X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Review

By Darin Skaggs

     The X-Men series has been an interesting one.  There were two solid films with director Brian Singer.  Then the third one which destroyed all that was built up in the series after Singer left.  There were two standalone Wolverine films, the second one almost apologizing for the first and right smack in the middle of that a “reboot” of the series taking place back in the 1960’s with Magneto and Professor X.  This new film, which Singer has returned for, mixes those original characters we used to love with this new world of the past to make a great and maybe the best X-Men movie to date.

     The film takes place about fifty years ahead of our present.  The mutant race is being hunted by these futuristic robots that have similar abilities as the mutants.  Professor X, Magneto, Storm and Wolverine decide to send their mind into the past with the help of other mutants.  Only Wolverine can do it because the journey will tear anyone else to pieces, and of course because he is the star of the show.  He goes back to the 1970’s to change events to save the mutant race.

     The film is a blast, with great character moments and great action pieces, but maybe the true point of this film is to fix what went wrong with the series.  After Singer left the films dropped in quality only to be revived with First Class and the second Wolverine film, so in this one Singer is trying to apologize for leaving and actually fixes what was messed up.  He sends Wolverine back in time to change the past so curtain events would not happen.  It is never said that they are trying to fix the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, but it is hinted at.  It is also more than ever before about the prosecution of “lesser” groups of people, mostly homosexuals, women and minorities.  Because the film takes place in the 1970’s it is very evident because of our Nation’s history that this is what Singer is trying to get across.

     Like most of the films in the series the acting is spectacular.  Hugh Jackman who plays Wolverine is great as always.  Fassbender and McAvoy, who play younger versions of Magneto and Professor X respectively, step up their game from their previous appearance.  There are a lot of great cameos in the film from previous players of the series.  It is a lot of fun to see who they got to come back and makes you happy to think “Oh, this actor just came back for one scene.” 

     It is a lot of fun, but not as much action as the other films.  That is nowhere near a compliant and when there are action sequences it is a blast, like when they break Magneto out of the Pentagon.  The film fulfills the promises made from the first two and makes new ones for future films to come.  It is a lot of fun and may be the greatest X-Men in the whole franchise, probably because it has everything that is great about all of them in one.