BMM
Superhero
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
- Messages
- 8,095
- Reaction score
- 106
- Points
- 73
An embargo has been placed on reviews until the 25th, but first impressions are already rolling in... and they're good!
Badass Digest - The best praise I can give X-Men: First Class is that it’s a wonderful movie, not just a wonderful X-Men movie or a wonderful Marvel movie or a wonderful superhero movie. It’s a damn good film, full stop, all other genres and ghetto-izations aside.
Bleeding Cool (Brendon Connelly)
Bleeding Cool (Michael Moran) - All in, First Class is a damn fine superhero movie. More geared, I would suggest, to the more mature fanboy as opposed to some of the aspartame-crazed comic book capers that tend to pop up on the boxes of Happy Meals.
[FONT="]Blogomatic3000[/FONT]– [FONT="]This is a film of quality that will occupy you with every scene. The action sequences are spectacularly presented, perfect foils for the fascinating inner conflict we are shown by this superb cast. Combine this with a fine script, direction, cinematography and soundtrack (Henry Jackman), and we have the finest X-Men movie of the four.[/FONT]
BoxOffice – 3.5/5 First Class is ultimately a success, because not only does it reward fans, but it redeems a series that, for better and sometimes worse, gave the superhero genre its start.
CinemaBlend.com – 4/5 Though it is certainly the kickoff of a new franchise, and lugs around a story more sprawling than it needed to be, X-Men: First Class feels spry and self-contained, a blast of colorful and passionate enthusiasm with just enough weight to matter. It feels phenomenal to have these mutants back.
Collider
ComingSoon.net – 8/10 Fans of the comics may be confused by how disparate elements from the books have been tossed together, but fans of the movies should appreciate how Matthew Vaughn has established characters they love in a unique setting with a strong cast and set pieces just as big and impressive as the other movies. It may not quite reach the level of perfection of "X2," but it does a far better job introducing the characters than Singer did in his first movie, and that alone is something worth commending.
Coventry Telegraph - 5/5 Best film so far this year and well worth the rapturous applause it earned at the preview screening I attended. I can't wait to see where the story goes next.
Daily Express - 4/5 Summer blockbusters just don’t come any better than this.
Daily Mirror – 5/5 X-Men: First Class has it all - great characters, a great cast and great - great characters, a great cast and great effects. Such an intelligent and wellrounded film deserves to make converts of nonsuperhero fans.
Den of Geek - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a compelling, interesting, entertaining and very, very good piece of big screen entertainment… Matthew Vaughn has just managed to make X-Men, once more, one of the most compelling movie franchises on the planet.
Dog Ate My Wookie – 5/5 As it stands, X-Men: First Class is a magnificent film, a much needed shot in the arm for June and a film you will want to see again and again.
Digital Spy – 5/5 An action blockbuster with rollercoaster thrills and laughs that has a fundamentally intelligent core.
DIY - 9/10 An absolutely magnificent film, let alone summer blockbuster. Unmissable for anyone who loves the spectacle that is cinema.
Ecranlarge - 4.5/5
Emanuel Levy - B “First Class” is a surprisingly pleasing stand-alone action-adventure as well as a promising set-up for future viable chapters.
Empire - 3/5 All you’d expect from an X-Men film (or spin-off, or prequel), but not all you’d hope for. It smacks of rush and compromise, but there’s thankfully enough to make you feel optimistic about the series’ future once more.
FILMdetail In an age of prequels, sequels and remakes, perhaps the best thing about X-Men First Class is that it feels like a fresh spin on the comic book formula.
FilmJuice - 4/5 With a compelling story, punctuated with humour and action, X-Men: First Class is everything that both die-hard fans and newcomers alike could have hoped for.
Flick Filosopher - Stylish and snazzy to look at but also effortlessly cool in attitude. With its sleek smoothness, this could almost be a lost early James Bond flick that's been rediscovered.
Geeks.co.uk – 4.5/5 There’s no other way to describe the latest X-Men film other than steal the second half of its title.
GeekTown – 8/10 Funny, engrossing and seductive, X-Men: First Class has claws and curves in all the right places.
