Clever X-Pun Goes Here!

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2014)

Wow, look at that. It's the highest rating I've given a movie on this site so far! Honestly, it deserves that 8 out of 10. The plot was tightly written, the stakes were established early on (if you fail, there will be no more anything) and the future Sentinels with Mystique powers carry an appropriate amount of menace. I miss the old designs when they were huge like buildings, but practically speaking it makes a lot more sense for them to be small enough to go indoors. Master Mold is tragically absent from the movie, though. I think that could have been a good twist, especially since the opening sequence with Patrick Stewart narrating over it invoked some Terminator flashbacks.
The actor who plays Dr. Trask (since when was he a doctor of anything?) has very little to work with. Oh, god, that sounds like a joke. It's not, though! He doesn't have a lot of menace or motivation. Why does he want to kill all mutants? Simple Darwinism? Or is it greed because he wants to sell the Sentinels to the highest bidder? General Stryker in X2 had a clearly defined reason for what he was doing. And will somebody do something about that stupid hair?! Oh my god. I know that's just what the style was in the 70s but between that haircut and that porn 'stache I was expecting him to go full on Anchorman at any minute.
Moving on. So, apparently they had fully operational Sentinels in the 70s. Where were they when Magneto was ripping the Golden Gate Bridge out of its foundation and pointing it at Alcatraz?! Or when Magneto tried to mutate every possible world leader in New York City? Why wouldn't they immediately execute him when he was captured in the first movie if it's a matter of public record that he killed John F. Kennedy?
And Mystique, supposedly the one responsible for the entire future going to Hell, is apparently some kind of anti-hero now? An anti-hero that refuses to wear pants, by the way. At some point between this movie and First Class, she took over the team that Magneto was leading and got them all killed. Did she already give birth to Nightcrawler? Speaking of, she seems pretty spry in the first X-Men movies for someone without a healing ability that's roughly the same age as Xavier. Also, does her power also include super durable skin? Because she kicks Magneto right in the helmet and it doesn't bother her. What about walking on a hot sidewalk? Why does she replace Stryker and capture Wolverine? Is it in her contract that every movie has to end with her being somebody else and flashing her eyes at the audience? Why does she wait to be detected by Trask in the panic room before making her move? How was Magneto able to survive being shot through the jugular? Did Quicksilver ever find out Magneto was his father? Why was Toad in the movie and what was with those goggles? Why did they bring Quicksilver along only for him to leave the movie after a few minutes? Why don't they make a Flash movie with those effects?!
Ahem. Sorry. Despite all of these questions, I still really enjoyed the movie. Remember 8 out of 10? I just can't stop the questions. And why does Apocalypse look so wimpy!? Okay, last one.