X Men: First Class Filmmaking

Jessie GeoffraySenior Editor-in-ChiefWith every X-Men movie, you’ve come to expect three things: a good fight, some unintentional comedy, and the tried and true everyone’s-an-outsider metaphor. With “X-Men: First Class,” each of these elements are born again with a talented cast that brings energy back to a once exhausted franchise.What elevates the movie from its rather uninventive plot — bad guys trying to destroy the world — are the relationships between each of the mutants.James McAvoy of “Atonement” and Michael Fassbender of “Inglorious Basterds” play Professor X and Magneto, respectively, before they were enemies. And lo and behold before they were foes, they were friends. This makes for an unexpectedly touching and comedic “bromance” that puts movies like “I Love You, Man” to shame.“X-Men” is two hours of pure, unabashedly enjoyable entertainment.Now, you may have an annoyed parent or frustrated English teacher who rants about the poor quality of the modern summer movie, who claims that the only people who benefit from the summer movie season are the targeted demographic: teenage boys. Ignore them.X-Men is a summer movie that would indeed satiate the desires of a teenage boy, but, unexpectedly, is a display of quality filmmaking that has the potential to appeal to all of us. And if it’s any indication of the quality of this summer’s movies, then we’re all in for a treat.jgeoffray@thesamohi.com