X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) Review

X-Men Days of Future Past is certainly one of the better X-Men films although to me it’s not the best. The acting and style of the 70’s timeline was excellent. The human (or mutant) element was strong throughout the film especially between Xavier and Erik which is a necessity for an X-Men franchise. The story was fresh and benefitted from adapting a brilliant comic story arc, and even if the film didn’t quite live up to that story it still had a deeper concept at its core. The visuals are great and from the mutant powers to the near costume drama set up by the 70’s timeline. Bryan Singer went back into his franchise with ease and whilst I still think Mathew Vaughn’s interpretation of the franchise was better this was still a fine X-Men film. I’ll go into much more detail below but for now bookmark this if you are waiting to see the film, leave any comments below, if you have seen the film then check out the spoiler sections and I will look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.

Professor X: “You took the things that mean the most to me.”

Magneto: “Maybe you should have fought harder for them.”

Plot:

The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, “X-Men: First Class,” in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future.

Tim’s Film Reviews Recommended

Story: 90%     Acting: 95%     Characters: 80%     Dialogue: 85%

Action/Superhero: 75%     Style/Sound: 80%     Visuals: 90%

Total: 85%

The story of Days of Future Past is an excellent comic story arc I know quite well and whilst I may have a small bias going into the film I will try to ignore it. I’d say that making a film with time travel is hard but that’s an understatement, they always have massive gaps in their logic and well the X-Men films are famous for having very convoluted connections within the franchise. However I did like how they played out the 70’s, very detailed and fun to go back. The future elements started quite good where it looked very depressing and sober but then it moved to a shrine of some kind and it just stayed there. This limited the story of the future I thought.

The acting was brilliant and whilst I thought the cast set in the 70’s where better overall I think everyone at least did a good job. Magneto and Professor X both young and old did very well and of course the younger cast had a lot more time with their characters so did a lot more acting, their dialogue was excellent. Even Peters as Quicksilver was probably the best part of the film, totally didn’t see it coming but he was excellent, really wish he was in it more.

The science fiction of this film is interesting what with the time travel and robots, and the mutants of course. I would say that something that is missing from this story is how the Sentinels turned on us, in the comics they worked well and hunted the mutants but then under their own control hunted all of mankind as the ultimate solution, what happened in the film undercut that I felt. I also don’t like the way the Sentinels work, the early ones seem incredibly easy to beat if you were a powerful mutant and the future ones looked like Gort from The day the earth stood still. I am sure I will be in the minority on this view but I just thought a major part of the story arc was undercut.

The visuals are very strong and there are some really stand out moments. Quicksilvers powers were excellent, magneto had his moments and the 70’s looked very realistic. I didn’t care too much for the Sentinals which was disappointing but regardless the future looked good and I liked the future in general. Lastly the music, I quite liked hearing the original music, hadn’t heard it for a while. Sadly nothing new so it can’t get too many points.

SPOILERS!!!

Seriously guys turn away now to avoid spoilers. In the last scene Brett Ratner walks up to Cyclops and tries to apologies for killing him off but before he could Cyclops shoots his head off, ironically with a shotgun! I told you not to read this section. There is a lot to talk about here so I’ll keep it brief and talk more in the comments. I really wish the Sentinels had voices and talked. Was it just me or did cast seem weirdly small, I think because at each end of the timeline the groups were pretty small so it just seemed small overall when in fact the cast is huge. The Quicksilver reference to his father Magneto was fantastic, just subtle enough that it wasn’t cheesy. I also wish that the film had a more direct villain, first it was Trask who didn’t really have any malice behind his eyes, and then it was Magneto who took over the sentinels before they could do anything I wanted them to do. I also didn’t like the taming of Wolverine, he has to go nuts HE’S THE WOLVERINE!

Trailer:

The best reviews I found would be these:

“Days of Future Past may not be a perfect film – or even the best X-Men film – but it does offer a rather touching reflection on sixties utopianism. It’s a movie that seems to suggest that such optimism and idealism need not be lost, that it can be recovered and even redeemed.” The Movie Blog. Full Review

“A great summer blockbuster with smarts, drama and action that serves to successfully connect two generations of X-Men. Bring on X-Men: Apocalypse.” What About The Twinkie. Full Review

“As with any film, there are places you could be picky. Jennifer Lawrence has a powerful screen presence but I do wish the script writers had given her a little more to do as Mystique in this film. However, overall the film is just what a summer blockbuster should be: fun, exciting and carrying just enough emotional resonance to make it more than just a spectacle.” Box Office Buzz. Full Review

“Full of action, suspense, humour and drama with solid performances from all of the extremely large cast that, despite its size, never feels unwieldy. Some of the angsty bits drag on too long but overall this is a very welcome addition that reinvigorates the X-Men franchise.” It’s Latin For Cookies. Full Review

Spoilers!

My favourite scene has to be the prison break with Quicksilver in the Pentagon, it was funny, action packed and the visual effects used for his powers were executed brilliantly. Seeing bishop was nice but I wish he had a bigger part, am sure Apocalypse will fix that though.