X-Men: Days of Future Past – Movie Review
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Movie Review
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Simon Kinberg (screenplay & story), Jane Goldman (story), Matthew Vaughn (story)
Stars: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Ellen Page, Evan Peters
Super Hero Movie
When I started seriously reading comic books, there were far fewer options than there are today. All of comic-dom was dominated by two publishers. With few exceptions, I read and collected Marvel titles. The Uncanny X-Men was something I looked forward to every month (almost as much as Daredevil!).
My favorite X-Men storyline ever is “Days of Future Past” (if you’re wondering, the runner-up is the “Dark Phoenix Saga”). I’m a pushover for time travel/going-back-to-fix-your-own-past stories. I would have said it couldn’t be done. At least, not done well. Time travel is hard. But I would have been wrong. The seventh X-Men movie is far and away the best one of the series.
X-Men: Days of Future Past weaves together the characters established in the 1960s X-Men: First Class and the later timeline of X-Men and X-Men 2 into a thought-provoking high-octane film. The more familiarity you have with the source material or with the 1970s, the more you will enjoy the little details.
They tried so very hard to make this movie about Wolverine. He’s the breakout character, with two solo movies to date, and Hugh Jackman is a hell of a bankable star. But the interesting storyline belongs to Mystique–it’s all about what she does, her relationships, and how all of it effects both the present and the future. Jennifer Lawrence gives the expected great performance, proving once again how talented she is.
Watching James MacAvoy and Patrick Stewart playing two different aspects of Dr. Xavier was an absolute joy. Having Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellan as past and
future Magneto was absolutely eerie. The introduction of new character Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters) was far than I expected, and he’s so much fun, it’s surprising he’s not on screen more.
Playing backup is a whole chorus of mutants appearing briefly in either the past or the future. Some were new to this movie, others were old friends, back for just a minute or two. All were welcome.
On the villain side of the equation is Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask, a man who truly believes that mutants are a threat to homo sapiens. They will lead nations out of war with each other to unite in a common cause to destroy all mutants. He absolutely sells it. Trask Industries is a very real threat to mutants everywhere.
There are some inconsistencies here, particularly with X-Men: The Last Stand–but if you’re inclined to, you can probably find a way to explain them. Time travel can explain a lot of things, if you’re motivated.
Recommended for all comic book fans. Doubly recommended for fans of Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman.
Written By Elektra Hammond
Elektra Hammond
Elektra lives in Delaware with her husband, Mike, and the cat herd of BlueBlaze/Benegesserit catteries. When not freelancing or appearing at science fiction conventions she travels world-wide judging cat shows.
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