An excellent comic book film that gets the X-Men back on track

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2014)

This latest installment in the X-Men franchise is epic in scope and course-corrects previous mistakes (X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but also has a core story which is compelling, and a host of characters both new and old that elevate this to being quite possibly the best X-Men film since X2. The basics of the story is that in the post-apocalyptic future, Sentinels are evolved and have mutants on the run. In order to prevent this from happening, Wolverine's consciousness is sent back to 1973 to bring Charles and Erik together to stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels. What ensues is a truly epic movie that should please X-Men fans. There's not much I didn't like about the film. I thought that all of the principal characters, particularly the 1970's incarnations, were given good arcs. In particular, Charles Xavier and Mystique get the best such character moments. This is also welcome because previous installments relied too heavily on Wolverine, and while he is an important unifying force here, he isn't the primary focus. The minor characters, most of which are in the future scenes, don't get too much development but they get to show off their various powers, which were well-realized and cool to watch. Of course, I can't go without mentioning the best addition to the cast: Quicksilver. Even with his limited screen time, he establishes himself as what could become a fan favorite, and he has the film's best action sequence: a prison break at the Pentagon. Now, of course, movies can't all be visual effects and action, and this film, like the previous ones also has some other elements worthy of mention. Most notable is the use of time travel in an interesting way, and the idea that the future isn't set in stone. This is an interesting theme which hasn't been directly tackled in any prior X-Men film, and one that should resonate with all viewers. There are also the usual themes of people tapping into their better natures, and of civil rights. The only things I can find fault with is that for such an expansive storyline, it still felt like there were parts missing and the future scenes could have been beefed up a bit. I can't be the only person who wanted to spend just a little more time with the original cast before they're completely supplanted by the new, younger cast. I also wasn't as emotionally invested in this story as I was with X-Men: First Class, but I can't really say that's something you can necessarily blame the writer for. The story is just so large that it's nearly impossible to connect with it on anything but a general level. Still, the film was extremely well made in every respect.