Very well crafted story. Brings Xavier's perspective on hope to a new level.

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2016)

I'm not going to say that this is everything a superhero movie should be, but it might be reasonable to say that it's everything that an X-Men movie should be. We get pretty good character conflicts, though it might be down one level from that of First Class. We get a couple of great and memorable action sequences. We get a very emotional internal conflict from Xavier, and two decent ones from Mystique and Erik. Most of all, we get one of the best time-travel plots to date. And they all complement each other fluidly to give us an all around great movie. Not a masterpiece, but still praiseworthy.
The time travel featured might not make as much rational sense as the time transcendence in something like Interstellar or the same kind of aesthetic appeal as the time loop in Groundhog Day, but it definitely uses the time-travel device as more than a cop out or an excuse to make more money off of the franchise. By having the main conflict center around changing the events of the past make the stakes higher and more tangible than they would be in the traditional climatic battle between superhero and super villain. I was much more invested in the stakes of this story than I was for Apocalypse, even though Apocalypse was on a grander scale. Plus, Mystique having to make her pivotal decision before tragedy strikes is more true to real life than the traditional climatic decision that heroes typically make. Time travel also changes the dramatic question in the audience's minds as they watch the movie. By virtue of this being a superhero movie, we pretty much know instinctively that the hero will win the day. So Bryan Singer decided to turn the tables a little by making us wonder "How can Mystique be stopped?" The battle is now a mental and emotional one. They can't just kill Mystique and be done with it; they have to convince her to have a change of heart. It's best summed up in Hank's musing to Charles "What if killing Trask is just who Raven is?"
This is a nice segue into the characters. Logan is sort of our protagonist because he gets lots of screen time, but the focus is not on him most of the time. The real protagonist is Charles as he battles the demons within himself and finds the hope that is so vital to who he is. I really identified with his conflict and thought it worked really well with the external conflict of stopping Mystique. Erik/Magneto isn't developed as well here as he was in First Class, but he's still an interesting character. He plays the villain sometimes, but it would be unfair to call him the "bad guy" in this case. It would have been nice to have a bit more development for Mystique/Raven, but her motive was exposed very efficiently and it's a very believable motive. Even Trask isn't really that villainous as villains go. Like Magneto's view of humanity, Trask's view of mutants is almost noble and might even be one we could root for if it weren't so distrustful. Hank/Beast comes along for the ride, but doesn't get too much attention.
Visually, the movie is very clean. We get treated to some fabulous visual effects, particularly in the Quicksilver action sequence that you can't help but enjoy. Aside from that, the action is above average but not that noteworthy. However, the action sequences are just as intense because of how the different mutant powers cancel each other out in certain situations. For this reason, it's best if you've seen First Class before seeing DOFP. The dialogue is done pretty well with a few outstanding lines. Most of the lines are not written or spoken with too much drama, which is nice because action movies often have that problem. The acting is decent for an action movie, but nothing special.
I would recommend this to any X-Men fan, most action fans, and anyone who likes a good sci-fi plot basis. The story is interesting, but pretty easy to follow. It's a darker movie and deeper than you might expect from a summer action movie. It's also one of the less kid- friendly super movies, but better for it IMO. Even if you're not into action fans, I would still recommend this for the theme of hope surrounding Xavier's conflicts. I know that it was more inspiring to me than it will be to most viewers, but if nothing else, I would urge you to watch the segment in which Charles talks to his future self in Logan's mind. Overall Rating: 8.8/10.