A thouroughly enjoyable reboot for the X-MEN franchise. I'm a sucker for a good origin story, and First Class provided more than one 'a-ha!' moment for me as I connected the dots between the relationships of these 1960s characters and their future counterparts. Michael Fassbender stands out in his role as Magneto and shares a great chemistry with McAvoy (as Xavier) in their scenes together, while January Jones essentially plays Betty Draper substituting cigarettes for mutant powers. The 60s setting is never overplayed, and in fact the period styling seemed more restrained than I was expecting after reading previous reviews that had talked it up.

The earnest moralising of Xavier can be a little over the top, but there's something I like about the constant struggle that exists for mutants in this series; to be accepted by the world, to create a new one, or to try and find the balance between.