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X-Men: First Class

Play trailer 2:44 Poster for X-Men: First Class PG-13 2011 2h 6m Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 294 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
In the early 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, a mutant named Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) meets a fellow mutant named Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Despite their vastly different backgrounds -- Charles grew up with a wealthy family, while Erik lost his parents at Auschwitz -- the two become close friends. As the world teeters on the brink of a nuclear war, Charles and Erik with other mutants join forces to save humanity. However, a situation soon tears the friends apart.
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X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class

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Critics Consensus

With a strong script, stylish direction, and powerful performances from its well-rounded cast, X-Men: First Class is a welcome return to form for the franchise.

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Critics Reviews

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Jarrah E Hodge Bitch Media 01/07/2021
The acting, special effects, and writing were excellent, except possibly the two times Xavier tries to hit on women in bars by saying they have "groovy mutation[s]". Go to Full Review
Shubhra Gupta The Indian Express 04/02/2019
3/5
First Class can safely be watched by first-timers, but old faithfuls of the franchise will get a little more, tracing the origins of their favourite characters. Go to Full Review
Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online 09/08/2017
B
If you didn't see the previous movies, you may not be able to appreciate some of the subtle references, but that won't make you enjoy the movie any less. Check it out. Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 09/09/2023
... Jennifer Lawrence is superb as the young blue-skinned shape-changer Mystique, trying to reconcile her identity crisis with Xavier’s sometimes oblivious idealism. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 06/07/2023
3.5/4
A summer movie where audiences will leave talking about the performances and the ideas, not the mindless battles. Go to Full Review
Cory Woodroof Lumination Network 02/11/2022
This is an immensely fun, engaging, stylish superhero film that I fully recommend for your viewing pleasure. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Kevin P @RT55971421 2d A great prequel about how the X-men were founded and how Charles Xavier and Magneto became friends and then enemies as their ideologies remain the same while their methods to achieve them began to clash. Great cast with James MacAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence. Emma Frost doesn't get much to do. I appreciate that the team gets yellow suits like in the comics. Magneto's character is very captivating and sympathetic. Xavier is such an optimist that wants to help everyone. There's a good conflict where Magneto wants Mystique to embrace her mutant appearance, while Beast and Xavier want her to hide it. The movie is a little dated with some blatantly obvious objectification male gaze moments. The climax is very exciting. Mystique's decision to leave seems WAY too soon after Charles was literally just shot. This movie is a really passionate and fresh new take that breathed new life into the franchise and it's one of the few prequels that actually works. See more R H @RT35663249 Feb 28 Terrible terrible writing surpassed only by the extremely tortured insistence on trying to sexualize so many scenes. It seems clumsy and amateurish. The script is so trite. To say nothing of the fact how it destroys the X-Men timeline. They took a great opportunity and really crapped all over it See more Bret M. @BretM-3 Feb 8 This movie is a really solid “start” to the X-Men franchise (if you watch in chronological order). I think the movie does a really good job of introducing us to the characters we know and love. It’s so cool to watch the X-Men form and to watch the friendship between Charles and Erik form. It’s sad because deep down, they both want the same thing, they just want to achieve it in wildly different ways. I think that Magneto is the best character in this movie. We see firsthand how horribly he was treated as a child in the opening scene. Right off the bat you can see that Erik had a hard childhood during the Holocaust while Charles had an easy life in a Mansion. I also love this dynamic because James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender do such great jobs as these characters. I also enjoyed Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw. He’s a great villain that, because of that opening scene, you automatically hate him and want to see him go down. He’s a great, hateable villain. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. All the characters were great and so was the acting. Everybody had great character arcs and the main characters really grew throughout the movie. This movie is a great setup for things to come in the X-Men franchise. See more Joshua W @RT36518942 Feb 6 Im not getting anything great about this, my eyes rolled so many times. Boxes checked, oh thats how that happened etc etc. Iconic world moving characters just created mostly from whimsy. Magneto's arch was the best part and hes the villain. See more Jose F. @lowazucar Feb 2 Young Charles and Mystique's relationship in this film is adorable and sad at the same time. Erik's revenge plot-line is by far the most engaging part of this film. The parts of this film where the CIA is involved are so boring, and the film can get repetitive at times. I do wish that the lineup of X-Men were a bit cooler. I wish the villains were expanded upon because they were pretty cool. See more luciana v @lulovesmarvel Jan 24 ¡Espectacular! Lo digo enserio, película movida, con acción, drama, amistades y relaciones complicadas. Me encanta esta película, es hermoso verla, sobre todo después de las primeras de los X-Men. Ver a James McAvoy y Michael Fassbender como Charles Xavier y Magneto es simplemente estupendo, aunque no negaré que es un poquitín raro verlos así después de viejitos, pero meh. Es muy sorpresivo descubrir la relación entre Mystique y Profesor X; es algo inesperado, triste e interesante de ver. A partir de esta película, empiezas a empatizar muchísimo más con TODOS los personajes de la franquicia, aunque Magneto sí es un poco dramático. Entiendo por qué Magneto y Charles son prácticamente hermanos. Es una película perfecta, con una trama y guion que no la dejan caer. ¡De mis favoritas! See more Read all reviews
X-Men: First Class

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the early 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, a mutant named Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) meets a fellow mutant named Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Despite their vastly different backgrounds -- Charles grew up with a wealthy family, while Erik lost his parents at Auschwitz -- the two become close friends. As the world teeters on the brink of a nuclear war, Charles and Erik with other mutants join forces to save humanity. However, a situation soon tears the friends apart.
Director
Matthew Vaughn
Producer
Bryan Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Gregory Goodman
Screenwriter
Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Bad Hat Harry, Donners' Company
Rating
PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Action|Brief Partial Nudity|Intense Sequences of Violence|Language|Some Sexual Content)
Genre
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 3, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$146.4M
Runtime
2h 6m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, DTS
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