X-Men: Days of Future Past

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2014)

The first film was good, the second was fantastic, the third was disappointing, as was prequel Origins: Wolverine, prequel First Class was brilliant, and The Wolverine was a good warm up for this next instalment in the Marvel X-Men franchise, from director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, Valkyrie). Basically in a dystopian future, mutants and humans are being exterminated by robots known as Sentinels, who have powers and strength gained from mutant genes, Kitty Pryde (Inception's Ellen Page) and a small band of mutants, including Bobby Drake aka Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), have evaded the robots and are taking cover in a China monastery. Her group meet with Professor X (Sir Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen), Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Ororo Munroe aka Storm (Halle Berry) and discuss the past, in 1973 Raven aka Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) murdered Dr. Bolivar Trask (Game of Throne's Peter Dinklage), designer of the Sentinels, who used Mystique's genes to engineer the indestructible robots. The only way to stop the mutant and human destruction is to send someone back to 1973 and stop Mystique from killing Trask, Logan is the only one strong enough to stand the strain of his consciousness being transported to the past, he is told by Professor Xavier that he should find the younger versions of himself and Magneto for assistance. Logan wakes up in 1973, goes to the X-Mansion, there he meets younger Hank McCoy aka Beast (Skins' Nicholas Hoult), and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), a broken man able to walk with a serum created by McCoy, but using it suppresses his telepathic powers, most teachers and students of the Institute for Gifted Youngsters are fighting the Vietnam War, the school is closed. Logan explains his mission, but Magento aka Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is in a strong prison cell beneath the Pentagon, accused of killing President John F. Kennedy, eventually Logan persuades Xavier to free him, they get help from super fast mutant Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters). Meanwhile Trask is in Washington D.C. unsuccessfully campaigning his the Sentinel program to Congress, in Saigon meanwhile Mystique investigates him, discovering his capturing and experimenting on mutants, Xavier, Magneto, Beast and Wolverine track her down to Paris, where Americans and Vietnamese are negotiating to end the Vietnam War. Mystique is disguised as a general, Trask is attempting to sell the Sentinel technology to the Communists, but Mystique is stopped by the four mutants before she can kill him, Magneto tries to kill her to end it all, she is only wounded and disappears, the fight is taken outside where onlookers and cameras see them, and during it Logan recognises a young Major Bill Stryker (Josh Helman), responsible in the future for his torture, this momentarily causes his body discomfort in his future body. President Richard Nixon (Mark Camacho) decides to approve Trask's Sentinel program, with worldwide panic massing at the knowledge of mutants, a blood sample from Mystique was found on the ground, this is key to the Sentinels powers, an unveiling for them will happen in Washington D.C., but the prototypes have been intercepted by Magneto, with their frames laces with steel. Xavier is convinced that the only way to locate Mystique is to stop taking his serum and use his telepathic powers, but he will at the same time lose his ability to walk, he regains his powers and struggles at first with all the voices in his head, but seeing the future in Wolverine's head, and speaking to his future self, he is inspired to save the world and make peace between the humans and mutants, and uses Cerebro to track down Mystique. The Sentinels are unveiled by Nixon on the White House lawn, but Magnto raises the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and drops it as a barricade around the Presidential building, while the robots attack the crowd the President and Trask are taken down to a safe room, with a disguised Mystique. Xavier, Wolverine and Beast try to stop Magneto, Wolverine is impaled by rebars and launched into the Potomac River, the safe room is pulled out of the ground by Magneto, he is about to kill what he thinks is Nixon, but it is in fact disguised Mystique who reveals herself and shoots him, at the same time as these events happening the Sentinels in the future have tracked the mutants down and are getting close, even killing most of the mutants. In 1973, Xavier explains what will happen if Mystique does kill Trask, and eventually she drops her gun, this in the future causes all events to disappear as the past has been changed, the Sentinel program is cancelled and Trask is arrested for selling military secrets, and Magneto is to be hunted down the dystopian future is averted, and Logan was rescued from the river by Mystique disguised as Stryker. In the end Logan wakes up in the present day at Xavier's school, and walking around he is happy to see recognisable mutant friends alive and well, including Iceman, Marie D'Ancanto aka Rogue (Anna Paquin), Peter Rasputin aka Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Kitty, Beast (Kelsey Grammar) and Storm, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Scott Summers aka Cyclops (James Marsden) and of course older Xavier. Also starring Bingbing Fan as Blink, Omar Sy as Bishop, Twilight's Booboo Stewart as Warpath, Adan Canto as Sunspot, Lucas Till as Havok, Evan Jonigkeit as Toad, Godzilla's Michael Lerner as Senator Brickman and Morgan Lily as Young Raven. fantasy action adventure. The cast all remain great in their recognisable roles, and the story combining future and past is clever and well constructed, but what really propelled this blockbuster was the outstanding special effects, for the fantastic mutant powers and destructive forces, and the fast moving fight and chase sequences, it really is one of the finest of the franchise, a brilliant fantasy action adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects. Very good!