Revisionist history places the origins of the X-Men directly in the nuclear cross hairs of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, as director Matthew Vaughn resets the cinematic meter on the comic-based franchise with X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. While revisiting the tragic childhood of Erik Lehnsherr in a Nazi concentration camp and subsequent discovery of his magnetic super power, as first seen in Bryan Singer's 2000 film, this prelude sets up Erik's continued scientific abuse/torture under the command of a Third Reich collaborator. Living a life of contrast in almost every way, young Charles Xavier who befriends an equally young Mystique (known as Raven first), embodying the hope that one day humanity may accept and embrace this quietly emerging race of mutants as friends instead of foes. The star power of the film — James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones for starters — sets up the promise of a supercharged action flick that the casually-paced script never quite delivers. The moody, electric guitar-scored trailer for X-MEN FIRST CLASS possesses a cool factor and showdown tension which the film dissipates in its airy, cerebral plot that advances more like a chess match than Cold War Armageddon. The mutants new to the cinematic series might fill the geek quota of Marvel Comic devotees, but as characters, neither their personalities nor their mutant powers can match the exploits of Charles, Erik or Raven who are just barely embracing their known fates. This reboot's solid but surprisingly timid start is a first class setup for a more exciting adventure with Professor X and Magneto facing off at full character throttle.

Consider X-MEN: FIRST CLASS the thinking fan's adaptation of the venerable Marvel Comics property which, after a promising start in cinemas with Singer's opus X-MEN eleven years ago, quickly elicited more Zzzzzs of bored disapproval with each uninspired sequel. Given those recent disappointments, smarter is certainly better in Vaughn's case this summer. The matter/anti-matter collision powering this origin plot is energized by the performances of McAvoy as Xavier, who has learned to balance his powers with his humanity, and Fassbender as Lehnsherr, a man who has grown up around the scars of his tragic past instead of healing and learning from them. As the film's ad campaign suggests, these two unlikely allies have joined forces to prove mutants' value as humanity's partner in peace, working with U.S. intelligence in hopes of diffusing the escalating Cold War between America and the Soviets. Stoking the fires of war for the other side is Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who has long embraced the evolutionary potential and power of mutants, who appear to be increasing in numbers with the dawn of the nuclear age. Shaw sees this as the tipping point of dominance over Earth, and plans to use the U.S.-Soviet conflict as a launch point to reduce the human majority and allow mutants to rise and rule at last.

Aiding Shaw's somewhat hackneyed plans for world domination are the alluring telepath Emma Frost (gorgeous and underutilized January Jones), the mutant with an optional diamond casing which renders her nearly invulnerable to physical or mental attack, the teleporting demon and formidable blade assassin Azazel (Jason Flemyng, too buried in makeup and stunts to be enjoyed properly), and the vortex-spinning blocker of the team Riptide (Alex Gonzalez).

Meanwhile Xavier attempts to teach discipline to his young mutant team so they can literally use their powers for good instead of evil. These X-Men progenitors include: the aforementioned Raven/Mystique (Lawrence) who harbors plenty of ill will toward humans being such an obvious, blue-hued outsider; the winged yet slightly misnamed Angel (Zoe Kravitz) with some trust issues; the red-haired, howling Irish cypher of a character Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones); cab driver and adaptive specialist Darwin (Edi Gathegi); the blond, plasma-bursting bioweapon Havok (Lucas Till); and uber-nerd and government secret gizmo designer Beast (Nicholas Hoult). In persuading his mutant protégés to work with the humans, who are only beginning to express their prejudice and mistrust of the emerging mutant population, Xavier lays the foundation for his eventual X-Men school for evolutionary exceptions. But of course Charles still has some learning to do before he earns his Professor X status, and his greatest challenge remains urging Erik to access his powers of metallic mastery through other emotions than murderous rage. Fans of the comic and film franchise already know how this tension between Xavier and Lehnsherr turns out, but indeed Vaughn makes these first steps of the journey worthwhile.

Where X-MEN: FIRST CLASS stumbles out of the gate is much of the building tension between mutants and humans (acting for good and evil on both sides) and especially between Charles and Erik plays out like a highly strategic chess match when, as the Cuban crisis escalates, audiences may want all sides to take their gloves off and let loose. The script, co-written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman and Vaughn, embodies a slightly slower-paced action tale quite reminiscent of how the genre might have appeared if made in the 1960s, which is both an asset and a drawback. The pacing allows Vaughn's vision to unfold rather than explode, which is a blessed relief from the frenetic hyperspeed of many such action flicks, but at times the story moves forward at a quite leisurely pace that allows some narrative lag at moments. While the cadre of writers make the Xavier and Lehnsherr compelling uneasy allies, the young mutants' characters are overwhelmingly defined by their powers, and their personalities are sketched as extensions of those X-travagant gifts instead of originating from their individual souls outward. Lawrence's Mystique gets the most oomph leftover from the creating the two leads, but even her character is merely an amplification of the repeated humans-won't-accept-me-as-I-am motivation, and her eventual change of heart (and sides) is too simply telegraphed to have the emotional impact intended.

Note to parents: X-MEN FIRST CLASS does earn its PG-13 rating for some violent action scenes which may well be too intense for young viewers, and a standout cameo by a certain future X-Man embraces the rating with a language-based punchline that might surprise a few parents with kids in tow. I can't criticize the lone F-bombing since it provides the biggest laugh in the film, and plays off the franchise's film genesis brilliantly. Somewhat unfortunately, the moment stands out so well as a highlight, that it can't help but make viewers wish such character-based bravado happened more often with our main mutants. This cameo alone earns FIRST CLASS an extra half-star.

Per summer standards, the film's CG visual effects are artfully created and employed throughout, though such 21st Century technology unavoidably belies the 1960s world in enlivens. A good portion of blame for this effect arises from Vaughn playing fast and loose with period elements of the story: while televised TV speeches from President Kennedy and blurbs of archival film show the Cold War as it was (and as very few viewers will remember it), on many occasions character costumes, hairstyles and attitudes are far too modern to maintain the '60s vibe. January Jones best embodies the period look and persona, given her considerable experience on MAD MEN, but Havok, Angel, Darwin and Banshee could just have easily been transported from Singer's 2000 film without displacing one style gene. Unfortunately Bacon as Shaw seems an ill-fitting villain for any decade in the film, which undercuts other successful efforts in period acting and appearance. Had the Cuban crisis showdown not anchored the story in the past, and Xavier's full head of hair become a running gag, viewers could easily forget this origin tale was set in the '60s entirely, which is unfortunate considering how much narrative and aesthetic fuel the decade could have pumped into FIRST CLASS to deepen its drama.

Matthew Vaughn's take on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS serves better as a setup for advanced grades and graduate-level stories to follow, should McAvoy and Fassbender want to continue their conflict on-screen. Mystique will mature into a more compelling and confident mutant with age, though it's tough to fault Lawrence for the scripted results here. The film's brink-of-nuclear-war threat fizzles at the end, a major downer for trailer-promised expectations, and how quickly the human/mutant equation flip-flops in the middle of it all tests suspension of belief. An important lesson to learn from FIRST CLASS: over-reliance on the subtext of X-Men mythology and knowing where these characters go in the future requires such an origin reboot tale to offer many more X-based surprises and ingenuity to reignite this franchise all over again. This is a good start, but some extra summer school study is recommended to earn an A in the next session.