Smart, Powerful and Entertaining: X-Men Has Never Been Better

Rating: 9/10 (23 November 2014)

When Professor X, Magneto (played by their original trilogy actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen respectively) and the mention of Trask Industries showed up in the post-credits scene of 2013's The Wolverine, hard core fans knew what was in the pipeline for the X-Men franchise. The introduction of the younger version characters was no longer just for a reboot, something much bigger was in store. The end result is X- Men: Days of Future Past, (DoFP) a timeline hopping, crossover cast, superhero epic that rightfully takes the crown has the best X-Men film to date.
One thing that is first noticed in DoFP is that this isn't going to be your average superhero film. The crossing over of the younger and older casts of the franchise seems to be the set up for enormous battles and epic action, but in reality, DoFP is more interested in telling a unique and enticing story rather than blow away fans with loads of action a la The Avengers.
Based off one of Marvel Comics all-time greatest stories, Days of Future Past's story is a time traveling epic. The older cast of characters must send Wolverine back in time to prevent a global disaster from occurring in the present day. The film stays close to its comic book source and this only strengthens the movie. While many time traveling films can easily get you confused in its story, DoFP is able to smoothly transition between the two timelines, never leaving the film feeling confusing or boring. DoFP is at its best when you allow yourself to get lost in its deep, exciting and powerful story. The heavy focus on telling a emotional and smart story is a wonderfully welcomed addition to the superhero genre and a focus I hope stays within the X-Men film franchise. It's not Professor X versus Magento. It's all mutant kind standing as one, and that is a sight to behold. With fantastic writing from X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn, Simon Kindberg along with the splendid directing of Bryan Singer, Days of Future Past sets itself apart from its superhero competitors for the better.
Now while the focus is on rich storytelling, that doesn't mean there aren't exciting action sequences. Powered by an enormous cast of diverse and super cool characters, wonderful CGI and terrifically written action scenes, Days of Future Past's action pulls you in, despite the overall lack of action sequences. At one point I was disappointed by the absence of straight up shredding by Wolverine, and sometimes you feel has if there's not enough crazy battles going on. But I had to take a step back and remind myself that this film wasn't about that. No, this movie is about something bigger than hacking and slashing. The action is emotional as it is intense, further cementing the sense of depth in this movie. The pacing of the film is fantastic, and this benefits the entire film, action especially. It may seem like Days of Future Past is out for Avengers style team battles, and while there definitely are some great action scenes, for this film, it goes deeper than that.
The ensemble cast of both the original trilogy and the younger character cast combine together to create a truly grand set of some of the best the X-Men universe has to offer, with some of the today's best actors playing them. Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy are both back to play older and younger versions of Professer X, while the same can be said for Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender playing Magento. Hugh Jackman once again returns for a role which has been permanently his for 14 years and counting and continues to make fans wish he never aged in real life. Super star Jennifer Lawrence also returns as Mystique and furthers her stardom in Hollywood with another wonderful performance. The list goes on and on; Nicholas Hoult as The Beast, Peter Dinklage as antagonist Bolivar Trask, excellent newcomer Evan Peters as Quicksilver with returns from X-Men series vets such as: Halle Berry as Storm, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, Shawn Ashmore as Iceman and even Daniel Cudmore as Colossus. The list goes even further but I won't spend the space in this review just listing names, but telling you how great each and every performance is.
The younger cast takes about 75 percent of the screen time (excluding Wolverine) and understandably so. However, it is somewhat disappointing that the original cast couldn't be squeezed in a bit more. The story does focus mainly on the past, but watching the 2014 version of the likes of Storm, Iceman and Colossus is just simply far superior than their 2000's counterparts, largely due to how far technology has come in just 8 years with special effects. All in all, the entire cast gives a phenomenal performance and gives us the most grand cast of characters ever seen in a single superhero film.
X-Men: Days of Future Past sets out to evolve the superhero genre and it certainly succeeds. The primary focus on delivering a memorable, powerful and exciting story is at the heart of the film. Supplement that with beautifully rendered CGI (I'm looking at you Quicksilver) engaging if somewhat minimal action, and a crossover cast of some on the most universally praised actors toady, who all give spectacular performances. DoFP is just the beginning of a much larger future for the X-Men series with X-Men: Apocalypse on the way in 2016. But make no mistake, as of right now Days of Future Past sits atop the X-Men franchise and once again makes the X-Men name a contender in the ultra competitive world of superhero films.
9/10