An ambitious and appreciated effort!

Rating: 8/10 (7 September 2014)

To me, this is the comic book property that has the best chance of competing with the Disney/Marvel universe. This movie was much more adult focused and serious than most of the movies coming out of Disney's Marvel machine. I love the Disney movies, but this was almost like a breath of fresh air. It had it's flaws, but they have the source material, the resources, and a very solid cast available to move this franchise in the right direction.
The plot of this was apparently taken from a comic book storyline which I have never read. They definitely selected the right material as I thought it was a great and well thought out story. It was also a great way to bring in the original cast. I only wish we could have seen more of them; for various reasons some of them such as Anna Paquin only had very limited screen time which I thought took away from the story a little. Especially because they were such a huge part of the original franchise. It seemed to me that the reason they weren't in the movie much didn't necessarily have anything to do with the story, and more to do with contracts. Even though I know they may not be in the comic much either I have read that at least Rogue should have had a larger part in the movie than she did.
That said, the only other gripe I had was the focus on Wolverine. We have stand-alone Wolverine movies available if you love Wolverine, so it would have been nice to center the plot around another character, or characters, this time around. There are plenty to choose from and the first movie did fine without him.
These complaints are mostly marginal; and not really a reflection of the movie itself. I loved the storyline and thought they did a truly great job of creating the Sentinels. You actually believe they could pose a major threat to even the most powerful of mutants. The action and effects were top notch and there were some truly great parts such as the Quicksilver sequence that I thought was very well done.
The scale of the movie was also fantastic, you truly feel as if you can grasp the power these mutants posses with the ability they have to control their environment; even on a large scale.
The biggest strength these movies have to me is the all star cast. With names like McAvoy, Lawrence, Fassbender, Hoult, and the fresh face of Even Peters leading this franchise into the future, there is a ton of potential to directly compete with any other comic book movie. Each of these actors is in the prime of their career at this point and they are all being assembled for these movies. They all bring a dramatic depth and believable emotion to their characters on what I believe is a higher level than any of the Avenger cast. As I mentioned earlier, these movies are more dramatic and therefore require more dramatic actors. That being said, this is the perfect cast for a more grown up and serious plot.
On a side note, I hear a lot of talk about Scarlet Johansson getting the first female lead super hero movie; but I believe Jennifer Lawrence is a superior actor and Mystique is a much more interesting character and should be given a movie as well. Who wouldn't love to see that? Overall, this was a great film BUT the focus on Wolverine was a bit of a cop out. I also think the ensemble cast was a little too ambitious as it didn't give every major character from both franchises enough screen time. Outside of the that, the plot, acting, and effects were top notch and I can't wait to see the next entry in this fantastic franchise! Rating: 7.5/10