Rating of
3.5/4
The Future is Now
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/26/14
In my mind, X-Men: Days of Future Past deserves a spot next to my two other favorite super hero films: The Avengers and The Dark Knight. It shares more in common with Marvel's other super hero team - a lot of characters coming together for a a big adventure - but Days of Future Past is no copy-cat and features not only a great story, but the actors (and action) to pull it off.
Time travel is always a sticky proposition - because if you get it wrong, it can make things ridiculous, but get too technical and you'll get bogged down in the details. Luckily, the film solves this by giving the only mutant who looks the same in both the future and past, the ability to travel through time. And it just happens to be everyone's favorite character, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman - once again reprising his role). Granted, comic purists may be aghast at the changes made to the the beloved story, but I think the decision makes the most sense - and makes for some humorous scenes to boot.
The movie opens in the "future" a bleak, dark and dangerous place where both mutant and human alike have been hunted and killed by the Sentinels - a group of bio-mechanical creations that have the added ability to take on the ability of any mutant they come in contact with - making them nigh unstoppable. A last-ditch effort has been made to send one mutant back in time to prevent one event that has led to this future - Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) must be stopped from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask (the always appreciated Peter Dinklage) - and falling into the hands of Trask Industries - who will harvest her specific mutant abilities to create the Sentinels. The handful of mutants left include both Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) - who have finally put their past differences behind and work together. Storm (Halle Berry), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) - whose special ability leads to the time travel - all reprise their respective roles as well. Other "future" mutants along for the ride include the newly-introduced Bishop (Omar Sy) - who should play a bigger role in the next film, along with Blink (Bingbing Fan), who can create portals, Sunspot (Adan Canto), a human inferno and Warpath (Booboo Stewart) - a super tracker.
Once in the past, Wolverine must convince a still-walking (and drug-affected) Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) to come out of his stupor and go after Mystique. He has essentially shut himself off from the world, with only Hank McCoy aka Beast (Nicholas Hoult to care for him. But that isn't all - the only person Mystique truly trusts at this time is Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) - who is being held deep under the Pentagon in a highly-guarded prison. Wolverine has a plan, however, and it will require someone who is fast on his feet - and there is no one who meets the requirement better than Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters).
I have to say, Peters blew me away at the uber-fast mutant. His line-reading was excellent and the action scenes he has are the best in the film. I only wish he had gotten more screen time - but as it is, man, was he enjoyable when he was on screen. Speaking of new characters, Dinklage was likewise a standout as Dr. Trask - who has no qualms about experimenting on mutants if it means furthering his cause. Once again, I wanted more of him in the film, but he was a major score for the casting director.
As for the returning actors - I have nothing bad to say. Lawrence continues to impress - as Raven/Mystique - trying to decide how bad she wants revenge for the death of her fellow mutants (and friends). McAvoy is likewise excellent as a brokern Xavier - hooking on drugs that keep him walking, but suppress his inherent mutant abilities - and Fassbender exudes that edge that makes Magneto appear cruel but also makes you see his point of view.
There is so much good going on that my one main gripe (and the reason I can't give it four stars) is that with so many great actors around - there is just not enough screen time for some of them. Important people like Berry, Anna Paquin and pretty much everyone in the future are given little more than extended cameos - and I've already said I wanted more Peters and Dinklage on the screen - for once I wanted more added in rather than stuff taken away. It also makes the pacing a bit frantic - a lot happens in too short of time - for those looking for some kind of break, take a hike, because this one moves very fast.
Despite the objections, I still think this is the best film in the X-Men series - I rated it the same as X2 - but I would still give this movie the edge. That also means I have high hopes for the next film in the series (Apocalypse) - if they can make it as compelling and interesting as this one, they will have no problem going forward.
