X-Men: Days of Future Past succeeds at being a thrilling and fun superhero movie, balanced by well-earned dramatic weight.

Rating: 9/10 (25 October 2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise's finest installments. X-Men: Days of Future Past is by far the most ambitious film in the franchise an attempt to take the entire six-film saga and all of the notorious continuity errors that come with it and soft-reboot it via a story that is both character drama and spectacle, meant to honor both the Original Trilogy and First Class halves of the franchise. Against all odds, Singer manages to deliver all of the above, resulting in the best X-Men movie to date, and a comic book movie that could arguably be placed in the company of the genre's elite. It is with a sad note of irony that, on a directorial level, Bryan Singer has delivered his best film ever. Days of Future Past is a showcase of directorial talent, to the point that it is arguably a handful of well-crafted movies, woven together. The futuristic sci-fi world and mutant action sequences are awesome spectacle, while the future Sentinels are dark, frightening creatures; the '70s period piece is colorful, gleefully retro, and well-staged in nearly every scene; and there's an excellent character drama at the film's core, utilizing great actors who deliver performances above and beyond expectations of the genre.