Possibly the Best X-Men Film Yet

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past may be an overwhelming film for those who are unfamiliar with the rest of the franchise. Despite this, the film's opening narration explains the basics required to understand the plight of mutants.
Though it does bother me that Kitty Pryde is not the one being sent into the past, Days of Future Past was surprisingly not another Wolverine and the X-Men. I like him a lot and everything, but he already has two solo films and the original trilogy is mostly Wolverine-centric anyway. Instead, Logan is used a way of letting us see the conflict between Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique.
The future mutants work together as a tired and war weary group of survivors. Despite the fact that they were all mostly underused, their scenes were definitely entertaining. This is the movie that reminds us that the X-Men are a team.
The past mutants were great as well, but even though Mystique's agency is what defines the future, we see less of this and Mystique is mostly treated as an out of frame entity. I would not mind this choice if Mystique's choice was not the foundation of the plot, but in this movie it is so it doesn't really make sense for her to exist mostly through Charles' and Erik's bickering. Magneto also feels a bit extra at times in the movie. This is really Charles Xavier's film in terms of the past scenes, I suppose.
The movie has a darker tone, and incorporates humor in an organic way; it doesn't feel contrived, even though at one point Quicksilver is running around while Jim Croce's 'Time in a Bottle' plays in the background. There is no back and forth snappy and clever argument, which is something I personally dislike in a film. The movie in total is well acted, and the cast is quite talented. The cinematography was better than the standard superhero fare, and I enjoyed that, especially in the future scenes.
Overall, this is a great film, and especially great for the X-Men films, which still suffer from X-Men: The Last Stand. I would recommend this to any fans of Marvel, and even if that isn't to your taste, it's still a great movie.