Finally got my bum down to the cinema again and decided to check out the latest X-Men offering. This was a decision that I wouldn't say I regret, but only because I got to visit McDonald's while I was out.

X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the series, showing the development of the relationship between Magneto and Professor Xavier, framed around the Cold War. At least that's what it's supposed to be about. It's actually about nothing.

The plot isn't that weak, but it just doesn't seem to take prominence in the film. Now you may be thinking "Well, yes, but that's because it's about the characters because they're all awesome and shit." Nope. They seem to take a back seat too, albeit not as much as the plot. Also, there's only really 3 characters in the film that actually do anything; Magneto, Xavier and Mystique. All of the others are introduced with a montage; developed with another montage; and use their ability to save everybody at some point during the finale to the sound of the standard orchestral chorus that action films love to exploit, and that's it.

The characters' powers are not well defined. They all have one obvious power, but they all seem to borrow and share and just generally break the rules of their own powers at times. Point in case: Magneto can move metal things with his powers, but at the end he just throws people around who have no metal attached to them at all.

Also, a touch of digression, but when Beast actually turns into Beast, he looks ridiculous. He's like something out of Never Ending Story, and suddenly gets a more gruff American voice. Made me laugh, but not in a good way. Like I was laughing at a disabled child.

This should have been a 15 rather than a 12A. There's so much violence in the film that just doesn't feel satisfying because it either cuts away just at the pinnacle moment, or there's no blood or anything showing that damage has been done. They take the fun out of murder.

As I mentioned before, this film is about nothing. Well, that's not strictly true. It's about tying in with the rest of the series. That's it. It does this well on the whole, though towards the end the tie-ins seem a little forced.

This is quite clearly a cash-in film. There was no reason to explore the birth of the X-Men, because, to put it bluntly, it's not that interesting. If you love X-Men, you'll probably enjoy this because you understand what it's referencing, but if you know nothing of the X-Men universe, there's nothing here for you.