Movie Review: X-Men - Days of Future Past

Movie Review: X-Men - Days of Future Past

A few years ago, there was some worry that the X-Men film franchise was going to go the way of the Batman films.  X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were scattered messes that seemed thrown together and were sort of disrespectful to the source material and to fans of the comics and the films that came before it.  When talk of a fifth film surfaced, it wasn't a huge shock that Fox decided to go the reboot route.  Indie director Matthew Vaughn told the story of a young Xavier and Magneto and the first group of X-Men in the Sixties.  It gave fans hope that the franchise could still produce quality films.  Fans went crazy when it was announced that director Bryan Singer would be returning to the franchise and he would be bringing the popular story "Days of Future Past" with him.

X-Men: Days of Future Past blends the cast of the original trilogy of films with some of the cast from X-Men: First Class.  It begins in the future where a small group of X-Men including Storm (Halle Berry), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are fighting to stay alive and one step ahead of the Sentinels, mutant hunting robots that have the power to adapt to the mutant they are fighting.  In a desperate attempt to change their future, Kitty sends Wolverine's mind back to his younger self in 1973 to reunite Xavier and Magneto and stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the creator of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).  Confused?  Don't be.  It all makes sense once it gets going.

This movie is phenomenal.  Let's just get that out of the way.  This film has taken the title of best film of the franchise from the pretty stellar X2: X-Men United.  There is a lot for Singer to juggle in this film from characters to plot and it is a testament to his skill that even with all these plates spinning the film never feels overcrowded.  

The future segments are especially thrilling.  Singer gives the a desolate feel that a lot of dystopian futures in films and television are missing.  A lot of the time there are characters tallking about how terrible things are, but Singer does a fantastic job showing the audience just how bad things are and he doesn't take a lot of time.  It's not just the action sequences, but the scenery.  I haven't seen a future this bad in a film since The Terminator and that is a huge compliment.  The opening scenes of stacks of skeletons and someone rifling through it really stick with you.  They evoke concentration camp imagery which I'm sure was intentional on Singer's part.  

The action sequences are stellar, but the film thrives on character interaction and development.  Because we are invested in the characters, the stakes for the action are raised and there are real consequences.  There's not much you can say about Hugh Jackman.  This is his seventh film playing the hirsute Canadian and he kills it.  You can tell that slipping back into Wolverine's familiar skin is like putting on a favorite jacket.  McAvoy and Fassbender do great work in portraying Magneto and Xavier's tortured relationship.  This is maybe the most strained it's ever been and the actors do a great job of illustrating that push and pull.  The friendship and antagonism that is ingrained in this friendship.  Having McKellen and Stewart in the same film showing the relationship at a completely different stage, really drives that home.

The character that shines the most and is very memorable in a short amount of screen time is probablyl the character that I, and others, were most worried about pre-release.  That character is Quicksilver played by Evan Peters.  There was the wig that people were nervous about and the Hardees commercial, but the film pulls through.  Quicksilver is one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie.  He's fun and he is integral to one of the most memorable parts of the movie.  He also doesn't overstay his welcome.  I'm hoping he returns for X-Men: Apocalypse.

Jennifer Lawrence continues to be flawless as she reprises her role of Mystique from First Class.  This is not the naive girl who was hiding her mutation.  The Mystique of Days of Future Past is weary and hardened.  She is prepared to make tough choices for the survival of her race.  Lawrence makes a strong case for a solo spin off focused on the shape shifter.

There is so much greatness in this film but it's not perfect.  The only negative is that Dinklage isn't given much to do as Bolivar Trask.  He is kind of a one note mad scientist and his motivation for why he created the Sentinels is never really fleshed out.

This is a minor quibble, though.  The film succeeds basically on every level and repeat viewings will reward the watcher.  I also have to say as a giant X-Men fanboy, it's nice to see the films embrace time travel since it's always been an integral part of the X-Men comics.  

So, if you haven't seen this movie yet, what are you waiting for.  Get to a theater.  And if you've seen it, go again!  You know you want to.

Grade: A