Review // X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past marks the seventh film in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise. The franchise has been marred by terrible sequels, lacklustre story lines and poor character integration. Needless to say I was incredibly skeptical going into a film that hinged on time travel and star power.

However, I was pleasantly surprised.

Bryan Singer returned to direct Days, his third X-Men feature (he got the franchise started in 2000 with X-Men and returned for 2003’s X2) and his touch is evident. The film opens in a devastated future where mutants (and human carriers of the mutant “x” gene) are hunted by robotic Sentinels designed to adapt to mutant abilities and wipe out the species. The opening sequence of marked mutants being ushered along to certain death is a grim nod to the opening scene in X-Men. That scene featured a young Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) and his family being ushered into a concentration camp during World War II.

In the dystopian future we are reintroduced to X-Men from the original series, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) who continue to fight and evade the Sentinels with the help of a small group of new X-Men. The three remaining original X-Men, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Halle Barry) joined by Magneto (Ian McKellen) unite with the young warriors to outline one final plan: to transport Wolverine’s present consciousness into his younger 70s self. Once in the 70s he’ll be able to stop the Sentinel threat before it even begins, so long as he is able to convince Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) to work with his bitter rival Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) and their protégé Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence).

The film then transitions into the past, about 10 years after the events of 2011’s X-Men: First Class. The audience is transported to a time when mutant/human relations were first being established. Wolverine discovers a much different Professor X in the 70s. Charles is a drug addled mess having lost both his ability to walk and the companionship of his adopted sister Raven. Hopeless, Charles has opted to forfeit his psychic abilities for a temporary cure to his paralysis making him unfit for the enormous tasks ahead of him. Meanwhile Erik is imprisoned in the basement of the Pentagon, in the first of many glass jails he will eventually escape from, while Raven (aka Mystique) has gone rogue fighting for mutant rights and salvation.

The cast is incredible. Not only did Singer bring back the franchise’s strongest actors, he realized the weak links (I’m looking at you Halle Barry & Anna Paquin) and muted their roles while avoiding fan outrage by still including them in the narrative. Jackman has always been a crowd pleaser, and is the only actor to appear in all seven films. The future Wolverine is probably the most evolved character, having softened his rough edges he actually fits nicely into his role as mediator between the two egomaniacal young men he is tasked with uniting. The dynamo cast of X-Men First Class (McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence & Nicholas Hoult) builds off their strong introduction. Peter Dinklage plays a formidable foe as Dr. Trask, a man of science who is both excited by mutants but wary of the threat they pose to mankind. The true standout of the film is Evan Peters’ Quicksilver. Peters’ comedic performance will no doubt make his portrayal of the swift mutant a fan favourite, not to mention Singer’s choice to shoot Quicksilver’s speedy sequences in 3600 fps might be the best use of special effects in the film. Without hyping it up too much, Quicksilver’s jail break sequence is reason enough to go see X-Men: Days of Future Past. It will be interesting to compare Peters’ performance to Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Avengers: Age of Ultron portrayal of the same character.

The major disappointment from the film was that its use of a 3D medium was weak compared to its effects heavy blockbuster brethren. Aside from the jail break scene, the film lacks stunning visuals. The three dimensions felt pretty flat, especially during sequences that should have excelled in the medium, like Magneto’s elevation of the baseball field. And while the 70s Sentinel prototypes pay homage to the 90s cartoon series, the futuristic Sentinels are a bit dull and lack imagination.

However, Simon Kinberg’s elaborate time travel story line is impressive. Not only does it link two separate series but it also establishes multiple off shoots for the megalith franchise. He does what few writers have done before him, set up parameters of an often confusing sci-fi convention and work within his own confines to make a time travel movie that makes sense while remaining engaging.

Overall, X-Men Days of Future Past might just be one of the most enjoyable superhero movies to grace the big screens in recent years. Plus, for fans of the franchise, it definitely makes up for the atrocity that was X-Men: The Last Stand.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.

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