X Men: First Class (2011)

I'm happy to declared, with a certain amount of pleased surprise that this is the best X Men movie. I don't remember the last time people held their breath, curious about whether a movie would be shit or not like they've been with this one. I mean usually we see films in the distance and we can tell if they'll be any good or not. But in the X Men canon - this is a whole new mutant (... I'm not proud of myself...); there was a mixed bag of hope and limitations - it would be made by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, who had ascended to this new level of filmmaking talents and I'm sure this was before KickAss had come out, just on word-of-mouth. But- they were given less than a year to make the film. To put it in perspective - i had seen the full trailer for Thor, a film that would certainly not see the light of day for another year before before frame 1 of this film hadn't been shot. Now obviously, it doesn't necessarily take a year to make a film like this but they probably finished photography on Thor in early 2010, big budget summer offerings take a long time. Also the last 2 XMen films are examples of the most cynical types of that sort shallow filmmaking and X Men 3 was made in similar circumstances of a rushed shoot to terrible effect.
But... Somehow (1/4 of billion $) Vaughn has managed to not only pull off an entertaining blockbuster but probably the best one we'll see this summer. To be fair, he dealt himself a good hand having the cast lead by 2 of best British actors of this generation, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. I love McAvoy's effortless Scottish charm and he lays it on as this young Professor X and Fassbender IS Sean Connery's James Bond for the first 20 he's on screen in this film. He is joy to behold. But speaking of which, Vaughn has made a covert love letter to Terence Young, Guy Hamilton and the early Bond filmsthe, with faux Ken Adam sets and 60's style and sexual mores. Set before and during the Bay of Pigs conflict, the film uses the situation to base the story.
Since these movies obviously have big casts, I can't name everyone but Kevin Bacon is good as the main baddie and Jennifer Lawrence is a really great at play the young Mystique (after slating her less than a week ago).
I really want to say this is Vaughn's best film but hmmm...
And i know with the constraints he was under, it must have been the most challenging film he's ever worked on but he really came through and right now, he could do anything he likes (so long as he promises Fox another X Men and the fans another KickAss)...

I watched X Men: First Class (2011) at the cinema.
My 2011 in Movies will return with The Thin Blue Line (1987)...