The original 20th Century Fox X-Men film franchise gave us 13 different movies, which range heavily in terms of overall quality. Some are considered the nadir of the entire comic book movie genre, like Dark Phoenix or X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Others, like The Wolverine, have cult fanbases rather than being beloved. No single X-Men film that doesn’t star Deadpool has quite become a pop culture sensation on par with The Avengers or The Dark Knight, but nearly all of them have their fans. Even The New Mutants has ardent followers out there willing to declare it something more than its reputation suggests.
However, the fact that there isn’t a deluge of excellent X-Men films in existence means it’s pretty easy to discern which of these titles rises to being the very best of the series. It’s really not a close race in terms of which mainline X-Men installment (so exempting outstanding spin-offs like Logan) rules over the others, especially when considering the poor track record of Dark Phoenix and The Last Stand. X-Men: First Class is far from perfect, but it has way more vigor and fun than any other mainline X-Men title.
What Makes X-Men: First Class So Special?
One element immediately catapulting X-Men: First Class to a different level than all other mainline X-Men films is the simple fact that its production design and costumes lean right into the 1960s aesthetic. Even a better X-Men outing like X2 eventually devolves into flatly-rendered skirmishes in a dimly-lit military base. First Class, meanwhile, is full of outlandish attire and settings that could only exist in the era of Mad Men and Beatles hits. There’s an exciting level of personality in the visuals that even extends to finally giving these characters their yellow supersuits from the comics.
Much like that summer’s other superhero movie struck gold casting Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, X-Men: First Class also gets immense mileage out of a stacked cast. Future superstars like James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence shine in their rapport with one another. McAvoy and Fassbender especially excel both in their chemistry and in delivering versions of Xavier and Magneto different than past X-Men films. This young cast is flawless in establishing exciting new mutant personalities rather than just leaning on the past.
Fassbender’s Magneto is an especially compelling creation, a figure torn between a hopeful future and dark vengeance over the past (his earliest scenes depicting his character hunting down Nazi’s alone are extraordinary). The way he subsequently depicts this man’s inner demons constantly toying away at him is also remarkable. A performance this good is rare in other X-Men movies more famous for wasting talented souls like Jessica Chastain and James Marsden.
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No Other X-Men Film Features a Proper Ensemble
Arguably most impressively of all, X-Men: First Class isn’t afraid to be an ensemble movie. Though Xavier and Magneto are unquestionably the leads, other young mutants like Mystique, Havoc, and Banshee (among others) also get arcs and screentime here. That’s a sharp contrast from previous X-Men movies, which tended to focus just on Wolverine and Xavier. Subsequent entries like Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, meanwhile, would never get this balance right again, leaving younger versions of Nightcrawler and Storm with nothing to do.
For one brief shining moment, though, First Class had the X-Men franchise firing on all cylinders as an ensemble action movie as it always should’ve been. The X-Men in the comics and other media (namely that beloved 90s cartoon) are all about emphasizing sprawling casts, not just one or two mutants. First Class realized that in live-action far better than any other main installment in the series. Getting to watch these young mutants work together towards a common goal was such a welcome departure from earlier movies that entirely sidelined folks like Cyclops.
Granted, this doesn’t mean X-Men: First Class avoids all the problems of the main X-Men movies. Like these other titles, First Class’s gender and racial politics leave so much to be desired. Certain visual effects and makeup techniques are also underwhelming. By and large, though, this was a motion picture that really clicked together far better than any other X-Men title. In this 2011 installment, all the potential of these characters, plus excitingly unique flourishes like lovely visual touches rooted in the 60s, finally came together in live-action.
X-Men: First Class is now streaming on Disney+.
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