GeekPlanet - First Class, is the shot in the arm the series needs. A fun movie that, like Batman Begins and Casino Royale, reintroduces overly familiar characters in a fresh, new, interesting and most importantly, enjoyable way, forging its own path away from the morass of jumbled and conflicting continuity. All of which results in a fun, charming, exciting and interesting first outing for Marvel's groovy mutants and certainly one of the best superhero movies in recent memory.
Gulf News It exceeds all expectations!
HaLa Movie - Through a sharp and informed script, a genuine depth to character, and inventive vision of the Marvel universe, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has truly reinvigorated the franchise. It has adapted, it has reimagined itself, and most of all, it has evolved…
HeraldScotland X-Men: First Class is the real deal; with British director Matthew Vaughn at the helm (full of beans after Kick-Ass), not only is it a near-perfect example of the “prequel”, it’s also my favourite of the series so far.
Herald Sun - Director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) injects this prequel with the same electric energy and back-to-basics brilliance J.J. Abrams brought to 2009's Star Trek reboot.
HeyUGuys - 4.5/5 If the rest of this season’s high-profile superhero features get anywhere close to matching what Vaughn has done here, we could be in for a thoroughly satisfying summer of escapism.
HitFix
The Hollywood News - The X-MEN franchise has truly found its feet... Whatever your opinion on the superhero movie – whether you think it’s ready to die off or regenerate – X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has made a strong argument for its survival. It’s exciting, powerful, touching, and the superhero action is just breathtaking.
The Hollywood Reporter Audacious, confident and fueled by youthful energy, this is a surefire summer winner for a wide global audience.
I Am Rogue
i-Flicks.net - 4/5 A charismatic cast? Globe-trotting adventure? Matthew Vaughn's prequel is a superb summer blockbuster. But it's the intelligent writing that makes X-Men: First Class top-notch stuff. It's big, it's bold and it's effortlessly cool.
IGN - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a big, ambitious film that bites off a lot more than most superhero movies could ever hope to chew. It rarely stumbles -- some might say it's overstuffed, but hey, repeat viewings to take it all in are what fanboys like us are made for -- it frequently excites, and it also feels.
Inquirer The story of Professor X and Marvel’s mutants have now come full circle over a decade later with the evolution of the smart and stylish “X-Men: First Class.
Live for Films - X-Men: First Class sets the blue-gold-standard for this year’s superhero movies — and frankly, I don’t think the others can beat it. Among all the other superhero movies, I rate this second only to The Dark Knight. Verdict: extremely recommended.
Matt's Movie Reviews - 3.5/5 X-Men: First Class is a prequel that is sure not to disappoint.
MSN UK - 4/5 With excellent performances and big-movie brains, it's a huge step up for the X-Men franchise. A great start to blockbuster season. The gauntlet has been laid down.
News of the World – 5/5 When you come out of a superhero movie raving about the special effects, that's one thing. But when you come out raving about the cast's chemistry, the storytelling, and how much damn FUN it was, that's another thing entirely. First Class? Yep. I'd say that's just about the measure of it.
Obsessed With Film - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a triumph and lives up to the early films of Bryan Singer and is a reboot gamble that hopefully pays off for Fox.
The Peoples Movies - 4.5/5 X-Men: First Class has plenty of great action sequences and is a great cinematic experience that stands strides ahead of the former counterparts. I would even put it up there near Nolan’s Batman in terms of what comic book films are actually capable of delivering.
RadioTimes – 4/5 This grandiose globetrotting fantasy boasts plentiful action spectacle and effective character-based drama set in an age of civil unrest and Cold War paranoia.
SameSame X-Men: First Class is the film that X-Men fans have been hanging for since X2. The tone is true to the comics, characters are fully fleshed out, action sequences are anchored by emotional motivation, and the screenplay, for the most part, holds strong.
Screen Daily It’s a slick piece of pop entertainment marked by smarter than average characterisations and some solid performances, and it shows that mainstream studio films can indeed, with some effort, accommodate muddied heroic intentions.
ScreenGeek
ScreenJabber - 4.5/5 Overall this is a triumph, a story of inner and outer conflicts, strong characters, a coherent plot, a few laughs and some good old-fashioned action and adventure. Blockbuster of the summer? Hell yeah.
