Bryan Singer's Crowning Achievement

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2014)

The first time this storyline from the comics was used, was in the great 1992 X-Men Cartoon. I suppose there were a couple other cartoon renditions of this as well, but those were not worth mentioning- The '92 Saban X-Men series did a fantastic job of rendering the Core X- Men and animating the tales which kept us saying "Make Mine Marvel" and "Nuff Said" all these years.
Finally, at long last, we have this story told in Live Action. Well, Live Action and some masterfully done SFX.
No one can doubt that Hugh Jackman has brought James "Logan" Wolverine to more life than any other cartoon rendition of the character, and even in the Comics his antics are always what you are drawn to. He's the best as what he does, and what he does ain't pretty, as he always reminds us.
The graphic image of Wolverine in Mid-Flight, Adamantium Claws Extended - The Iconic Image of Wolverine which is on one of the covers of the 1982 limited series, was shown in "The Wolverine" (On top of the Bullet Train), and his "fastball Special" was shown in The Danger Room scene in X-3, The Last Stand. So, what's left? Plenty: Just keep your eye on Bobby "Iceman", in X-3 he Iced Up Solid, in this he is finally able to do the stuff he can from the books.
One enigmatic figure from the comics had never made it into the films: "Bishop" (Omar Sy) - Other characters from the 'X-Force' side-team are also here, Sunspot (Adan Canto), Warpath (Booboo Stewart), and Bishop's Sister "Blink" (Bingbing Fan, in the comics she is actually deceased, and she appears as a Hologram from Bishop's Armband). So we have a nod to X-factor here are well.
The Original story had Kitty Pryde (Ms Ellen Page) as the one who this story revolved around, and Wolverine was actually Killed by the Modern Sentinels. In retrospect that story would not have worked as well as this, because of Wolverine's Central importance to the storyline that had been told starting from the first X-Men film.
Some of the other particulars have been changed as well, mostly to use concepts (And characters/actors) from X-Men: First Class - So mainly this was a unique opportunity to use two sets of actors for Magneto and Professor X. The only thing that is a problem, is that Patrick Stewart had appeared as a Walking Elder Professor X in "X- Men Origins: Wolverine" - And Xavier had lost use of his legs at the end of "First Class". But if you watch this film. you will see why it is not a problem: This film deals once again with Alternate Histories and Universes. This seems to be a common concept used in many media lately, most notably in "Fringe" which had "Red and Blue Universes". In a way, we have this happening in the X-Men Franchise, and if my guess is correct, the next X-Film will deal with the "Age of Apocalypse" which is a total mind-bender: IN fact Marvel changed the name of all of their major comics for six months while that story played out.
What is great to see always is another appearance/cameo by Mike Dopud, who was notable for playing at least 6 different guys in the Stargate Franchise. He has appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well as in X-2, hes just one of those faces that shows up in Hugh Jackman movies. Look for him here, in "1973".
This film has Wolverine living in a Split-Level Head: One head in the Present (2025 or so) and the other in 1973, so the action literally spans 50 years. Despite the changes to the story from the comics, this film connects all of the X-Men franchise films in a way I had not thought possible, and as much as I respect the work of the other directors, it took Bryan Singer to pull all the strings back together. IN my view, is was a huge mistake for him to go off- mission to make "Superman Returns"- A movie that should have been made in 1980, which was actually made in 1978, but the scenes Marlon Brando had shot were simply not used in their proper context- Having Bryan direct that was not the best use of his talents, as X-3 suffered for it. Not that I did not enjoy X-3, Magneto picks up the San Francisco Bay Bridge and lays it across to Alcatraz... In this film, the younger Magneto does something almost as amazing. What was better, Magneto moving the Bay Bridge, or Superman moving a huge Kryptonite Continent? What we see here, makes those titanic events seem small in comparison.
Between X-3 and this film, we were shown just how powerful Magneto is, and that Jean Grey was even more so.
In this franchise, we've seen Magneto move bridges, Jean Grey Vaporize people, Logan regrow skin as fast as Jean could strip him of it, and Charles Xavier take habitation of his Brain Dead Half- Brother's Body. Prepare to see much, much more in this latest installment, and be prepared for the coming Apocalyptic Age, cos "El Nabin Sur" is coming.