X-Men: First Class (2011)

Professor X: [to Eric] There's so much more to you than you know, not just pain and anger.  There's good in you too, and you can harness all that.  You have a power that no one can match, not even me.


I'll be honest, I was a bit worried going into this movie.  A prequel/reboot?


I had nothing to worry about.  From the very start of this movie, I was hooked.  I'm going to try hard to not give any spoilers for this review.  Except for one spot, but it will be hidden.


So...
We see both Charles and Eric as young men, both starting to use their powers.  Rave/Mystique breaks into Charles's house, and he takes her in as his sister.  We then move to 1962, where Charles and Eric are on their own paths.  Charles as a student of genetics, and Eric bent on finding and killing Sebastian Shaw.  Needless to say, their paths cross and history is made.


This is where we state to see some 'checklist moments'.  These include:


-First use of Cerebro
-Eric's helmet
-Charles's hair


I didn't mind these at all.  Oh, here are some minor spoilers.  Highlight to see.


---------------------------------------------Begin----------------------------------------------------------
During the recruitment scene, Charles and Eric approach Logan and are told to 'go fuck themselves'


At one point Raven was seducing Eric, and when told that 'maybe when she's older' she morphed into Rebecca Romaine
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Needless to say, it all comes to a head.  We see the centerpiece battle, revolving around the Cuban Missile crisis.  The plot of  Shaw is familiar to fans of X-Men, but when you see everything put together and think about it, I forgave them for recycling plot from another movie.


At the end, we see Professor X's school starting and the Brotherhood of Mutants starting.  I'd be ok with out a sequel, but we all know its coming.


Iron Man and Iron Man 2 have long been the standard by which I judged super hero movies. I might have found a new standard.