Checkmate: Why 'X-Men: First Class' Might Be the Best of the Bunch

Okay, y'all, go out and see the new X-Men movie. It's my favorite of the franchise. And I'll tell you why.

This one had the feel of the old cartoon show on FOX. Did anyone watch that? I watched it religiously as a kid and then would go play X-Men with all the neighborhood children. The characters were all so cool, bad guys and good guys, so it was always hard to pick which one I wanted to be. Usually I went with Rogue (who isn't in this movie, sadly, but I'm all right with that).

(Anybody hear the old theme song in your head?)

Also, this movie wins the Favorite spot for me because I love the origins of Magneto and Xavier's relationship. You know, before they were enemies? This movie goes into how they two of them met, how they formed a friendship much like brothers, and how ultimately, they went down separate paths.

Young Magneto is played by Michael Fassbender. And man, he does a bang-up job playing Eric. My long-time friend who went to see it with me is slightly in love with him, and I can see why. He's pretty amazing. You may recognize him from the recent smash hit by Tarrentino: "Inglourious Basterds."

His counterpart, Charles, is played by James McAvoy. You might recognize him from the movie "Wanted" or "Becoming Jane." He was probably my favorite character in the movie. Charismatic, charming, all-around good guy--and I loved that finger-to-the-temple telepathic thing he did. Spot on!

Eric and Charles have always intrigued me with their love/hate relationship, and I especially enjoy the fact that they have played the game of Chess for years and years.

Chess is one of my favorite games. I've been playing it since I learned how in a 7th grade elective class. You can play it with stealth and think 10 steps ahead, or you can just fly by the seat of your pants. I think of it a bit like life. Or war. Or both.

The movie also had a young Beast, played by Nicholas Hoult, whom I also blogged about in an earlier post about the upcoming Zombie movie "Warm Bodies." Beast reminds me of my husband--a gentle, bespectacled genius with a heart of gold.

We get to see Beast before he's blue, and we also get to see what happens to turn him blue. (If you're familiar with the comics, you already know, but it's still heartbreaking.)

Gosh, it seems like there are so many good movies coming out this summer! It's about time, though. I haven't felt this excited about summer cinema in years. But if you go see any movie, get yourself to the theater and check out X-Men!

Taa-taa for now!