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| "Every hero, every power will unite." |
Well, not EVERY hero....but still, there were a lot!
The future is bleak (isn't that ALWAYS the case with time travel flicks?).
It's not looking good for mutants, or for the humans who try to protect the mutants. The scourge of mutant-kind are synthetic drones called Sentinels. These synthetic robotic mutant killers have torn up the planet in battling the super powered mutants.
With all mutants facing imprisonment or execution, our favorite group of non-humans are forced to either fight the losing battle or find a way to change the current events.
The only way to turn the tide in the future is to find the pivotal point in the past and change it. Only one member of the X-Men can physically handle the time travel, without a Delorean, and try to make the difference it will take to ensure a better tomorrow for the mutant species and the human race.
Other than dealing with the time travel itself, dealing with the extreme personalities of the younger Professor Xavier and Magneto will prove to be the greatest challenge.
Can young Erik and Xavier coexist after their last battle?
My Rating:
AWESTUPENDCREDIBLE!!
(Yes, I made my own word from a combination of other words to describe 5 star rated movies)
5 out of 5 stars
My Reaction:
WOW!!
Not only have I watched this movie three times in a row, but I'm still itching to watch it again! There have not been many movies that I have felt this way about, very few, in fact. Definitely one of my top 10 favorite all time movies (yes, that list is coming soon).
I don't want to make the classic film reviewer mistake and oversell a movie to the point where you, the reader, walks into a movie with too high expectations only to be let down horribly.
To date, I must say that this is the best superhero movie since The Avengers......and I'm still debating internally as to whether it is better or not.
Let's Talk X-Men:
What made this movie so good? Well, let's get this straight: this movie was only so good because it had 6 (yes SIX) predecessors connected to it that pretty much ruined the franchise, and Days of Future Past took 99% of the problems and solved them. After 14 years (the original X-Men movie was released in 2000), the franchise FINALLY got it right!
When you have very low expectations for a movie, even a mediocre showing will seem like an Oscar-worthy film....BUT, while my expectations WERE low, I was expecting a decent film seeing as this movie featured the all stars of the three original X-Men movies and those of First Class.
What we were given was not only a great superhero movie, but a tremendously acted and plot-rich epic! The actors were wonderful in their roles; the new members of the cast fit in perfectly, the older ones delivered as usual, the First Class actors brought great depth to the characters and meshed well with their counterparts.
The story was brilliantly played out (which is a GREAT feat for a movie translating a story from the comic pages to the big screen) and left me wanting to watch again and again.
**Now, of course, this is all a matter of my own opinion. I'm a huge sucker for well done time travel movies, espionage movies, and movies that feature technology ahead of its time period (imagine 21st century technology in the 60s and 70s that only the government had), this film had it all!**
And, of course, STAY AFTER THE CREDITS!
The Roster (SPOILER ALERT)
Old X-Men
The real interesting aspect of this movie when we first saw previews for it was that it would feature both crews, young and old. While not ALL the former X-Men returned (WE MISS YOU NIGHTCRAWLER!), we did get the all-stars!
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| "Miss me?" |
Patrick Stewart, once again, plays his role perfectly as the wise and all knowing Professor X. He leads the remnant of the X-Men in the dystopian future, trying to save all mutants.
The artist still known as Gandalf, Ian McKellen, plays his role as he should: helping the X-Men he fought so hard against after realizing the futility of his cause. As always, Magneto has his highlights, even though his role is small.
Oh where, oh where has Halle Berry gone? Oh where, oh where could she be? Storm shows her face for a minute, makes a storm, and that is all. It seems Halle's roles in these movies just continues to shrink with each flick. As a matter of fact, she's reached the point of extinction already in the X-Verse. She won't be returning for the next (and last?) X-Men installment, X-Men: Apocalypse.
Man, that third X-Men movie really destroyed her career! It took her six years to make a Hollywood-worthy appearance in a movie again (Cloud Atlas), and it wasn't even well received!
Hugh Jackman is the obvious star of the entire series as Wolverine; even his 20 second scene in First Class was one of the top 3 best scenes in the whole movie! He literally stole the move, not just the scene, in those 20 seconds! Days of Future Past proves no different as he takes the helm of this flick and makes all his parts memorable, as he's done in all the other ones.
Like his appearances in the other movies, Shawn Ashmore's role as Iceman was small but relevant to the story. We get to see him in action a little more than we have in the past, and it works.
Poor Ellen Page. Yes, she's kind of a big name right now, especially since her big coming out announcement, and the fact that she's a terrific actress. However, this was apparently not enough to get her the lead role for this movie. You see, the comic book story which this movie is based on features Kitty Pryde as the main character as she is the one who actually travels back in time to save the future. But director Bryan Singer felt that Wolverine going into the past made more sense as he's a character who has a deep connection with the audience already (true). While Pryde's part is massively reduced, she's still the most important character as she's the one responsible for the time travel.
I wonder how many would be as surprised as I was to learn that Colossus was actually in all three X-Men movies? While he was just a background extra in the first, he was still in it, then his presence is obvious in the next two films. He sees more action in this film and leaves his mark as far as action is concerned.
