Greetings readers and yes, it’s true…..I am finally back from a much needed 2 week hiatus to Hawaii and L.A.. Of course, a wonderful time was had, and now, however, it is back to real life…which ALSO means….back to seeing Summer films and posting reviews and Spotlights! And this I AM excited to be returning to. That said……as you have been noticing via my reviews of the first two major “event” films of this Summer season were ultimately disappointments to me, I have several recent releases to catch up on in the hopes of finding the first bigger film to grab my attention positively. And I am happy to say, my first “catch-up” viewing has done that very well and HAS become my first hit of the “event” offerings so far this Summer….therefore I give you “X-Men: Days of Future Past”.
Returning with “X-Men” and “X-Men 2” director Bryan Singer at the helm, this entry into the franchise finds us starting out in a bleak, ruined future where mutants and those who aid them have been either rounded up or killed, thanks to the creation of the mutant-hunting robots know as Sentinels. We are immediately introduced to this harsh reality in several potent and unsettling images from New York, and finally come about to following a group of mutants who have managed to stay ahead of the onslaught, including Blink (Bingbing Fan), Warpath (Booboo Stewart), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Sunspot (Adan Canto), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), and Bishop (Omar Sy), all of whom try their best to fight the good fight. However, after a disastrous encounter, several take to China and meet up with the elder Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and elder Magneto (Ian McKellen) and a decision is made to send someone back in time to stop the Sentinels from being created by scientist Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) who, back in 1973, had come into possession of mutant DNA from a rouge and single-purposed Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) when her attempted mission to take revenge on those whom she felt wronged her and her kind goes awry. So while Xavier wants to make the journey, it is determined that only Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) could actually survive the method needed to accomplish the task, and so goes with the need to find the young Xavier (James McAvoy) and the incarcerated younger Magneto (Michael Fassbender), both men still reeling in their own ways from the events expounded on in “X-Men: First Class“. And so the adventure ramps up in many, many ways, as Wolverine takes on this mission, and we are also introduced (or RE-introduced) to the younger versions of familiar faces along the way, including Maj. Bill Stryker (Josh Helman), Hank McCoy aka: Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havok (Lucas Till), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), and Toad (Evan Jonigkeit). Per usual, to truly get into any more details would be giving away too much plot subtleties and details beyond the basics, and I STILL refuse to do that. Suffice it to say, once Wolverine is sent back, things get crazy and the film briskly moves along and grants us an effective blend of pathos, action, drama, characters, and solid story-telling as a potential future is trying to be prevented from ever occurring as mutants continue to try and be understood and not feared.
THIS was the way I wanted a Summer film to be. Singer’s directing style, which suited him extremely well in the first two outings with the “senior” X-Men characters, serves him well again here, while also getting the benefit of having MORE characters to have as a part of it, especially the “First Class” cast. The film moved along at the perfect pace, not truly allowing things to slow down, even when the literal content of given scenes was not all action-oriented. As mentioned above, the BLEND of elements in the story is what gives this pacing its strength, at least for me it did, and the 2+ hours went by quite fast. And there were moments of real pathos that took me by surprise as well….wasn’t expecting to be even the slightest bit choked up during an X-Men film, but admittedly, I was! But, that is a testament to the writing AND directing in combination. I am ALWAYS a fan of Jackman as Wolverine, and this film was no exception, though he has to tone things back a LITTLE, given the tale being told. McAvoy and Fassbender shine again as the younger Xavier and Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence IS Mystique as far as I am concerned! She can just PULL you into the character on so many levels that you always find yourself rooting for her, and Lawrence gets plenty of opportunity to let BOTH the toughness, yet vulnerability, of Raven come about. Must also give a shout-out to Evan Peters, who while not having a LOT of screen time, sure makes the MOST of Quicksilver’s appearance! Visually, the film is excellent, and not actually over-the-top as SOMETIMES these types of films can be. We get to see everyone’s powers on display in some form, and that added to the overall effectiveness of having SO many characters involved in the first place. Plus, there is a particularly well done sequence at the end that was simply flat-out awesome to me when everything is settled and the finale is reached (see the film if you want to know what I mean). Seeing the film in 3D is NOT necessary….I did and it really didn’t enhance anything per se. I believe it would be just as enjoyable (and less expensive!) to see in regular 2D. Also, stick around through the end credits, as there is a superb teaser of the next film in the line-up, which should be fantastic given that the subject is treated correctly. In conclusion, it is a wonderfully well-rounded effort and a treat for new and old fans alike, again giving a nod to all the characters we get to see, whether briefly or in extended form, as it gives us foreshadowing of things to come in some cases, others it feels like it fills in backstory on things we saw in the pre-“First Class” efforts.
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
Definitely agree this was one of the better X-Men’s—but like several of the other films–presented a huge continuity issue.
In the “Origins–Wolverine” film from a few years ago–it was suggested that both Logan-Wolverine and Victor-Sabertooth had–among previous wars–had fought in the Vietnam conflict which, at that film’s opening, took place around the time that the 1973 events took place here in “Days”–Major Stryker was shown to be in his 30’s–40’s at the time of the Wolverine film–but here in “Days”–he’s shown to be practically a young kid in his 20’s—Wolverine then goes forward to 1979–around the time of three mile island–but that’s only six years from where that film began–so it seems that the writers of “Days” forgot the previous film, or what the age of the character was suppossed to be.