X-Men: Days of Future Past – Movie Review
After 2003’s “X-Men 2”, director Bryan Singer left the series to bring Superman back to the big screen with the very disappointing “Superman Returns”. Now Singer is back with what I think is the best and most ambitious X-Men film to date. Based on the 1981 storyline from “The Uncanny X-Men” comics, “Days of Future Past” was an inspired choice to adapt for film. It is the one storyline that allowed the filmmakers to bring the older and younger X-Men stars together. Although some major details in the comics have been altered to fit the movie, I doubt purists will find much to complain about with the end result. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is fantastic.
In the not too distant future, mutants have been mostly wiped out by towering man-made robots known as sentinels. Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) are all that remain from Xavier’s school for mutants. Joining them are Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Bingbing Fan), Sunspot (Adan Canto) and Warpath (Booboo Stewart). The surviving mutants form a plan to send Wolverine’s mind back to the 1970’s, where he will wake up in his younger body. His job is to get the younger Xavier and Magneto (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender respectively) to work together at a time when they couldn’t be further apart. Together, they must stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). That action will cause her to be captured by the government, where her DNA would be used to create the deadly sentinels.
“D.O.F.P.” is so much fun and filled with a massive amount of mutants, but one new character to the franchise is so awesome, that I wish he was used more. That would be Quicksikver (Evan Peters). Those familiar with the comics will know that the young mutant is the son of Magneto and aside from a clever reference, that isn’t touched upon here. Peters makes Quicksilver so much fun. In one of the film’s best moments, the superfast mutant takes out a whole room of guards which listening to his headphones and having a little too much of a good time while doing it. Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be portraying the same character in Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” next year and I just can’t imagine him doing a better job than Peters.
I rather not tell you much more about “D.O.F.P.” because if you are reading this review, I am pretty sure you have already made up your mind that you are going to go see it and nothing more that I can say will make any kind of difference. I had a blast with this latest chapter in the X-Men cannon and the post-credits stinger promises that we have more good times with the mutants to look forward to.
By: Marc Ferman