A superb celebration of the entire X-men franchise!

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2014)

One of the most eagerly awaited superhero films of the decade (if not, like, EVER), 'X-men Days of Future Past' certainly hasn't been crushed by the weight of ginormous expectations placed on it - rather, it has far surpassed those expectations to become one of the greatest comic- book films of all time. In my opinion, DOFP may well lay claim to inclusion in an elite club of superhero films that includes The Dark Knight and The Avengers.
Indeed, Bryan Singer's task in DOFP was far more ambitious in some ways than Joss Whedon's mission with 'The Avengers'. This time, it wasn't a bunch of superheroes that had to be united on screen, but rather two disparate franchises within the X-men franchise - the world of the original X-men trilogy (with Jackman, Stewart, McKellan et. all), and the 'prequel' world of 'X-men First Class (with Hoult, Fassbender, McAvoy et. all). And he does so masterfully, uniting the two eras of the franchise into one cohesive whole...further developing the younger cast of 'First Class' while also giving a fitting tribute to the ones who started it all.
Hugh Jackman of course is the star of the movie, who literally bridges the two casts just as his character Wolverine uses time-travel to bridge the two eras. But the true protagonist of this film is James McAvoys's younger Charles Xavier. In 1973, Charles is a far cry from the wise mentor and leader embodied by Patrick Stewart - he is a tortured soul, a drug-addict who has numbed his mutant powers in order to be able to sleep peacefully, a man who has seemingly lost his purpose. In an interesting inversion of their relationship from the original films, Logan is forced to mentor the young Charles and set him down the path to becoming the legendary Professor X. Michael Fassbender does a great job as the younger, more militant Eric Lensherr/Magneto. And Jennifer Lawrence's Raven/Mystique is of course the lynchpin of the film's time- travel plot. When we last saw her in 'First Class', she was torn between the opposing paths of Charles and Eric. The original trilogy would have us believe she is destined to become Magneto's ally and fellow mutant terrorist...but if this film teaches us anything, its that the 'future is not set'...
Despite the focus on the 'First Class' cast (Wolverine notwithstanding), many of the characters from the original cast get their moments to shine in the midst of the final desperate battle with the mutant-killing Sentinels-most notably Ellen Page's Kitty Pryde, Patrick Stewart's older Professor X, and Ian McKellan's Magneto. Also, while the film in many ways functions as a direct sequel to 'First Class', owing partly to the time-travel plot and partly to the return of franchise creator Bryan Singer, this film feels more or less like a spiritual sequel to X2 - from the use of the soundtrack of that movie, to a number of homages and callbacks to that movie.
On the whole, DOFP is both an ending and a beginning (a fitting thing for a time travel movie to be!) and leaves you excited for the next installment in this, the longest-running superhero franchise ever!