Nathan Browne went to the multiplex last night. No
prizes for guessing what he saw! Here's his review of X-Men: Days Of
Future Past.
I loved X-Men, I loved X-Men 2 even more. Then The
Last Stand arrived and I left the cinema utterly disappointed, because, well, Ratner! Fortunately First Class gave me a renewed
passion for the franchise and so - like I expect many of you did - I
queued up on opening night to watch X-Men: Days Of Future Past with
very high expectations. Did it live up to those expectations? In a
word, yes!
Bryan Singer's triumphant return to the movie
franchise he created is arguably the strongest entry to date. It's
not a direct sequel to First Class but does bridge the gap between
that and the earlier trilogy. Story wise, Days Of Future Past is
about a battle for Mystique's (Jennifer Lawrence) soul. Something she
did in 1973 has created a hellish future, so the 'future' Professor
X (Patrick Stewart) sends Logan (Hugh Jackman) back in time to stop
her, meaning that the Sentinels will not be created and the future
will be changed. Like any time travel movie you could pull it apart
and come up with all kinds of errors, but that doesn't matter because
it's a heck of a lot of fun and very easy to follow.
Back in 1973 Logan enlists the help of Xavier the
younger (James McAvoy), Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Lehnsherr (Michael
Fassbender). In typical Magneto fashion, he has his own agenda, and
will do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of his species.
So we have Magneto as the devil on one of Mystique's shoulders and
Xavier as the angel on the other.
All four of the main stars are on top form
throughout the two hours, McAvoy especially. Hugh Jackman has spoken
recently about how he's now more invested in the character of
Wolverine than ever before, and it shows, I'd say it's easily his
best performance to date. Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender
are both predictably solid, although do not get as much screen time
as I thought they would, but in a movie packed with so many mutants
there was always going to be casualties. Many of the rest of the cast
appear in no more than smaller cameo roles, which probably works out
for the best otherwise we would have an overcrowding problem. However,
I would've loved to have seen more of Evan Peter's Quicksilver, the
scene where he breaks Magneto out of the Pentagon is amongst the
highlights of the movie, I really hope he comes back for more and is given a larger storyline.
Days Of Future Past appears to be an action packed
blockbuster, but at its heart it's a character based sci-fi drama.
The 'future' scenes can be quite dark in tone, but in typical Bryan
Singer style he adds a fair bit of humour, although not so much as
to distract you from the drama. I can not recommend this movie enough. If you've
not already been to see it then here's what I'd suggest. Watch your
DVD's of X-Men, X-Men 2 and First Class (not The Last Stand because,
well, Ratner!) before viewing Days Of Future Past. It will only add
to the experience.
Walking out of the cinema, it's hard to believe
there was ever a time when I couldn't have cared less if they never
made another X-Men movie. Like Hugh Jackman, I'm more invested in the
franchise than ever before. The release of X-Men: Apocalypse can not
come soon enough.
I'd give X-Men: Days Of Future Past 9 out of 10.
What did you think of X-Men: Days Of Future Past?
