As sequels always suffer being under intense pressure to be better than its predecessor, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ proves three things: 1) sequels can be good, 2) ‘The Avengers’ isn’t the only superhero film that can pull of having lots of characters in one movie and 3) Director Bryan Singer’s still got it.
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) must go back in time to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing a scientist whose death would inevitably trigger a war between mutants and sentinels, genetically engineered robots designed to eliminate mutants.
The biggest conflict that audiences might predict would be the downfall for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ proved to be a challenge and, in this task, Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg undoubtedly succeed. The story centers around a few characters–all of whom are given their fair share of screen time that also suits the story’s purpose. Although the initial plot suggests that this film is mainly about Wolverine and Mystique, it’s also about Magneto and Professor Xavier. Wolverine is merely a tool to explore the differences between Professor X and Magneto of the past and these same characters of the future.
In doing so, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ brings out many themes. As this is a time travel movie, familiar themes like facing one’s fear of the future and the consequences of changing one’s past are touched upon, but Kinberg also brings out themes regarding sacrificing one to save many, putting aside excuses not to use our gifts to help others, and hopelessness. These themes are translated beautifully through James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, and Michael Fassbender.
In the part of the film that takes place in the ’70s, Magneto continues his crusade in trying to get rid of one–regardless of whether he or she is human or mutant–in order to ensure the safety of the rest of his mutant “brothers and sisters”. After not having seen him in a while due to his betrayal in “X-Men: First Class”, Xavier struggles with his own sense of loss and dealing with this pair in a way that he deems fit. While Fassbender does a fine job posing Magneto as this cold and calculative man with an astute purpose, it’s McAvoy that steals the show. He’s lost just about everything and, in this loss, he seeks comfort in some things that push him far away from the “professor” persona. His character has gone through the most transformation and McAvoy executes this fantastically in his delivery and physicality.
Of the ‘X-Men’ films that we’ve seen in the past, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ seemingly focuses less on including action and fight scenes and more about the story. While it’s been a while since we’ve seen these well-respected actors don their infamous mutant characters in theaters, their presence serves as a means to catapult the story into one told of their past and ways to change it to prevent their present hardships. Still, with including these veteran X-Men, Kinberg tries to weave in details from the past X-Men films in order to try to mesh the original film and the reboots together. Although a bold move, this decision only makes things a bit more confusing for fans of the previous versions of X-Men (Bryan Singer’s X-Men films, Brett Ratner’s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, and Matthew Vaughn’s ‘X-Men: First Class).
Despite this, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ is thoroughly satisfying, well-acted, humorous, and character-driven. It’s one of this summer’s best (with Captain America: The Winter Soldier being the very first) and certainly a recommendation. Welcome back, X-Men. You’ve been sincerely missed.
Jim’s Rating: 8/10