X-Men: First Class - First Class Indeed

I just saw X-Men: First Class today and was blown away.  Although there was a lot of hype before the release date from critics on Rotten Tomatoes who have already seen it...it wasn't over-hyped, because it was just that awesome.

I have so many thoughts about this movie that need to be let out, so don't read this if you haven't watched yet (and plan on doing so).  Otherwise, I will hopefully start a blog series on suffering soon, as soon as I finish Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper and others.  It's a great book and offers deep insights into the heart of God and human suffering.  Okay, without further ado:

*SPOILER ALERT*

Okay, I was extremely skeptical about this movie when I first heard about it and read about the characters. Everyone knows (or, just X-Men nerds like myself) that the original X-Men were Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, and Iceman.  Who the heck are all these random people like Darwin and Banshee and Angel Salvadore?  I wasn't too crazy about the thought of having an X-Men movie without Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, and all the other staples.  And on top of that, the movie poster looked pretty dumb.

I was definitely impressed and more than satisfied with this movie, though.  Like one of the critics said on RT (Rotten Tomatoes), this may be the best Marvel film to date.  I love the darker, more serious tone to this film.  First Class : Previous X-Men films :: Batman Begins/Dark Knight : cheesy 1990s Batman films.  I love the great acting and the relatable characters (especially the raw emotion!  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are a much better Prof X and Magneto than Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan).  And though I missed the telekinesis from Jean Grey and the lightning bolts from Storm, the powers that these new mutants had were pretty sweet (except for that Darwin guy...but good thing he wasn't around for long...pretty lame).

Okay, I'll just bullet a bunch of my random thoughts:
- The Hugh Jackman cameo was well done.  Great decision to put that in!
- I was mad because they found a young Storm using Cerebro, but they didn't recruit her!
- I liked Mystique a lot.  She would've been really cute with either Prof X or Beast...I wouldn't remind if they rewrote the storyline to put her together with one of them and have her be on the good side  =]
- Kevin Bacon looked ridiculous wearing that helmet, I couldn't really take him seriously as Sebastian Shaw. 
- They hired a lot of really attractive actresses/actors for these young roles. Wow.
- They always kill the black guy first.
- Like I said, though, that guy's power was lame anyway.
- One of my favorite moments in the movie: Prof X tapping into Magneto's happiest memory, and having both of them shed tears at the same time.  Bromance is so sweet.
- Beast in this movie looks and sounds much more vicious than the one in X-Men: The Last Stand.
- Azazel is way more powerful and dangerous than Nightcrawler.

Yep, definitely one of my favorite movies, and definitely going to be getting this when it comes out on DVD.  Can't wait for the sequel!  Glad they're planning to make this another trilogy.