This uneasy alliance ushers in the story’s most dramatic development, in an emotionally surging scene that brings the future Professor X and Magneto together for the first time. ![]() Suspecting malevolent outside interference in the escalating U.S.-Soviet conflict, plucky, pretty CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) recruits Charles despite the agency’s hostility toward these strange new beings called mutants. Possessing astonishing telepathic abilities and, for now, the full use of his legs, Charles is delightfully presented as a ladies man who turns scientific observations into pick-up lines, to the loving exasperation of his adoptive sister, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), a shape-shifter who struggles to keep her natural blue-skinned appearance under wraps. In contrast to the bitter, brooding Erik (played as an adult by Michael Fassbender), dashing Oxford academic Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) envisions a utopian world order in which mutants are able to control their superhuman gifts and coexist with the rest of mankind. The tragic outcome of this unpleasant, rather ill-advised episode instills in Erik a lifelong thirst for revenge and renders him incapable of summoning his gifts without channeling his rage. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon) attempts to harness the boy’s abilities in horrifying fashion. When he learns that young camp refugee Erik Lensherr (Bill Milner) has the power to bend metal with his mind, Mengele-like Dr. Singer’s touch is apparent in the film’s very first shot, which expands on the Auschwitz-set prologue of 2000’s “X-Men,” extending the fascination with Nazi iconography Singer evinced in “Valkyrie” and “Apt Pupil.” Providing a major assist in this regard is Bryan Singer, who hasn’t been involved with the series since he so assuredly directed the first two installments, and who returns here as a producer and story writer (with Sheldon Turner). ![]() Both constituencies, however, may be surprised by the degree to which Vaughn manages to invest this unabashedly commercial product with a unique stylistic identity. The series’ spluttering 2009 foray into how-it-all-began territory with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” may have tempered audience anticipation for “First Class,” and Vaughn handily exceeds expectations with a picture that may rile Stan Lee purists but should prove entirely engaging for franchise newcomers as well as viewers familiar with the series’ mythology.
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