Not only the best of the X-Men films since X2, but manages to be even better

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2014)

The first X-Men was a good, fun, well-made start to the series, though with a yet-to-find-its-feet feel. That was found with X2, which turned out to be bigger, darker and even better. X-Men The Last Stand I didn't find quite as terrible as its reputed to be but it was very disappointing and a big step-down, it had its moments like the visuals, some good performances and the action but suffered from too much going on, a script that was sorely lacking and too many characters that were largely underdeveloped and out of character. X Men Origins: Wolverine was just as disappointing and with very similar pros and cons to The Last Stand. The Wolverine was a definite improvement but still had a fair share of flaws. And First Class was excellent. I was hugely excited for Days of Future Past because the cast is such a good one and the return of Bryan Singer promised much. And Days of Future Past didn't disappoint at all. It is a visually very stylish film that has an even darker and more audacious feel than the rest of the films in the series, the special effects are of great quality and everything looks very slick. The score is the best since the one for X2 in terms of memorability and how it fits and the script is the sharpest since X2 as well and is probably the best and most well-balanced script of all the X-Men films put together. There's a bit of humour that is subtle and genuinely funny, not feeling overly-broad or overkill, while there are plenty of suspenseful and emotional parts. Bryan Singer makes a triumphant come-back, the action sequences really thrill especially the battle between past and future X-Men to stop annihilation while the drama resonates. Great also was the quietly powerful tete-a-tete between the two Xaviers. There is a fair bit going on and there are a lot of characters, but the solid pacing, chemistry between the characters/actors and how well everything's balanced in the writing makes the story thrilling yet with plenty of space to allow you to feel emotion, and for the amount of characters there are here a vast majority of the characters have real personality and soul(plus they're treated with respect), something which Last Stand and Origins did not do. The cast are spot on, Hugh Jackman is grizzled and charismatic while bringing the subdued quality he brought to The Wolverine and Jennifer Lawrence is surprisingly good as Mystique(blue is definitely not the warmest colour with her), the transformation sequences are as eye-popping as they were in X2. James McAvoy gives one of his better performances here and Michael Fassbender is suave and calculating. As the older versions of Professor X and Magneto, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen make a welcome return, Stewart is cool and McKellen is menacing yet with a sympathetic quality, Magneto is much more than a one-dimensional villain(a mistake Last Stand made and that the first two films did not). Evan Peters is excellent too as Quicksilver, like how Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler almost stole the show in X2 Peters' Quicksilver almost did here, a definite scene stealer. Nicholas Hoult is fine as Beast and is very well made-up, but Kelsey Grammar for me was a touch better, and Halle Berry gives her, by far, best performance of the series(the only time she really made an impression as Storm, who's also developed best). My only complaint for Days of Future Past is the cop-out ending(outside of the action), other than that it was a brilliant film that was not only the best X-Men film since the second but a big contender for the best of the series. 9/10 Bethany Cox