X-Men: First Class

"Witness the moment that will change our world."

2011 2h 12m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 13,932

ActionScience FictionAdventure

Synopsis

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Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were arch-enemies, they were closest of friends, working together with other mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known.

“Witness the moment that will change our world.”

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Cast

James McAvoy
Charles Xavier (24 Years)
Michael Fassbender
Erik Lehnsherr
Jennifer Lawrence
Raven / Mystique
Rose Byrne
Moira MacTaggert
Kevin Bacon
Sebastian Shaw
January Jones
Emma Frost
Nicholas Hoult
Hank / Beast
Lucas Till
Alex Summers / Havok

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Giles Asbury, Tony Chance, Sheldon Turner
Languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Russian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$160M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "X-Men Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

265+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, shot by John Mathieson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henry Jackman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eddie Hamilton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Matthew Vaughn directs. John Mathieson behind the camera. Henry Jackman scores. Eddie Hamilton cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in German, English, Spanish, French, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$160M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 15 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 5 languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Russian.
4Part of the "X-Men Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5265+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Matthew Vaughn, shot by John Mathieson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Henry Jackman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Eddie Hamilton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Witness the moment that will change our world.".
11IMDB entry: tt1270798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1213,932 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 16 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "nuclear war", "superhero", "mutant".
14Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Mathieson
Original score: Henry Jackman
Editing: Eddie Hamilton
Production design: Chris Seagers
Costume design: Sammy Sheldon
Makeup / hair: Kelly Golden
VFX supervisor: Guy Williams
Sound: Ron Bartlett
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Habberstad
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $160,000,000
Box office: $353,624,124
Return: 221% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Part of

X-Men Collection

A superhero film series about a team of mutant superheroes based on the Marvel Comics superheroes of the same name.

Also by

Matthew Vaughn

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Community reviews

What people are saying

GeekMasher2013-07-18
★ 9/10
A very good movie! I'm not a massive comic book reader/fan and when I watched the first couple of the X-men movies I always wondered how it all begin and this movie do it justice! The actors where great (there no Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen), Kevin Bacon played the baddie very well and was well suited for it and it was graphically impressive. Loved to see the development of the characters over the duration of the film. In all, I think it was a excellent movie.
Travis Bell2013-12-12
★ 7.5/10
I didn't love this movie. There were aspects about it from the perspective of an origin story that were interesting but something about the pacing and acting just felt… off. I can't quite put my finger on it but the first word that comes to mind is "campy". Kind of like I was watching one of the last three Star Wars movies. The dialog and overall tone just weren't serious enough. The trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past looks better and Bryan Singer is back at the helm. The best X-Men movies are without a doubt 1 & 2 so here's hoping he can steer this back a bit.
DoryDarko2017-02-21
★ 9/10
On IMDb, X-Men: First Class has garnered the highest rating of all films in the X-Men franchise so far. Given the fact that this film features only a few of the familiar characters of the previous films, portrayed by different, younger actors, and the complete absence of Wolverine, the (current) rating of 8.1 somewhat surprised me. That was before I had seen it... Being a pretty big X-Men fan myself, I was excited to see this, regardless of plot or characters. However, I was also a little wary of what to expect, for the reasons stated above. I suspect that anybody reading this might feel the same way. But rest assured, any doubts were quickly dispelled no later than the opening scene. First Class starts off very well, with the exact same opening scene as the first X-Men, featuring a young Erik Lehnsherr being separated from his parents in a Nazi concentration camp. What follows after this familiar story is something completely new and particularly dark and brutal. I won't give away any important plot lines, but suffice it to say there won't be a single person left wondering why Magneto is so resentful of "normal" people. This event also sets the tone for the rest of the film, and, to a great extent, explains why First Class is such a success: this film is all about character. Whereas all the other films were mostly about cool superheroes and special effects, First Class is all about character development and the history of those who would later become Professor X and Magneto. This concept might have failed big time if it wasn't for the superb screenplay. I take my hat off to whoever managed to incorporate every little, but crucial, character and storyline and made it flow together so beautifully. Literally everything comes together in this film, everything you might have wondered (why is Xavier paralyzed?) is given a credible and fitting explanation. Another real strength of FC is its cast. Everybody in this film is right where they should be. Kevin Bacon is the perfect villain (but we already knew that…), James McAvoy not only looks, but sounds and moves like the young Charles Xavier would. Jennifer Lawrence is a convincing, young (and believe it or not, insecure) Mystique. All other characters are perfectly cast as well, humans and mutants alike. However, I feel that most credit is due to Michael Fassbender, an actor I am now ashamed to say I had never even heard of before. The way he portrays the 30-something Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto is stunning. His entire physique, down to every little twitch in his face, truly captivates all the pain and agony Erik has had to endure throughout his life. It makes you sympathize with Magneto and understand why he is the way he is. Whereas the "old" Magneto was little more than a bitter old man who despised Homo sapiens for undisclosed reasons (with no discredit to Ian McKellen intended here), Michael Fassbender does something I thought was almost impossible in a superhero flick: he gives Magneto a soul. In case I might have given the impression that X-Men: First Class is no more than some wishy-washy character drama, don't worry. There are plenty of awesome action sequences and special effects to keep the more adrenaline-pumped movie-goer satisfied. And before I forget: there are two small, but awesome cameo appearances which I know you will enjoy… Finally, a small note on parental guidance: I was absolutely baffled to see that half of the audience consisted of parents with small children. Like I said before, this is not just another cool superhero movie. X-Men: First Class features elements which are quite dark and graphic, and especially the scenes portraying Nazi brutality are not intended for a young audience. Personally, I would say 14 is the appropriate minimum age. With all that said, I would recommend this film to anyone, even to those of you who aren't X-Men fans. It doesn't happen very often that I can't find a single flaw in a film, but I guess this is just one of those rare cases. Great directing, great acting, great everything. Period. (July 2011)