. Despite all this, Matthew Vaughn (who impressed with Kick-Ass and Layer Cake) has managed to create a prequel to the X-Men trilogy that not only gives fans a solid schooling in history but is damn entertaining to boot.
Vaughn has a great eye for style. Watching this film, one feels this is likely the best that the 1960's will ever look in a superhero movie. Vaughn creates lairs and hideouts that would make any Bond-ian supervillain jealous. He dresses the cast in fashions that manage to look utterly authentic and yet way better than anyone in the 60's has any right to look. And lest you think that the movie is all style and no substance, let me assure you that there is just as much attention paid to the characters as the visuals.
Charles Xavier (James McAvoy, being all boring) is a callow ass who uses his superior intellect to make up for a horrible personality. Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender, being all dreamy) is on a mission of revenge for his time spent in the Nazi concentration camps. How these two different men come together to build a school for mutant children is fascinating. How they eventually become enemies is truly tragic. How the movie puts these two stories together is...a little lackluster. It's as if there are two separate movies at work here. When they deviate into the politics of the time as a driving force for mutant persecution, I started feeling a little bored.
I could go on and on about the interesting characters, the crazy action set pieces and the slight re-tweaking of canon to help newcomers connect. In the end, you're bound to have a blast for two hours if you even halfway enjoyed the previous X-Men films.
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