I'm not sure as to why Kelsey Grammer accepted a flash-in-the-pan role here, but it just shows that Beast survives longer than before the whole time traveling fiasco. Don't look for any action out of his older self here, just a nice little cameo where he says 'goodbye' to the franchise.
Anna Paquin had an even smaller role than Grammer. At least Beast had a line, Rogue only waves from down the hall. When I first heard that Rogue was in this movie, I thought we'd see (at least in the future) a more powerful Rogue who's learned to harness and use all her powers......but no. Just a pointless cameo that seemed to be her waving goodbye to the franchise as she continues up the ladder of stardom which began with True Blood.
Young X-Men
James McAvoy does a great job taking the reins of Professor Charles Xavier and encompassing his struggle with his own powers, his feelings and his apparent responsibility of being a leader.
Arguably one of the best actors out there right now, Michael Fassbender, once again, plays young Magneto to perfection. He perfectly portrays all the ideals and inner struggles that make Magneto unique. You can see his struggle to maintain the only friend he's ever had while totally working against him because of his hatred for humanity. The guy knows how to use his powers to the maximum degree and the actor makes it look genuinely horrifying!
Jennifer Lawrence is a busy woman. Hollywood's "it" girl right now works "it" as the ever nude and ever shape shifting: Mystique. Lawrence, like Rebecca Romijn in the past, steals scenes while shape shifting and karate kicking.
Nicholas Hoult reprises his role as young Beast/Hank McCoy and performs about the exact same as he did in the first. The character is always around, but is mostly unimportant. I think the only kinda cool thing about the young Beast is that he, more or less, transforms between human and beast form like a big blue werewolf.....although I'm still not sure how cool I actually feel it is.
Why did Havok not get a larger role? Obviously, because he had no actual place in the story....but his power is awesome and he looked ready to do some damage. What a waste of awesomeness.
New Bloods
Booboo Stewart.....what a name. The super overrated and severely miscast actor who played a throwaway character in the Twilight series plays a throwaway character in this film, Warpath. The only true reason for his presence in this movie is the fact that part of his generic powers (flight, strength, stamina and speed) include "super senses" where he's able to detect danger from far away. A fully powered Rogue could have easily filled in this position and gotten more face time.
Sunspot is one of my favorite mutants, but they did not do him too much justice in this. I barely even noticed the actor who played Sunspot because most of the time he was in Human Torch mode. Small but important role (as is the case with all the future mutants).
Blink uses her powers VERY effectively; creating multiple portals to gain the upper hand against her opponents. While it's another short role, her powers really make her stand out.
Bishop, the mutant who brought time travel to the X-Verse, was largely unimpressive compared to his comic book counterpart, but was still pretty cool when using his power of absorbing energy and using it as ammo for his gun.
There was probably nothing better in this movie than Evan Peters' rendition of Quicksilver (although he was referred to as Peter Maximoff in the film). After seeing a rendition of him at the end of Captain America: Winter Soldier, I was worried that the Days of Future Past version would be a huge disappointment. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, he was different (and younger) both in attitude and look, but it was such a good difference! Not only is his short role excellent, but it proves to be a little informational as he mentions that his mother once dated a man who could control metal. Can't wait to see him in the next X-Men movie!
In two blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, we see a very very young Scarlett Witch. Keep an eye out for her as Magneto flies with a stadium, and then a little later when Peter is shown watching Magneto on television with Scarlett on his lap. No powers shown, but a cool character cameo. Maybe she'll have a little shine in the next movie as it's supposed to take place a little under 10 years later than the events of this film.
Extremely small cameo showing Ink using his powers (which are pretty awesome when you know them). He can project whatever tattoo he has on himself onto his victim of choice, like how he used his bio-hazard tattoo to make some people sick. Nice little show of his talent.
I've exhausted myself trying to find out what mutant is in the barracks with Ink and Havok. He looks like Spike, but Spike's power is actually to grow the spikes on his skin and shoot spikes out of his arms with deadly accuracy. However, this Spike-looking mutant seems to make people bleed from their eyes.
Don't Call Them a Comeback
Just when you thought they were gone, dead, or forgotten about, they show up again to remind you that they're still in the mix!
Although he appeared totally different in the first film (played by the super athletic and underrated Ray Park who played tiny roles like Darth Maul and Snake Eyes in the G.I. Joe movies ), we see Toad once again in the X-Verse.
Seeing as the young Toad interacts with Mystique, we may be seeing Magneto's old band getting back together (for the first time.....again).
Seeing as the young Toad interacts with Mystique, we may be seeing Magneto's old band getting back together (for the first time.....again).
New timeline, old faces! The extremely beautiful Famke Janssen returns as Jean Grey to say goodbye to the franchise that elevated her to super stardom.
Just when we thought we'd seen it all, James Marsden returns to reprise his role one final time as Cyclops. And in true Cyclops fashion, he's right there to stop Wolverine from stealing his girl. Nice send off for the veterans!
Every movie has its faults, and every franchise has its continuity problems.....and while this movie has its minor problems along with the problems the entire franchise has, Days of Future Past turned out to be an epic win and an epic movie!
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| "We win" |
Stay tuned for a post on the entire X-Men movie franchise! Coming Soon!
Thank you for reading and making this the success it is! If there are any movies you'd like to see reviewed, feel free to email me at jayreviewsfilms@gmail.com.
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Jay
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