X-Men Days of Future Past
A superheroic time travelling adventure
X-Men Days of Future Past was released last weekend as the highly anticipated entry in the superhero blockbuster lineup that is heating up the summer. It did well in the box office and the critics are claiming it the best movie of the franchise so far (we know it won’t end there), but was it good enough to satisfy my inner geek? The short answer’s yes, but Xavier commands your mind to read further.
I’ve never been a big fan of the X-Men series as a whole. I was forced to watch the first one in high school, fell asleep in the middle of X2 and with the bad rep The Last Stand had, it never crossed my mind to ever consider a peek. Then came the Wolverine movies, but at that point I had already gave up. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hugh Jackman’s acting, but I prefer him in non-superhero roles, therefore I wasn’t particularly interested in keeping up with his origin stories.
In an era filled with quality titles like Iron Man and The Dark Knight, I was hard pressed to trust anything X-Men related would equal the level of satisfaction these movies provided me. The main factor would be my preference of regular men with skills, smarts and resources over the superfluousness of super heroes. I just never liked the idea of characteristic weaknesses (Superman and his Kryptonite allergy, for example). That said the recent shift of setting up intricate storylines involving more wits than brawl or plot devices has prompted me to open up and watch more superhero movies than ever. My love for the Avengers movie gave me hope that I would be able to tolerate what Bryan Singer was doing with the X-Men reboot. I was right about that, but for Days of Future Past it was more than tolerance, it was pure bliss.
The X Factor
Bryan Singer is back as Director after making the commercially and critically successful First Class, managing the performances of the a star studded cast including James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Michael (F)Assbender, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Gandalf and Wolverine (at this point he’s been more in character than himself, no?). If you thought they did a great job in the first movie, they really knocked it out of the park this time around. The main performers impersonalised their characters convincingly, especially Fassbender in scenes ranging from a compassionate Magneto to the usual emotionless tactician without ever overacting. I should give an honorable mention to Mark Camacho as well for his lifelike appearance as Nixon, which for some unknown reasons always amuse me.
The Good
Beyond expectations I found the plot to be quite entertaining. As the subtitle would confusingly lead you to believe, the story contains time travelling. This is done through Kitty Pryde’s powers of phasing, which she uses to send mentally strong mutants back to their earlier self in order to prevent the annihilation of their last kin on Earth. The ability to survive longer in the future dictates the success of their mission in the past; rendering transitions between both realities a defining element of the movie. As far as space time continuum continuity goes, this is acceptable but it’s no Looper. Then again this is fantasy so who cares; I’m perfectly fine to let it go.
What’s really interesting is the focus on Mystique’s actions as she becomes the turning point of the X-Men inevitable demise.
The inclusion of lesser known X-Men like Blink, Bishop and Quicksilver, while very short on their screen time actually made quite a difference. They are responsible for some of the most exciting scenes I’ve witnessed in recent memory.
Blink’s main ability is teleportation, letting her deflect attacks or protect the others in combat as well as short range transportation. The pinkish purple faze of her portals added visually stunning effects to every scene she was part of, let alone her finesse and beauty.
More of a brawler type, Bishop is able to absorb energy of all sources and unleash his wrath through a self-powered rifle extension. What a useful power to have when you live the life of someone who’s consistently under fire.
Last but none the least, Quicksilver. The silver haired cousin of Flash might just be the coolest character of the lot. He is portrayed as a rogue teenager on the prowl for extreme sensations; which he gets as he is tasked to help our heroes on the next step of their adventure. We get to see the full extent of his powers in a beautifully captured slow motion set piece; arguably the best scene of the entire movie. It will be interesting to see Marvel’s take when they introduce him to the Avengers’ phase 2.
The Star Trek Reboot Effect
With the script based on time travelling, the writers took the opportunity to mimic what J.J Abrams did with Star Trek in 2009, reboot the series by creating an alternate universe. This means that some of the events from past X-Men titles were erased in a way that enables the sequels to explore certain character arcs that would otherwise have been left behind. I find this practice very clever and it was well implemented in Days of Future Past, although I hope it won’t push Hollywood to turn it into an overused gimmick.
The Bad
Surprisingly I left the movie theatre with mostly positive thoughts, considering my past dislikes/forced ignorance of X-Men movies. My only concern would be that given the major star power on display, the screen time for certain cast members was too minimal for my liking. I wished I had seen more of Stewart, McKellen or Dinklage and less Jackman. The latter was there for plot device purposes (as well as fulfill his long-term contract, appearing in his 7th X-Men movie) and for obvious eye candy. I’m fairly sure I’ve heard a few women swoon.
On an unrelated note the title of the movie irritates me to no end. I find it so obnoxiously full of itself it might as well have been called X-Men Past of Future Present. I too can use verb tenses to make up a convoluted title.
The Verdict
All in all X-Men Days of Future Past was enjoyable, shameless fun. It kept a fine balance between silly and serious, just as a quality superhero should. It is not without flaws, and I still preferred Captain America’s second appearance to it, but it is definitely one of the best movies to come out this year. Whether you are a fan of the original material or not, I would strongly suggest you get your tickets now and enjoy the ride.
