X-Men are first class

THIS is a big, fat film jam-packed with special effects, and suitable fodder for the popcorn crowd.
If you haven’t jumped into the franchise before – or never liked it much – this will be a suitable way of dipping your toe in the water.
This prequel tells the back-story of the beginning of the mutants, set against the Cold War.
The Cold War setting is brilliant, with the fear and suspicion between the superpowers forming the perfect backdrop for the fear and suspicion by humans of the mutants.
The “good” mutants have joined the CIA to fight rogue mutants seeking a war between the US and Russia, in which mutants will be the winner.
Chaos ensues. James McAvoy is his usual polished self as the leading man, and January Jones is suitably enigmatic and pneumatic.
It’s a little overlong, and may cause a mild domestic incident if it makes you a smidgen late in delivering your son his pizza that night. But in a time of quiet screens, it’s well worth the ride.
– Jason Beck