X-Men DOFP Unites the Series Together

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2014)

X-Men: DOFP had a tough task of expanding the X-men universe, combining the old series, with the new, and had to convincingly explain away some of the series continuity errors, with a complex time travel plot. This could've equaled a recipe for disaster, but instead this latest X-Men film mostly succeeds. In fact it succeeds not only as a sequel that ties the two (originally) separate series together, but also manages to fix some of the things that X-Men: The Last Stand handled poorly.
X-Men: DOFP is first and, foremost a great sequel, that is action packed, with enough emotion, and humor, that makes it arguably the best X-Men film thus far. This is because these characters have been setup in multiple prior films, so that by the time this film comes along, we get to see some of these characters, and their arcs, become fully realized. The film focuses mainly on Xavier/Charles, Magneto/Erik, Mystique/Raven, Wolverine/Logan, and to some extent Beast/Hank. There are many brief moments of other mutants, who get their moment to shine as well. Most notably is a new mutant named Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver, who steals every moment of screen time he gets. The prison break scene with Quicksilver, is one of the best scenes in a comic book film, while both comical, and visually brilliant. The point of this film is to change the future by altering the past. The film starts off in a post apocalyptic future, where both mutants, and humans have been nearly wiped out by Terminator-like robots called Sentinels.
Wolverine is sent back in time to the year 1973, where he must find a younger Charles Xavier, and Magneto, to help stop Mystique from killing a man named Bolivar Trask. Trask is the creator of the Sentinels, and his murder sets things in motion that will lead to the eventual demise of mutants, and humans alike. None of this film's main characters in the past are at their best, and need a push to be a better version of themselves, and it's up to Wolverine to be patient, and help them along, in order to change the course of time, which as Logan states "Patience isn't my strongest suit". The tale is a bleak one, but never devoid of humor, which makes the film fun, but also helps keeps it's characters feeling genuine. Thats the best strength DOFP has, you care about whats going on, and wan't to see these characters that are beloved fans, make it out of this alive.
As mentioned above, this movie does "fix" some of the continuity problems the series had, and also resurrects a few characters, that were lost to soon. The ending of the film really pays off, and left me very happy, not just because of seeing old characters back, but because everything up to that point was compelling, and emotionally resonate. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who's a fan of the series, or is just a fan of good storytelling, and interesting characters. There's a couple minor pacing issues here, and there, and some may argue certain characters don't get enough screen time, but overall X-Men: DOFP delivers, and is a fantastic return to the X-men series old, and new.