SciFiNow – 3/4 In a year in which Marvel have given us Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger is lurking on the horizon like the silhouette of the flag going up over Iwo Jima, it would be easy for X-Men: First Class to be just another superhero movie, but against the odds it carves out its own little corner of the world, with its own tone and delicious style... That it comes with a real sense of charm, warmth and fun – long since strangers to this particular franchise – is a bonus.
SFX - 4/5 Topped with some sly in-jokes and an outrageously crowdpleasing cameo or two, [FONT="]X-Men: First Class[/FONT] emerges as a fine, muscular resurrection of the mutant franchise, loaded with charm and cool. The gene survives. The Children of the Atom are reborn.
SlashFilm
TimeOut - 4/5 It’s clearly the precursor to a new series, and if the previous films are any indication the second should be tolerable and the third utter dreck, but at this point First Class is… well, if not first class, then a solid B.
Total Film – 4/5 A classy edition to the X-series that expertly establishes a hoard of characters, navigates a Cold War plot and squeezes a tear for a friendship failed. Dream-team casting and quality FX make this the summer blockbuster to beat.
TheVine - 3.5/5 X-Men: First Class is a rock-solid piece of storytelling. It's dynamic, thoughtful, well acted and has a surplus of gingers. Which is always a wonderful, wonderful thing to have.
Urban Cinefile Although the filmmakers have packed far too much into the storyline, there's first class action, superb special effects and a nice sprinkling of humour in a plot whose heart rests in the bond between Professor X and Magneto.
Variety After undergoing some unfortunate mutations in recent years, a beleaguered Marvel movie property gets the smart, stylish prequel it deserves in "X-Men: First Class."
WE GOT THIS COVERED - 9.5/10 X-Men: First Classis a cut well above super-hero movie standards and appeals to everyone. Whether or not you’re an avid fan of the comic book series you’ll find something to enjoy. The story hits all the right notes along with some unexpected ones, and it has a ton of entertainment packed into it. Summer always has its fair share of treats in cinematic form, but they don’t get better than this.
Yahoo UK - 4/5 'X-Men: First Class' really does feel like the logical evolutionary step forward in the series. It might hark back to the origins of some familiar characters, but it's so cleverly crafted that it feels fresh and invigorating. Intelligent summer blockbusting, and more comparable to the likes 'The Dark Knight' than the generic superhero films of recent years.
Badass Digest - The best praise I can give X-Men: First Class is that it’s a wonderful movie, not just a wonderful X-Men movie or a wonderful Marvel movie or a wonderful superhero movie. It’s a damn good film, full stop, all other genres and ghetto-izations aside.
Bleeding Cool (Brendon Connelly)
Bleeding Cool (Michael Moran) - All in, First Class is a damn fine superhero movie. More geared, I would suggest, to the more mature fanboy as opposed to some of the aspartame-crazed comic book capers that tend to pop up on the boxes of Happy Meals.
[FONT="]Blogomatic3000[/FONT]– [FONT="]This is a film of quality that will occupy you with every scene. The action sequences are spectacularly presented, perfect foils for the fascinating inner conflict we are shown by this superb cast. Combine this with a fine script, direction, cinematography and soundtrack (Henry Jackman), and we have the finest X-Men movie of the four.[/FONT]
BoxOffice – 3.5/5 First Class is ultimately a success, because not only does it reward fans, but it redeems a series that, for better and sometimes worse, gave the superhero genre its start.
CinemaBlend.com – 4/5 Though it is certainly the kickoff of a new franchise, and lugs around a story more sprawling than it needed to be, X-Men: First Class feels spry and self-contained, a blast of colorful and passionate enthusiasm with just enough weight to matter. It feels phenomenal to have these mutants back.
Collider
ComingSoon.net – 8/10 Fans of the comics may be confused by how disparate elements from the books have been tossed together, but fans of the movies should appreciate how Matthew Vaughn has established characters they love in a unique setting with a strong cast and set pieces just as big and impressive as the other movies. It may not quite reach the level of perfection of "X2," but it does a far better job introducing the characters than Singer did in his first movie, and that alone is something worth commending.
Coventry Telegraph - 5/5 Best film so far this year and well worth the rapturous applause it earned at the preview screening I attended. I can't wait to see where the story goes next.
Daily Express - 4/5 Summer blockbusters just don’t come any better than this.
