X-Men First Class (2011)

X-Men First Class (PG-13)

"Where's Fresh-man"

Mix MadMen with IronMan and you get this new offering from the movie House of M.  Color me surprised, they didn't screw it up, but I've been saying for years a period piece is just what they need (after all, the originals were written in the 60s).  Xmas Jones can't act her way into any emotion, Bacon chews the scenery without the needed sideburns and all the History kind of dwarfs the tiny cast of characters (4 bad guys vs 4 good guys, c'mon...)  But the cool James Bond-like pizazz of the 60s really lends itself to a good time and Magneto once again steals the show being a Nazi-hunting pragmatist.  There's some sketchy CGI, some dues ex machina from hell, and it could have been edited down a bit, but the plot and charisma shine through (Bryan Singer is getting story credit, and its good to have someone who understands the XTeam back to give the series a good kick in its shorts).  Welcome back X-Men.
8 M'Kraan Crystals out of 10 (GOOD)