Finally an Exceptional, Genuinely Humane Superhero Film!

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2014)

It was not too long ago when everyone felt like X-Men's prospects, as a franchise, were very bleak following mediocre and downright atrocious installments like X3: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Once the universe's creative vision fell into foreign hands, it simply lost its once-coveted flavor, spitting in the face of character accuracy and logicality. (In my honest opinion X-Men Origins opened up strongly only to end with a fairly benign and ridiculously silly showdown.) After a couple of failures, 20th Century Fox fell into panic and attempted to find some way—any way—to revive the franchise, which led to the excellence of First Class. That film's compelling focus on Eric's and Charles' relationship , as well as setting the X-Men into the 60's made that film what it was.
Thankfully, we have that component of the 20th century returning to X- Men's latest adventure, Days of Future Past, where now the 1970's faces the dauntingly hostile machines called the Sentinels who are threatening the whole existence of mutants, thanks to a man named Dr. Trask (portrayed by Peter Dinklage) who has proposed this incredibly antagonistic method to dispose of people that apparently threaten mankind's way of life because they're "different." This means that Wolverine from the present (never explained but somewhere 50 years in the future) must travel back in time to reverse the events that led to the creation of these monstrous beings and therefore save the future for mutants and humans, alike.
What elevates this film to prestigious heights is its impeccable cast and the exceptional performances given by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and of course, Hugh Jackman who's unbelievably charismatic as always. His humorous, mean-spirited approach to most situations keeps the story thoroughly entertaining, no matter what. I have no idea how the franchise will stand on its feet after Huge Jackman is done with the role and the obvious void which will be left thereafter.
James McAvoy exhibits the vastly troubled and heartbroken man Charles Xavier was in his past, spending his days mourning over the friends and students he's lost to his now-nemesis, Eric Lehnsherr (Magneto). McAvoy has definitely been one of my favorite actors who's been rising over the years since 2007's Atonement and proving his impressive range, and he's given the perfect role here—even more than First Class—to dig deep into the emotional side of Xavier whose self-esteem and hope for the future of his race truly suffers.
Being another favorite of mine, Michael Fassbender once again returns to reprise his role as Magneto, and man, is this rendition of Magneto a profoundly devastating villain—nearly unstoppable and scheming in his behavior. He often disguises his true intentions, mystifying his inner thoughts and making his next plan nearly unpredictable. As we remember, Magneto has accomplished numerous fake-outs throughout the cinematic series from his brief alliance with Xavier in X2 to his apparent innocence once reunited with his old friend, Charles, in this chapter. Unlike the generic villains that pervade Marvel Studios' films, Magneto once again showcases his formidable presence through his terrorizing powers, frequently overpowering everyone else in the room as long as he has his lustrous metallic helmet around.
Most powerful of all though is the returning extraordinary dynamic and interaction between these two former friends—Xavier and Magneto—more transparent here than ever before. On a related note, Days of Future Past is pervaded with humanity—that element of genuine human drama that's missing from superhero movies nowadays. It's what I love about First Class and this sequel: they seem so confident in their character- driven narratives rather than feeling the need to insert an intense action sequence between every other tamer scene. There were whole 15- minute scenes purely dedicated to emotion-ridden conversations, fleshing out the character's pasts (Eric's and Charles's especially) and whatnot, generating a prodigious amount of characterization that's all too rare in the genre.
With that being said, it's still not the perfect/flawless X-Men film. See, I generally abhor stories about time travel because you essentially know that they're going to tie up the ending as neatly as possible. So, even when characters in the future, past, or present die, you really don't care. You undoubtedly know history will rewrite itself and everyone will survive and the world will be restored to unmitigated peace. That element of unpredictability immediately vanishes, and at that point, the storytellers can bring back dead characters from the series' past and correct any tragedy throughout the entire franchise. It's frankly boring and creatively unfair, but of course, the crowd- pleasing aspect is a mandate in superhero movies at this point.
In addition, everyone who's read the comics, and this storyline in particular, has been hyping up the sentinels to be these unforgettable, baleful villains in the X-Men universe. But really, I felt like they weren't anything more than the standard threats of the week that simply came and went. In the end, Days of Future Past, while still leagues behind The Dark Knight's presence of brilliance in the superhero genre, is still far superior to any superhero film in the last three years. While the themes (of segregation/racism and fate vs. choice) aren't anything mind-blowing and subtle, this recent X-Men installment still contains that substance/cinematic value and promises a lot more for its future than the countless flicks Marvel Studios release every year.