**********SPOILER ALERT!!!!!**********
The following is a review of X-Men: Day Of Future Past, and may contain spoilers. If you do not want to be spoiled, then I suggest you do not read any further. If, you are one of those weird people who don't mind being spoiled with things like plot details and such, then be all means, continue...
I have now seen this movie twice. It has been in theatres for a grand total of 3 days, and I have seen it twice. That is how much I loved it. This is a fantastic film... and I don't just mean genre film, or superhero film, I mean a great film, period. I honestly don't know that I am going to see another movie this year that I feel is better than Days Of Future Past.
To me, this movie had everything that I am looking for in a great film. The screenplay was fantastic. The story is incredibly well written, and true to the feeling of the comic book characters, without coming off too campy. There have always been some continuity issues with the X-Men franchise (some bigger than others!), and Fox has always just kind of swept them under the rug and not looked back. There are a few here too, especially in the timing of certain pivotal moments that occurred in previous movies, but, personally I am willing to overlook them, as it's difficult when you are dealing with different film makers for each property, to get them to line up exactly. (Yes, I know that Marvel has managed to do it through 8 films and a television show, but give me this one, please?). And then of course, ultimately, by the end of the film, it doesn't really matter anyway, so we might as well just go with it. The way that the Simon Kinberg was able to seamlessly weave the future story arc to the past was spectacular. The pacing and cut of the film were perfect. I can't think of a point where I felt bored or that the story was dragging or I needed more action or something to shake things up. The two plus hours flew by, both times.
A lot of people were upset when word came that Hugh Jackman, as Wolverine, would once again be the central character in the film. In the comics, it is Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, who is the one who gets sent back in time to alter the events of the past. I understand Fox's decision to put Jackman front and centre. He is the face of the franchise. Everyone knows who Wolverine is, given the fact that he has been in all 7 of Fox's X-Men movies, if you include the brief cameo he did in First Class. And honestly, Jackman has never been better. I'm sure by now, the character fits him like a glove. And physically... holy hell! The man is perfection personified. He got into amazing shape for The Wolverine last year and just continued on through the filming of Days of Future Past. I'm all for gratuitous nudity if it looks like that!
With that being said, while Wolverine is a key character in this film, the movie actually belongs to James McAvoy, as the younger Charles Xavier. And boy does he deliver. Charles is a broken, defeated man and McAvoy oozes despair. His portrayal is heartbreaking. You feel his pain and grief through the screen. He is a fantastic actor and I am glad that he was able to show that here, bringing a new dimension and depth to a character that we thought we knew. (If you haven't seen McAvoy in Wanted, you really should. That is another excellent, under-rated movie). Michael Fassbender, as the younger Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto, is also spectacular. His portrayal of the character has always been something to marvel at, and he doesn't disappoint here. Although his character is a villain, he is also extremely sympathetic. He's doing what he thinks is right for the good of all mutants, and it's hard to fault him for that. The scene on the plane when he and Charles argue about their tumultuous past is breathtaking in it's heartbreak and intensity. (Of course, Michael Fassbender could read the phone book on screen for 2 hours and I would be mesmerized!) The rest of the cast, including Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique and Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy, are also at the top of their game. The performances that Bryan Singer was able to get from the entire cast is one of the things that make this such a great movie. Many of the characters, especially in the future scenes, like Bishop, Blink, Warpath, Colossus, Sunspot and Iceman, are not given a lot of screen time, but what they do with it is remarkable. It is seriously devastating to watch the Sentinel's tear through them at the end of the film. I am glad that Bryan Singer chose to come back to this universe and more or less make things right. He knows and understands this universe like no one else, which is evident by what he put on our movie screens.
The only issue that I have with this film, is the fact that, with the exception of X-Men: First Class, they managed to erase everything else that has happened in the universe. While I appreciate the "screw you" that Singer threw Ratner's way in regards to wiping X-Men: The Last Stand out of existence (while I didn't hate the film, and thought it had a few redeeming qualities, it is generally reviled by fans), I am disappointed that the events of X-Men, X2: X-Men United and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (again, I didn't hate this film either and do think that it also had some redeeming qualities and important character points, but again it is reviled by most, who I am sure are glad that the events depicted in it are now also wiped out of existence) are all moot, as well as the events of last summer's The Wolverine. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for Fox to go through all of the trouble of making and marketing The Wolverine, only to have the entire thing be nothing but a memory to Logan, less than a year later. But, what can you do? What's done is done. The end scene of the movie was great though. It was fantastic to see a happy future, where everyone, including Scott Summers and Jean Grey, survived. The cameos by the original actors from all of the films was a great touch.
With the release of X-Men: Apocalypse set for exactly 2 years from now, I was slightly surprised to see that they didn't use the time travel angle to somehow get the cast from First Class in to the present timeline. It was my expectation that something along those lines would happen, as it was quite obvious, aside from Hugh Jackman, the majority of the original cast members would not be back to reprise their roles in any future projects. This movie was going to be a passing of the torch, so to speak. And I guess, in many ways, it was. Rumour has it that X-Men: Apocalypse will be more of a First Class sequel than anything else, with the surviving cast members of that movie moving forward to the 1980's. There are also plans for a third Wolverine movie, set for release in March of 2017. Many expect that this will be Hugh Jackman's final go around as the character. And while, I am hoping, that since they altered his history, and that Mystique is the "William Stryker" that takes him at the end of DOFP, they may revisit the Weapon X program storyline once more. Maybe get it right this time. Regardless, if Jackman is finally hanging up the claws for good, all I can say is, thank you, sir and bravo. While you will be missed, you will never be forgotten.
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