REVIEW - X-Men: Days of Future Past
June 27, 2014
I just want this on the record: I absolutely love X-Men: First Class, then directed by the amazing Matthew Vaughn (previous directing efforts include Stardust and Kick-Ass). It was a great reboot and had new interesting casts which provided refreshing new idea for a franchise that has been on a decline with the boring X-Men: The Last Stand and the WTF-is-this in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. After the surprisingly good The Wolverine last year, the latest entry in the 14-year old X-Men franchise sees original franchise helmer Bryan Singer return to the directing chair. So, does X-Men: Days of Future Past continue the hot streak of good X-Men films first established by First Class? That would be a resounding 'YES!'
The story takes place in two different time settings, one of which has mutant-hunting Sentinels running amok in a Skynet-like dystopian future. The surviving mutants, comprising of the original X-Men and a batch of new ones (including Omar Sy from The Intouchables and Fan Bingbing from... Iron Man 3?), plot a dangerous mission to send Wolverine back in time to the groovy 70's and prevent events that would lead to the emergence of the Sentinels (In the comic it is based on, it was Ellen Page's character that goes back in time, but who wants to see an X-Men movie not centering on Hugh Jackman?). In the seventies, Wolverine would then need to seek the younger versions of Professor X, who is grieved by the events that unfolded i the previous flick, and Magneto, contained in the Pentagon for assassinating the President, to convince them of their impending doom.
Time travel movies are never easy films to make, and the best ones are those released in the pre-millennium period, including Terminator 2 and the Back to the Future trilogy, with 2011's Looper being the only movie in recent memory being a good time travel movie. X-Men: Days of Future Past can gladly join that list, as Bryan Singer has done an amazing job when shifting between the past and future periods in different scenes, which isn't an easy task considering that the movies mentioned earlier have always centered on one time period at a time.
Other than the adaptation of a very popular comic book storyline, Days of Future Past was always going to be known for its diverse casts, combining the memorable cast members of the original trilogy (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and many others) with the youthful cast from 2011's X-Men: First Class (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till too but he's barely in this one). Though the younger cast is the main focus here, the veterans also get some scene-stealing moments, especially when demonstrating their unique powers while in battle against the Sentinels.
Hugh Jackman, last seen only In last year's surprisingly good The Wolverine, takes up the mantle as the mutant who travels back in time to change their current fortune. With his sarcasm and wit, and it's really hard to see anyone ever replacing him as Wolverine. Jennifer Lawrence, as talented as she may be, gets way too much screentime as Mystique in this installment, but what were you supposed to do when one of your actors has become a star of another popular franchise and an Academy Award-winning actress since First Class? Her promotion as lead star has somewhat diminished McAvoy and Fassbender's roles as Professor X and Magneto respectively. Their styles has differed in a way to accommodate the personalities laid out by their older counterparts in Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen respectively, but they did so to with merit.
Like what many people have said, Quicksilver's scenes in the film are a joy to watch, and serves as one if the brightest and funniest parts of this mostly serious film. Considering that Evan Peters (him and his Kick-Ass co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson are both playing Quicksilver) and his costume was much criticised when he was revealed earlier this year, it's great to see that everyone's been proven wrong, and I look forward to seeing him in future installments. Other than Quicksilver, Days of Future Past also introduces an even younger version of William Stryker and Bolivier Trask, the main villain played by Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage. Though Trask was a character really central to the plot, his tag as villain seems to be overshadowed by Magneto's evil-doings in the film.
The set pieces in the film, namely the stadium attack scene and the mutant fight in Paris, are reminiscent of the scenes in the original X-Men film and the Magneto missile scene seen in First Class. Though this movie seem to rely even more on CGI (Bryan Singer does love his CGI, as evidenced in Superman Returns and Jack the Giant Slayer), it's all done to good effect, especially in the scenes featuring the Future Sentinels. In contrast, one might feel that the 70's Sentinels look rather bland CGI when compared to its much cooler future self. Also, any scene featuring Mystique fighting acrobatically is always welcomed, as we have missed that since X2.
From what seemed like a dying franchise, the guys over at 20th Century Fox have seemed to have revived the X-Men franchise, with the series now looking better than ever with every installment, with X-Men: Days of Future Past is looking to be the best one yet. The decision to bring back Bryan Singer back was while initially risky, is now an exemplary decision as he has executed this famous comic adaptation perfectly with a good balance between the two group of casts. With plans for another sequel (see the post-credit scene) and numerous spin-offs (including another Wolverine standalone film), maybe, just maybe, the X-Men movie rights doesn't have to go back to Marvel Studios just yet.
9.0/10
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