X-MEN FIRST CLASS

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender,   Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Beth Goddard, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Caleb Landry Jones, Zoe Kravitz, Laurence Belcher,  Bill Milner
Director Matthew Vaughn

 Unlike some young people we know who sigh when we beg them to read

books, or  look aghast when we cry over Sydney Carton's final moments  in

"A Tale of Two Cities", the  young mutants’ in this   prequel  about the X-Men  wreak havoc when they're left alone, presumably to hone their undeniably exceptional gifts.
To which their genial mentor, the future Professor X, a.k.a. Charles Xavier(

James McAvoy )   responds,"I expected better of you"  or words to that

effect. Thankfully, some of them do choose the better path.

Expectedly, others don't, choosing instead to swear allegiance to Xavier's ex friend Erik

Lehnsherr /the future Magneto (Irish-German actor Michael

Fassbender)

Now Erik, whom we first meet as a lad in a concentration camp in Nazi occupied Poland, is a Uri Geller type with a talent for

bending spoons. A senior fellow mutant Sebastian Shaw ( Kevin Bacon, dastardly with

unleash the boy's powers.

 Around the same time, in a stately home set in sylvan surroundings, young Xavier befriends and shelters a famished thief ( Jennifer Lawrence,vulnerable as the young Raven Darkhölme/ Mystique)   Fast forwarding to adulthood, Professor X and Magneto meet and acknowledge their common enemy, Shaw and his Girl Friday Emma Frost (January Jones) must be neutralised since they are also in the business of recruiting mutants, but  for ignoble ends.  By this time, we have become acquainted with the butterfly winged pole dancer named Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz), Beast  (Nicholas Hoult )  and Darwin (Edi Gathegi) among others.
But where Xavier believes in working for peace and serving humankind, the embittered, unforgiving Erik ( who can be tender with misfits like Mystique) wants total revenge even when nuclear Armageddon looms large.  

This sci fi actioner combines meaningful messages about head and heart ( eg human rights, forgiveness, acceptance, responsibility) with exciting entertainment. Endowed with impressive special effects, dazzling action, romance  and an interesting take on the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 (   We willingly suspended disbelief  during the Bay of Pigs  showdown between the adversarial mutant groups)  X Men: First Class is an A grade entertainer.  We only wish we could have seen more of  that dashing,smashing Wolverine (Hugh Jackman)  Are we looking forward to the next instalment? You bet.