I remember an interview with director Matthew Vaughan during the development of X-Men: First Class in which he said he wanted to do a proper superhero film because soon, the genre will be overexposed and there won't be very many at all.  At the time, the comments seemed prophetic, but now it looks as if Vaughan has done more than any other director thus far to make the comic book genre an enduring staple.  

X-Men:  First Class, a prequel (reboot?) of the X-Men franchise was put through development at a blazing pace (principle photography began in August 2010, less than a year ago), and it's good to keep that in mind as you watch.  There's been some griping about the special effects, and it's true that they're not exactly top notch.  First Class looks like a really good TV movie, but that's a good thing.  Its budget is on the lower side for a blockbuster this summer (the high estimate is 160 million), and though it was by no means 'cheap', the film's look and feel could certainly encourage a re-allocation of budget to start making middle-of-the-road superhero films, with an eye toward continuity and story rather than big effects and big action.

Why is it a good thing to have a cheaper superhero film?  Because right now superhero films straddle a razor's edge line between success and failure.  You have to spend big and expect big profits.  When a film, say Green Lantern, spends 300 million and turns out to be terrible enough not to win back its budget in the first weekend, it reflects poorly on the superhero genre as a whole.  Producers who see all comic films as more or less the same thing will start to think of the entire genre as 'unprofitable' and stop making them for fear of losing money.  But superheroes' first debut onto the big screen was in the form of serials that would run before the main feature.  Look:  people who like superheroes are always going to love watching superheroes on the big screen.  The core audience isn't going to be driven away if Havok's laser beam doesn't look totally real.  We comic fans are a forgiving lot.  As long as the stories are good and the characters are interestingly interpreted, we'll forgive some middling graphics.  Kids care less about top notch effects and more that the effects are there.   Bottom line:  superhero films need to become a genre.  You don't see people stopping making romantic comedies just because one of them tanks.  If a rom-com fails, people look at the particulars of what went wrong with the film rather than panning the whole genre altogether.  Superheroes deserve the same consideration.  Back up on the FX dollars, and focus on the script and acting.  It's the nature of the game for the A-Listers to have make-or-break films, but the X-Men should be allowed to endure without a staggering audience

Anyway, X-Men: First Class was good.  It has all the youthfulness that Super 8 only pretends to.  Its campiness is its joy and its simplicity is its heart.  McAvoy and Fassbender are excellent frienemies and keep the film's core stable when its peripheries fall flat.  The James Bond tone works excellently well to evoke a sense of fun and discovery.  

Things that didn't work:  that awful death camp scene.  It's an unfortunate scene primarily because it could have been so good, and it basically undermines all the gut-wrenching drama of Bryan Singer's opening scene in the first film.  First of all, you have to get used to Kevin Bacon speaking German and acting diabolical.  Next, you have to deal with the kid's NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!! which was the worst since Darth Vader's yell in Episode 3.  It's a frustrating moment that, thankfully, isn't followed up on.  There are a few more awkward shots, particularly toward the end, but the damage is negligible due to the film's adolescent overtones.  Vaughan could've done a better job of controlling the mood in these few instances, but it does little to obscure this film's heart:  a rollicking James Bond-era team-in-training action flick.  

The magic's in the editing.  Action scenes are still intense even if the visuals look fake.  It's all about the feel.  There's great pacing.  The attack on the X-kids' headquarters is particularly well-handled, almost all of the scene viewed from inside the glass-walled room the kids are cowering in.  Vaughan is also very good at including reaction shots.  For example: Banshee looks hard into the camera and takes some quick breaths before jumping out of the plane.  It's these little details that make all the difference.  Effects aren't impressive until there's someone else in the movie that thinks so too.  

X-Men:  First Class gave me hope.  The effects, while hardly sub-par, being less than photo-real makes me hope for a more HBO approach to superhero films, one that will take them back to the old days of serials and bring the films closer to the comics than inspire them.