Daily Mirror – 5/5 X-Men: First Class has it all - great characters, a great cast and great - great characters, a great cast and great effects. Such an intelligent and wellrounded film deserves to make converts of nonsuperhero fans.
Den of Geek - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a compelling, interesting, entertaining and very, very good piece of big screen entertainment… Matthew Vaughn has just managed to make X-Men, once more, one of the most compelling movie franchises on the planet.
Dog Ate My Wookie – 5/5 As it stands, X-Men: First Class is a magnificent film, a much needed shot in the arm for June and a film you will want to see again and again.
Digital Spy – 5/5 An action blockbuster with rollercoaster thrills and laughs that has a fundamentally intelligent core.
DIY - 9/10 An absolutely magnificent film, let alone summer blockbuster. Unmissable for anyone who loves the spectacle that is cinema.
Ecranlarge - 4.5/5
Emanuel Levy - B “First Class” is a surprisingly pleasing stand-alone action-adventure as well as a promising set-up for future viable chapters.
Empire - 3/5 All you’d expect from an X-Men film (or spin-off, or prequel), but not all you’d hope for. It smacks of rush and compromise, but there’s thankfully enough to make you feel optimistic about the series’ future once more.
FILMdetail In an age of prequels, sequels and remakes, perhaps the best thing about X-Men First Class is that it feels like a fresh spin on the comic book formula.
FilmJuice - 4/5 With a compelling story, punctuated with humour and action, X-Men: First Class is everything that both die-hard fans and newcomers alike could have hoped for.
Flick Filosopher - Stylish and snazzy to look at but also effortlessly cool in attitude. With its sleek smoothness, this could almost be a lost early James Bond flick that's been rediscovered.
Geeks.co.uk – 4.5/5 There’s no other way to describe the latest X-Men film other than steal the second half of its title.
GeekTown – 8/10 Funny, engrossing and seductive, X-Men: First Class has claws and curves in all the right places.
GeekPlanet - First Class, is the shot in the arm the series needs. A fun movie that, like Batman Begins and Casino Royale, reintroduces overly familiar characters in a fresh, new, interesting and most importantly, enjoyable way, forging its own path away from the morass of jumbled and conflicting continuity. All of which results in a fun, charming, exciting and interesting first outing for Marvel's groovy mutants and certainly one of the best superhero movies in recent memory.
Gulf News It exceeds all expectations!
HaLa Movie - Through a sharp and informed script, a genuine depth to character, and inventive vision of the Marvel universe, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has truly reinvigorated the franchise. It has adapted, it has reimagined itself, and most of all, it has evolved…
HeraldScotland X-Men: First Class is the real deal; with British director Matthew Vaughn at the helm (full of beans after Kick-Ass), not only is it a near-perfect example of the “prequel”, it’s also my favourite of the series so far.
Herald Sun - Director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) injects this prequel with the same electric energy and back-to-basics brilliance J.J. Abrams brought to 2009's Star Trek reboot.
HeyUGuys - 4.5/5 If the rest of this season’s high-profile superhero features get anywhere close to matching what Vaughn has done here, we could be in for a thoroughly satisfying summer of escapism.
HitFix
The Hollywood News - The X-MEN franchise has truly found its feet... Whatever your opinion on the superhero movie – whether you think it’s ready to die off or regenerate – X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has made a strong argument for its survival. It’s exciting, powerful, touching, and the superhero action is just breathtaking.
The Hollywood Reporter Audacious, confident and fueled by youthful energy, this is a surefire summer winner for a wide global audience.
I Am Rogue
i-Flicks.net - 4/5 A charismatic cast? Globe-trotting adventure? Matthew Vaughn's prequel is a superb summer blockbuster. But it's the intelligent writing that makes X-Men: First Class top-notch stuff. It's big, it's bold and it's effortlessly cool.
IGN - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a big, ambitious film that bites off a lot more than most superhero movies could ever hope to chew. It rarely stumbles -- some might say it's overstuffed, but hey, repeat viewings to take it all in are what fanboys like us are made for -- it frequently excites, and it also feels.
Inquirer The story of Professor X and Marvel’s mutants have now come full circle over a decade later with the evolution of the smart and stylish “X-Men: First Class.
