Movie Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Good evening everyone, happy sunday, and tonight I felt that it was important to bring all of you this movie review.  At the beginning of the year, I would have put this new Xmen film number two on my most anticipated movies of the year list because the last installment (first class) was so good, and the Xmen franchise as a whole is so solid.  Do you like the Xmen?  If you don't, you're crazy.  Haha just kidding (kind of).  As a reminder, all of my reviews will be split into two different sections.  The first section will be for people who have not yet seen the movie and would like to know if I think it is worth

seeing or not.  It will be more vague and generic and will not give away any important plot points or details.  The second section will be the bulk of the review, and will be much more detailed.  I must warn you that the second section may contain information that can be taken as a spoiler of sorts; so tread lightly.  Anyways lets get straight into this review of the mega blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past (DOFP).

Who wins in a fight:  The X-Men or the Avengers?  The answer is neither:  its whoever happens to be watching.  This is what I say when anyone asks me which I prefer be it "The Avengers", "The Dark Knight", or X-Men:  DOFP.  Who cares which I like better; they're all awesome, and as the quality and popularity of these superhero movies increases, it forces the studios to try harder to make them bigger and BETTER.  With that scenario we are all winners.  This film X-Men: DOFP gives me faith again.  Faith in the superhero movie.  Faith in America, faith in myself.  I may be over exaggerating here, but no really this movie is brilliant.  BRILLIANT I SAY.  The plot revolves around merging the old original trilogy cast with the newly rebooted first class set of characters.  The one individual who brings together these two very different casts is one of my personal favorite movie

Do you even lift bro?

characters of all time:  Hugh Jackman's "Wolverine".  The opening sequence establishes a very dark future set in the year 2023.  Humans and mutants are being hunted by an ultra intelligent army of robotic killers called sentinels.  Only a few mutants are still alive and they happen to be led by Professor X, Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine.  Coincidentally the most popular characters from the original trilogy.  Soon they realize that they cannot run forever, and devise a plan to send Wolverine back in time to 1973 to stop an event that ultimately leads to the creation of the sentinels.  This event that needs to be altered has to do with another popular character:  Mystique.  You know, the really blue woman?  No?  Ummm, the one played by Jennifer Lawrence?  Thats better?  Okay you're welcome.  The movie focuses mostly in the past, and on the relationship triangle between Mystique, young Professor X, and young Magneto as they stubbornly agree to help Wolverine alter the future.  The whole time travel thing could have made the movie sound really confusing, and maybe I only made it worse, but trust me this film does not get complicated at all.  It paces really well, and features many memorable scenes.  Most notably one with a brand new character named Peter which had the theater I was in dying of laughter and awe.  You'll know it when you see it.  Overall, the strength of this movie is the execution of its story, and the likability of its characters.  Even if you do not like the Xmen, or superhero movies, or fun.......you should still see this movie! Haha.
Verdict:  Most Entertaining Film of the Year!     (So Far...)      (SEE IT!)

New + Old

-  Okay now that all that formal crap is out of the way, we can really talk about this film.  I had always loved the X-Men movies with the exception of the third one (quack quack).  That was the sound of a duck.  That film was a duck.  Thats bad.  This new Xmen is the opposite of a duck.  It is a damn Pegasus.  So epic, beautiful, and majestic in nature.  Analogies aside, it is an understatement to say that this films plot could have confused some viewers.  If I made this movie for instance, there would be some guy in the theater selling rotten tomatoes to throw at the screen. But thankfully I did not direct this movie; Bryan Singer did.  He was also the director of the first two Xmen films, and they were some of the best comic book movies ever made.  He knows these characters, knows this universe, and I was happy that he was back.  He brilliantly was able to navigate the viewer through the future and the past in a way that was not too complicated, but still felt complex.  The sequences in the past were story and drama driven while the future served as the backdrop for the best action scenes.  Personally I enjoyed

Mystique! (Jennifer Lawrence)

the time spent in the past more because we got to see the legendary Hugh Jackman play Wolverine one more time, and the great Michael Fassbender in action.  The Fass is simply amazing at acting, and is worth the price of admission alone.  Hell, there are at least 5 characters worth the price of admission.  Speaking of the characters; lets talk about the acting performances.  Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Hugh Jackman are there world class selves as always, and it is no surprise how good they are in this film.  The meat of the burden of this movie fell on the first class cast of characters:  Fassbender (young Magneto), James Mcavoy (young Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and Beast (Nicholas Hoult).  Thank god they were just as amazing as they were in First Class.  The most important part of this new cast of Xmen was that they got the Professor X-Magneto relationship to feel right.  Boy did they ever.  You actually believe that Fassbender and Mcavoy deeply care for each other, but their difference in ideologies are just too great to overcome and be allies.  Okay, now to the action.  The scenes that feature the fights between the surviving Xmen and the sentinels are spectacular, and are beautifully choreographed.  It is really cool to see the different powers used together in an attempt to defeat these robotic killers.  Trust me, these

"The Fass"

sentinels are not your ordinary robots.  They are genuinely scary.  Like 8 Xmen, and they don't even scratch one of them!  Back in First Class, Magneto had trouble lifting a submarine......jump to DOFP, and he can lift an entire damn baseball field out of the ground!  Epic.  Just in case you're reading this and you have not seen the film, I am not going to talk about the Quicksilver scene.  If I spoil it, I am doing a disservice.  His name is Quicksilver in the

Look for this guy

comics, but they call him Peter in the film.  Look out for that.  The only weakness in the film is the end scene in the past on the white house lawn.  It just didn't make too much sense to me, and didn't fit the tone of the rest of the movie.  But hey I'm nitpicking at this point because there is so few things wrong with this movie. The villains were decent enough to the point where they weren't a weakness, and that is what I was hoping for.  Magneto is always very compelling, the sentinels were bad ass in the future and stupid in the past, and Bolivar Trask was good in the role he was given.  He was no Joker or Loki, but was good enough to hold his own against the clearly superior "good" guys.  If you can't tell by now, this movie is the best film I have seen this year.  We have a long ways to go, and a lot of movies to see before I crown it the best of the year; but if another film comes out that is better than this:  I just might lose my mind.  Overall, the strengths of this film lies in the execution of its story along with some exceedingly great acting performances.  Throw in all the necesary jaw dropping action sequences needed by a comic book film and X-Men: DOFP becomes a very special movie.  You are crazy if you do not at least give this film a chance.  Go see it!
Rating:  9/10

Well thank you so much for reading this review, and I genuinely hope that you enjoyed it.  If you saw the film please comment what you thought of it, and if you liked it.  As for whats next, I will continue to comment on the worlds movie news, review new movies, and maybe some other things i've been thinking of.  It is a very exciting time to be a film fan, and I thank all of you who continue to read what I have to say for you're continued support.  Until next time, stay tuned and have a splendid night.

-  Big D