Let me start off by saying HOT HOT HOT! A thousand times hotter than X-Men 1, 2, or 3. I think this movie was a great argument for not even having Brian Singer around. SInger, of course, is a very capable director but he managed to make X Men boring and predictable and not even Halle Berry was that hot!
Matthew Vaughn took this movie by the bullhorns in a way a dude director only can. January Jones as Emma Frost and the indelible Rose Byrne as Moria Mactaggart, a CIA agent.
With plenty of skin being displayed by all the right people, this movie managed to about much more than how hot the 60s were. The junior cadets of the X-Men school, and of course aptly titled the first class, were all genius in their own way.
All struggling to fit in on the outside, they were taught discipline by the dashing James Macavoy who ended up playing Charles Xavier with 1960s debonair and panache.
Also striking was Jennifer Lawrence as a younger version of Rebecca Remain StayPut's Raven.
My favorite new talent of this X-men movie was the kid who had to use sonar to fly. I thought that was genius. Of course this deals with conflicts between good and evil and shows the reasons for the original split. But it also shows extreme set design and costume talents.
With all the other bells and whistles going on, they manage to catch a time period in swinging London and my eyes were transfixed on that.
Also, I must say, it was so so nice to Kevin Bacon in a sort of nemesis and dramatic role.
