@Kareem:
I saw the movie last night and I really enjoyed it. I don't know if I would quite agree that this is the best X-Men movie but I would say that it's at least as good as X2 and possibly better. Matthew Vaughn needs to direct the X-Men from now on. He should direct at least one more X-movie after this. I really want to see what he can do with more big names: Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Colossus, Nightcrawler etc. But I digress. I had some problems with the movie but they definitely weren't film breakers. I had 5 (on the whole fairly minor) problems were probably
1. The other mutants (Darwin, Angel, Havoc, Banshee) weren't properly developed, they were all perfectly likeable but we didn't really know anything about them. On the other hand I'd say it was for the best that they focused mostly on Xavier, Magneto, Mystique and Beast since they're far more interesting in the comics and it's better to focus on them. I just thought it would still be good to not have 4 mutants introduced to us so suddenly.
2. Magneto's tantrum scene when he was a kid was halfway effective and halfway narmy. It's weird, the scene was cheesy but also kinda scary at the same time. I guess you could call it Narm Charm.
3. Blue doesn't work in the movies as Korey on Spill.com pointed out. Mystique and Beast did not look too good but the other special effects were very good.
4. As much as I love Beast and I did like what they did with him in this movie when you think about it it's pretty stupid that this genius has made a cure for his mutation and it goes completely wrong and he mutates further. They never really delve into what he did wrong, although I guess that would probably be boring. Maybe it could tie into his character by, I guess, teaching him humility, or teaching him that he has to be proud of being a mutant and not try to become something he's not. It just felt slightly cheap that he screwed up so royally and they don't delve into what he did wrong.
5. DARWIN!! How could they kill him when he'd been on screen for ten minutes. I think this might be my biggest problem. As you said this is a movie about the horrors of racism and discrimination and the kill the black guy after ten minutes. What was really the point of his character for that matter? One thing I liked about this movie is that unlike X3 or Wolverine, most of the characters in this film served a point. So it's annoying to see the one black character be so pointless. Also Angel the Latina turned evil. And for that matter it annoyed me that it looked like she would turn back to Xavier's side for a minute but she never did. So that's my sixth problem.
But I really enjoyed this movie on the whole, these flaws are mostly pretty minor. The relationship between Xavier and Magneto was done really well by both actors and with the script. The plot was actually pretty interesting, and there was a clear direction for it. Shaw and his henchmen were really cool and I was excited throughout the film to see the final showdown. There were plenty of cool action scenes and I love when movies go to various locations. We got Germany, France, Russia, England and even Argentina. This movie actually did teach us some really interesting things about the X-men unlike that terrible Wolverine movie claimed it would. Magneto's quest for revenge was cool and the scene with Wolverine was hilarious. All in all great movie that I highly recommend to people. And I think this movie proves that it doesn't matter who your characters are, you can make a good superhero movie as long as you have a good script and a good director. Great job Matthew Vaughn.
1. Apparently, they were supposed to have more screentime and more more development but Fox said no. Originally, the movie was 20 minutes longer. Thankfully, they had their moments to shine. I loved Magneto's "way" of helping Banshee to fly. However, I wanted to see more of Moira's (a lot of scenes cut) relationship's with Xavier and how she earned Magneto's trust. In other words, screw fox for putting their dirty hands on this movie and granting Avataturd's 160 minutes of blue, pointless, stupid, manipulative, waste of time and ressources horse shit.
2. I liked this scene because the way Shaw kills his mother was cold and just brutal. I loved how the coin flips to reveal the title of the movie. I like how this coin seems so unimportant but plays a major role during the climax.
3. I did not mind the blue as long as the characters are good. The special effects during Banshee and havok vs angel looked weird.
5. As I said, I think he was supposed to have more screentime (like a lot of characters). I do think the point of his death was to show that fighting Shaw and his men was not kid's games. The loss of their friend seems to be an essential step toward the group becoming more mature thus Erik saying to Xavier "no, they were kids".
Overrall, the movie was great. It is thoughtful without being too serious and arrogant (I am looking at you TDK), it is funny without being silly, it is exciting without being too repetitive. The movie was more genuine and human than TDK. This could be my favourite super hero movies with Spiderman 2. I am looking foward to a sequel as long as Vaugn and Singer are on board. More importantly, that Fox doesn't tell them what to do with the story (this is probably what they are gonna do) cause they have the money.
Personal note: This is how you do a prequel (I am looking at you Geroge Lucas).