'X-Men' prequel a first-class affair

Matthew Vaughn's marvelously inventive “X-Men: First Class” wraps a classic comic book superhero origin tale around the Cuban missile crisis, then creates a coming-of-age teen angst drama that poses pertinent philosophical questions:

What does it really mean to be “different” and “accepted”?

Should X-ceptional people use their super powers to benefit themselves? Or serve humankind?

If “First Class” possesses a major flaw, it would be its ambitious density. It stuffs too many good ideas and too many interesting characters into too little time to be readily absorbed and appreciated, at least on a single viewing.

If you're new to the Marvel comics universe, don't worry.

You don't need to be an “X-Men” fan who's read all the Marvel comic books to enjoy “First Class.” Even seeing the earlier X-Men movies is not a prerequisite.

However, you will miss most of the smart, sly subtext and allusions pitched to “X-Men” fans, especially a throwaway bar scene in which a drunk Hugh Jackman (aka: the future Wolverine) tells a couple of guys off.

Those guys work with Professor X (James McAvoy), and they're trying to locate as many American mutants as they can to stop the start of World War III.

But let's not get ahead of the story.

“First Class” begins by tracing the back stories of two key characters who could be both sides of the same coin.

Young Erik Lehnsherr grew up in the Nazi death camps where a Dr. Mengele-like collaborator (Kevin Bacon, propelling his amoral character into Oscar-caliber territory) witnesses Erik use sheer will to open a prison gate.

In his office, the doctor demands Erik move a coin with his mind. When he can't, the doctor shoots and kills his mother in front of him.

Erik (who grows up to be played by Michael Fassbender) understandably develops a violent, vengeful view of life, unlike the utopian-minded Charles Xavier, who grew up the ignored offspring of indifferent rich parents on an English estate.

There, he rudely interrupts a young thief named Raven, a blue-scaled, shapeshifting mutant with the ability to assume anyone's identity.

Charles befriends her, and she becomes his de facto sister through his college years when he's played by McAvoy and she's played by Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence.

With the background pieces firmly in place, Vaughn orchestrates “First Class” as a straightforward period action film, treating Charles' outrageous mutants and their outrageous superpowers with the fun and thrills of a classic James Bond movie containing nuclear subs, atomic bombs and Cold War politics.

During the early 1960s, Bacon's Nazi doctor has become Sebastian Shaw, who hatches a plan to force the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. into a nuclear exchange. He uses mutant henchmen — cool Emma Frost (hot January Jones), tornado wizard Riptide (Alex Gonzales) and the teleporting Azazel (Jason Flemyng) — to get U.S. missiles positioned in Turkey, then to get Soviet missiles positioned in Cuba.

It's only a matter of time before the world hears its second Big Bang.

We know that Erik and Charles eventually evolve into the villainous Magneto and his nemesis Professor X. So when the two mental powder kegs team up, it's an exhilarating moment laced with sadness.

The two get support from a CIA operative (“Bridesmaids” star Rose Byrne) and a nameless CIA supervisor (Oliver Platt) to stop Shaw, with help from drafted teenage mutants hiding out in America, disguised as regular students.

“First Class” isn't shy about its obvious “coming out” metaphor for young people struggling to fit in to a society known to reject anyone for not being “normal.”

The screenplay hammers home the reassuring message to “be yourself” with such rigor that it almost sounds like an expensive public service announcement for mental health.

None of this distracts from “First Class” being a smart, first-class superhero tale that blends action with character and expands a comic book subject to the epic proportions of a Shakespearean tragedy.

At the least the beginning of one.

<b>“X-Men: First Class”</b>

★ ★ ★ ½

<b>Starring: </b>James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones

<b>Directed by: </b>Matthew Vaughn

<b>Other: </b>A 20th Century Fox release. Rated PG-13 for sexual situations, violence. 130 minutes.