X-Men: First Class

The fifth X-Men movie is a fresh start for the franchise, and not just because it’s a prequel set in the JFK era. From the early introductions of the cocky but good-hearted scientist Charles Xavier (James MacAvoy) and the vengeful Holocaust survivor Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), it’s clear that this is the rare comic-book movie where acting and character development trump fight scenes and explosions. The two leads are riveting---Fassbender especially---as men with different motivations for assembling a group of super-powered youngsters that ends up testing its abilities in the Cuban Missile Crisis, battling Russians, Americans and rogue mutants determined to start World War III. The MacAvoy-Fassbender duet, the mutant-as-minority allegory and the historical context of the action make this the best X yet. –Matt Semansky