Live for Films - X-Men: First Class sets the blue-gold-standard for this year’s superhero movies — and frankly, I don’t think the others can beat it. Among all the other superhero movies, I rate this second only to The Dark Knight. Verdict: extremely recommended.
Matt's Movie Reviews - 3.5/5 X-Men: First Class is a prequel that is sure not to disappoint.
MSN UK - 4/5 With excellent performances and big-movie brains, it's a huge step up for the X-Men franchise. A great start to blockbuster season. The gauntlet has been laid down.
News of the World – 5/5 When you come out of a superhero movie raving about the special effects, that's one thing. But when you come out raving about the cast's chemistry, the storytelling, and how much damn FUN it was, that's another thing entirely. First Class? Yep. I'd say that's just about the measure of it.
Obsessed With Film - 4/5 X-Men: First Class is a triumph and lives up to the early films of Bryan Singer and is a reboot gamble that hopefully pays off for Fox.
The Peoples Movies - 4.5/5 X-Men: First Class has plenty of great action sequences and is a great cinematic experience that stands strides ahead of the former counterparts. I would even put it up there near Nolan’s Batman in terms of what comic book films are actually capable of delivering.
RadioTimes – 4/5 This grandiose globetrotting fantasy boasts plentiful action spectacle and effective character-based drama set in an age of civil unrest and Cold War paranoia.
SameSame X-Men: First Class is the film that X-Men fans have been hanging for since X2. The tone is true to the comics, characters are fully fleshed out, action sequences are anchored by emotional motivation, and the screenplay, for the most part, holds strong.
Screen Daily It’s a slick piece of pop entertainment marked by smarter than average characterisations and some solid performances, and it shows that mainstream studio films can indeed, with some effort, accommodate muddied heroic intentions.
ScreenGeek
ScreenJabber - 4.5/5 Overall this is a triumph, a story of inner and outer conflicts, strong characters, a coherent plot, a few laughs and some good old-fashioned action and adventure. Blockbuster of the summer? Hell yeah.
SciFiNow – 3/4 In a year in which Marvel have given us Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger is lurking on the horizon like the silhouette of the flag going up over Iwo Jima, it would be easy for X-Men: First Class to be just another superhero movie, but against the odds it carves out its own little corner of the world, with its own tone and delicious style... That it comes with a real sense of charm, warmth and fun – long since strangers to this particular franchise – is a bonus.
SFX - 4/5 Topped with some sly in-jokes and an outrageously crowdpleasing cameo or two, [FONT="]X-Men: First Class[/FONT] emerges as a fine, muscular resurrection of the mutant franchise, loaded with charm and cool. The gene survives. The Children of the Atom are reborn.
SlashFilm
TimeOut - 4/5 It’s clearly the precursor to a new series, and if the previous films are any indication the second should be tolerable and the third utter dreck, but at this point First Class is… well, if not first class, then a solid B.
Total Film – 4/5 A classy edition to the X-series that expertly establishes a hoard of characters, navigates a Cold War plot and squeezes a tear for a friendship failed. Dream-team casting and quality FX make this the summer blockbuster to beat.
TheVine - 3.5/5 X-Men: First Class is a rock-solid piece of storytelling. It's dynamic, thoughtful, well acted and has a surplus of gingers. Which is always a wonderful, wonderful thing to have.
Urban Cinefile Although the filmmakers have packed far too much into the storyline, there's first class action, superb special effects and a nice sprinkling of humour in a plot whose heart rests in the bond between Professor X and Magneto.
Variety After undergoing some unfortunate mutations in recent years, a beleaguered Marvel movie property gets the smart, stylish prequel it deserves in "X-Men: First Class."
WE GOT THIS COVERED - 9.5/10 X-Men: First Classis a cut well above super-hero movie standards and appeals to everyone. Whether or not you’re an avid fan of the comic book series you’ll find something to enjoy. The story hits all the right notes along with some unexpected ones, and it has a ton of entertainment packed into it. Summer always has its fair share of treats in cinematic form, but they don’t get better than this.
Yahoo UK - 4/5 'X-Men: First Class' really does feel like the logical evolutionary step forward in the series. It might hark back to the origins of some familiar characters, but it's so cleverly crafted that it feels fresh and invigorating. Intelligent summer blockbusting, and more comparable to the likes 'The Dark Knight' than the generic superhero films of recent years.
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