X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014.
Directed by Bryan Singer.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Daniel Cudmore, Evan Peters, Booboo Stewart, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Evan Jonigkeit, Josh Helman and Peter Dinklage.
SYNOPSIS:
The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.
“Please. We need you to hope again…”
Quite an apt statement lifted from Bryan Singer’s return to the comic-book realm that feels much more personal than just that of a desperate future Professor X (the ever miraculous Patrick Stewart) as he begs, pleads his past self (James McAvoy) through a inter-dimensional/time-loop to get back on a horse called Cerebro. Indeed, it feels like it’s Singer doing the pleading, begging us back to the universe he created to give him one more chance to dazzle us, to erase any Last Stands or Origins that have left us hopelessly lost. His plea-bargain: a big-screen adaptation of the famous Days of Future Past story line that could reinvigorate the ailing franchise.
The X-Men franchise has prided itself on combining story, character and integrity than just spectacle, even in the wake of some horrendous misfires. From the beginning, Singer’s his goal was simple: to tell a rounded, interesting story that juggled an seemingly endless array of characters but still managed to be thought-provoking and above all entertaining. He succeeded, twice, until he jumped ship and left the reigns in the hands of others, when it had become more about franchise rights and money making than content and character. But after some timeline altering and prologue-tales, Singer comes full circle (or is that loop?) to bring us the latest tale of race, outcasts and prejudice, just your typical summer fare.
It was never going to be easy to adapt and film such a broad canvas as the Days of Future Past storyline, but Singer and co. just about pulls it off. The time-travel element was always going to raise many more questions than answers, but what time-travel movie doesn’t. It’s surprising that Beast or Xavier didn’t whip out a chalkboard and teach us the science. But with a few kind words from James Cameron, Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg do just about the best job they could here, and the science bit is actually quiet simple: Wolverine goes back in time to erase the creation of mutant-killing Sentinels, Brett Ratner and everyone who made X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Singer famously jumped ship to make a Superman sequel that gives The Quest for Peace a run for its money in terms of dullness, but has always been more at home amongst the mutant brothers, and regains his mojo beautifully: his direction is frenetic and fierce, and at just over two hours, a shorter movie than many had been anticipating. But it’s in that tight edit and frenetic pace that DOFP works, and while (as always) many characters don’t really get a look in, its focus on what is needed rather than what is yearned for gives the film a strong focus, something Superman Returns was severely lacking.
Kinberg’s script while solid and fun, hitting all the most common beats of the graphic novel and dealing well with all the time travel plates spinning, but for all the good work the duo produce, the film feels a little lacking in true spectacle, particularly in the final third. The excellent Quicksilver (Evan Peters) scene is the standout for sure and a few bursts of Wolverine-clawing are always welcome, but the majority of the action is just okay. The finale, which for all its stakes-upping, feels rather flat compared to the rest, and without giving anything away sadly feels very “been there, done it”.
Hugh Jackman, always king when it comes to mutant movies, is again excellent, though in this his seventh go-around is almost on auto-pilot throughout. So easy has he made it seem playing Wolverine, that its second nature: a few put downs here, a sarcastic comment there, an arse-whooping always around the corner, it’s now just a case of him turning up and tuning in his hair and claws.
Fassbender excels, even if his accent choices are questionable (McKellan mimicry one minute, gruff Irish hardman the next), as does Jennifer Lawrence, who is now front and just off centre alongside Jackman at the tip of the X-Men universe. But the star of the show is McAvoy, who continues his recent impressive body of work here as the down-and-out Xavier. Full of experimental drugs that help keep him vertical, McAvoy’s turn is a superb concoction of inner anguish and vengeance mixed with his typical sly wit that was so well utilised in X-Men: First Class.
Is Days of Future Past the pinnacle of the X-Men film universe? Not quite, with X2 still the height of the franchise’s powers, but this is a close second. There are plot-holes, black-holes and potholes galore that ultimately “reboots” almost everything that has gone before, but when a film is this much fun, it’s hard not to get soaked up in the bombastic nature of it, flaws and all.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Scott Davis
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Originally published November 10, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
