X-Men: Days of Future Past Review #2

X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
GRADE: A-
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

LeBeau has just finished his review of Bryan Singer’s retconning X-Men: Days of Future Past. As everyone is seeking to follow Marvel’s Avengers formula, either by villain spinoff as Sony and Spiderman are doing, or DC by introducing the team first and doing the solo movies after, or now Fox by creating a movie that makes 3 separate X-Men movie tales and retcons them all into one mostly coherent story. In that, the movie is mostly successful, but as a film, it stands as probably the best film in the franchise’s history, and gives me hope my favorite comic book franchise will at some point become my favorite movie franchise.

days of future past magneto
We open in an appropriately grim future where mutantkind is on the verge of extinction and perhaps most of mankind too. They have been hunted down by sentinels, mutant tracking robots with the ability to learn and mimic any mutant power used against them. We open with Bishop, Blink, and Shadow Cat (the adult Kitty Pryde) and others on the run. They are losing, but before they are killed off Bishop is sent back in time by Shadow Cat and they avoid their deaths. And we have the precedent for the film.
Out of nowhere Wolverine, Xavier, and Magneto show up to try and fix this problem before it began. Xavier is to go back in time some 50 years. But his mind won’t handle it, only Wolverine’s can (also he’s the most commercially viable) so he goes back to convince the First Class cast that they need to work together and be friends. He wakes up in the 70s, and Singer has some good fun with the period humor, which may even exceed Marvel’s films in terms of well used and placed humor. Something DC could learn.
days of future past quicksilver
Jackman is in even better shape than ever (somehow) and he sets off to find Xavier who has become a mess and an addict to a power suppressing compound Beast has made. McAvoy continues to impress in a role that only Tom Hardy can appreciate the difficulty of. They have to stop Mystique from murdering a businessman who will spark the sentinels being built. She ran off with Magneto, so they’ll need him to convince her, problem is he’s in a secure prison. Cue a new character in Quicksilver who quickly becomes a fan favorite despite all the grumbling beforehand. In a fun sequence the spring Magneto and they set off.
The plane ride offers some good dialogue and character moments between our heroes as past problems are worked out, as well as future ones. Fassbender is also great with the growing menace and anger in his character. We meet up with Mystique who can not be convinced that she doesn’t need to take revenge. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Lawrence’s Mystique just doesn’t have it. Lawrence conveys no danger, no moral ambiguity, mystery, or anger that one determined to murder in vengeance’s name would have. I also don’t know why they insist on keeping Rebecca Rojmin’s hairstyle because it is not flattering on Lawrence. I think she really falls flat and just mails in this performance.
Jackman isn’t given much to do outside of the opening 30 minutes, he gets no character development and just serves as an entry point. Xavier and Magneto power the story through development and choice unlike most action blockbusters. Singer keeps things humming along, and it never gets overly convoluted. But you need to have seen the other films to get all of it. Which is a credit to the film, they waste no time catching us up, they just jump and go. The final battle never gets to CGI crazy (even if the stadium bit is a little much) and keeps character’s allegiances and philosophies squarely in focus. Magneto continues his descent into the righteous villain we know and the younger characters inch toward their more known counterparts.
I’ve said most of the performances are strong. Hoult as Beast is fine, but Grammer as Beast in a cameo still shows how much more suited to the role he is. Bolivar Trask isn’t given anything much to do, unfortunately for Peter Dinklage he just comes off as a businessman, no snaky menace, or outrage. Ellen Page is all exposition, Halle Berry has her best Storm in that she says next to nothing, and Omar Sy as Bishop looks cool, but has no chance to have a personality.
The last 10 minutes leave a lot to be figured out, and some of it makes no sense. I don’t understand why Mystique gets Wolverine while posing as Stryker. And why in the changed future does Wolverine have gray hair and everyone else look younger than he does? He ages slower than all of them, so why would he be the only one with a physical difference?
My only real gripe with the film is I wish we’d have had more time with the future cast. Having Stewart and McKellen do nothing seems like a crime. Just 2 scenes with some conversation about old times, friends lost, and mistakes made with them and some of the people like Bishop and Blink, would’ve given a nice sense of gravitas, used your older actors, and given the younger ones some time so we were sad when they died.
However, a few complaints aside I was beside myself with how much I enjoyed the film. Upon it’s announcement I had the same reaction that I did about an Avengers film, I thought there was no way they could balance all the characters and story and make it anything other than a colossal mess. It is one of the best story arcs in X-Men history, and indeed in comic book history. It also made a the comic book universe infinitely more convoluted thanks to alternate timelines and time traveling. Thanks Chris Claremont (whom I love despite what LeBeau says). Next up is Age of Apocalypse. Another deep and convoluted alternate timeline, time traveling mess, that is also one of the best storylines in X-Men history. Will we see Cable, Bishop, the virus, and Apocalypse’s four horsemen? Who knows. Will both casts come back? Will it be in the future or past? Who will return to the film? There are more questions than answers at this point, but the difference is for the first time in years I’m excited to find out.

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Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
9 years ago

Days of Future Past is my favorite movie of the year so far. I enjoyed it even more than Captain America, to be honest. What’s a bit surprising is that so far not a single film has broken the $300M barrier domestically yet this year. Usually by early June we have one or two or even three films that have exceeded that barrier by now, as May is one of the strongest months of the year for the box office. Despite having three films in the month of May to open in the $90-95M range on opening weekend (Amazing Spiderman… Read more »

lebeau
Admin
9 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal. We haven’t had one movie that opened and claimed the summer as its own. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. I think it’s actually healthier for the industry to have a bunch of movies performing well all summer long rather than have one movie claim a decisive victory.
Also, we’re still in early June. There’s about a month left for a summer-defining blockbuster to open. Let’s revisit the subject after July 4th weekend.

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