X-men: First Class. I went in to see this movie with high hopes that I acknowledged would probably be shattered. The last two X-men movies were... well absolute shit. I mean that, Wolvereen Orgins remains one of the worst movies I've ever seen of all times. I think Mega Piranha was a better movie... Fucking Mega Piranha. The idea of a prequel that focused on Charles and Erik, coupled by a promising looking preview, actually got my hopes up. What happened at the theature, I was not expecting... This may be one of the greatest movies I have ever scene.
There were certainly some problems, mostly due to there being characters that were just not needed in the long run (Banshee, Angel, (not Warren), Riptide, Darwin, I'm looking at you) As long as you just accept that these guys are here just as a nod to fans and are ment to be just bit characters, it is easy to overlook. Also I didn't care for the actress that played Emma Frost, she seemed way to Stepford Wife-ish in both apperence and attitude.
Those issues become extreamly minor when paired against what this movie does right. I thought it was well paced, they fit in a lot of action and plot in just about every scene. Not so much that it feels rushed but enough that I can't think of any scene that seemed to drag on. The villian was certainly over the top at times, but he had a real prescence of being a huge threat but still having swave nature. He would have felt right at home as a James Bond villian.
Ah but I havn't meantioned why this movie was good, all of these things are in line with the other X-men movie, so what made this movie so much better? Easiy, the amazing reputation between Xavier and Erik. They got it right. They got it right in a huge way. This is not the two chracters as we have seen them on film thus far. It focuses on showcasing each of there strengths and weakness. It shows Xavier being at times cold, distant, and arrogent, while Erik being heroic, nurturing , and kind. It makes you want to keep rooting for him (Erik) and hoping that he will make the correct choices, despite knowing how it's going to end. Seeing the relationship between those two grow makes for an extreamly good show.
The cinematography was good, they took a few chances with how they shot things but scoring high marks with the results. It seemed very grounded in terms of realisticly fitting into the setting (the 1960s if you were unaware.) While there is humor to be found in it, the movie takes itself seriously and allows for the audience to do so too.
I don't think I can go much more into this without a spoiler tag so...
for the tldr; summary: freakin' awesome. I'll rank it right up with Iron Man and Dark Knight.