Who needs Avengers when you got X-Men?

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2014)

Putting aside my being a die-hard Marvel fan and summoning my critical perception to the film, I say this with most sincerity, X-Men: Days of Future Past is the best film of X-Men franchise yet, and for that matter one of cinematic history's best of the superhero genre, easily lining itself to other superhero films' gems like The Dark Knight and the Avengers. I would like to begin by saying that Bryan Singer is a miracle worker (making the "impossible" filmable), making X-Men DOFP one of his finest. Singer carefully crafted every single scene with such awe and sincerity that the word perfection isn't enough to describe it. May it be a series of CGI effects, unique action extravaganzas, and powerful, moving emotional scenes, Singer never failed to blend the elements of a superhero film with human drama. His powerful direction certainly brought the best in each of the cast and unlocked their hidden potentials. For the storyline, I would like to commend the writers for their excellent writing that never failed to amuse and captivate the audience with powerful storytelling while maintaining logic and perceiving bigger messages to society and human faults. (BTW I'm not a huge comic book reader so I don't have any idea what X-Men DOFP would be about) Anyways, the writers did an excellent job in connecting the dots from the past X- Men films (though it's not necessary to watch them all to fully understand the film). Now for the stellar cast: I think the whole cast (both new and recurring) did their best to fully portray the characters they're embodying. First, kudos both to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, who both are the embodiment of X-Men themselves; even though their pretty much in the same place the whole film, their performance proved to be timeless without severing emotional vulnerability and the bond of a strong true friendship. Hugh Jackman's performance in the film could be argued as his best portrayal of Wolverine yet. What can we say? He's Hugh Jackman. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender's characters have evolved so much from the first film, and the two of them displayed performance that made X-Men DOFP superior to other X-Men films. Their portrayals held such pain and confusion from their damaged relationship that made them human despite their superhuman distinctions. Of course there's the ever-astonishing Jennifer Lawrence whose acting prowess is unmatched. Lawrence's Mystique is one of the best portrayal of a troubled character in a superhero film, exploiting mixed feelings with pure acting that made Mystique and Jennifer Lawrence a very crucial piece to the film's success. And for the newcomer Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones, portrayed a villain with no actual superpowers but made the future as it was in the beginning of the film. His role as Bolivar Trask is an interesting character fighting for survival with judgment clouded by society's erroneous perception. The actors in the supporting roles also did very well. Ellen Page got the spotlight she deserved with her vulnerable yet enduring portrayal of Kitty Pride, who's the bread-and-butter character of the film. Shawn Ashmore has grown so much since his first X-Men film, and that maturity is very much shown in his strong portrayal of Iceman. Halle Berry, while she has a much smaller role in the film, steals the spotlight every second she appeared on screen. The appearance of Bill Stryker (Josh Helman) is of course appreciated as it gives us a brief window to Wolverine's character and proves the quantum theory about time which is an important aspect to the storyline. Smaller roles which are included for filling the shoes of other characters showed so much potential that it's too disappointing they didn't got a chance to develop throughout the film: Colossus (who's supposed to be Kitty Pride's couple, though I don't think that's necessary for now), Sunspot, Bishop, Warpath, Blink (instantly my new favorite character) and Havok from the past. By the way, special mention to Evan Peters and his portrayal of Quicksilver for being too awesome. I think it's very obvious that he would appear not only in future X-Men films but also in other Marvel films (such as Avengers 2) because he's such an iconic character. As expected, the cameo appearances by James Marsden and Famke Janssen as Cyclops and Phoenix set us for the next X-Men film, which I think is great. So that's pretty much my though for X-Men: Days of Future Past (not including the visual effects, sound, costume design etc.). This is a must-see film and it is sure to entrance die-hard Marvel fans and non-fan viewers alike.