X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

Rated PG-13 (Sequences of Intense Sci-Fi Violence and Action, Some Suggestive Material, Nudity and Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 11 Minutes

Cast-

Hugh Jackman-James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine

James McAvoy-Professor Charles Xavier

Michael Fassbender-Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto

Jennifer Lawrence-Raven Darkhölme/Mystique

Nicholas Hoult-Henry 'Hank' McCoy/Beast

Evan Peters-Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver

Lucas Till-Alex Summers/Havok

Evan Jonigkeit-Mortimer Toynbee/Toad

Gregg Lowe-Eric Gitter/Ink

Peter Dinklage-Dr. Bolivar Trask

Josh Helman-Major William Stryker

Patrick Stewart-Future Professor Charles Xavier

Ian McKellen-Future Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto

Halle Berry-Ororo Munroe/Storm

Ellen Page-Kitty Pryde

Shawn Ashmore-Robert 'Bobby' Drake/Iceman

Omar Sy-Lucas Bishop/Bishop

Fan Bingbing-Clarice Ferguson/Blink

Daniel Cudmore-Piotr Rasputin/Colossus

Adan Canto-Roberto 'Bobby' da Costa/Sunspot

Booboo Stewart-James Proudstar/Warpath

Anna Paquin-Anna Marie/Rogue

Kelsey Grammer-Future Henry 'Hank' McCoy/Beast

Mark Camacho-President Richard Nixon

Directed by Bryan Singer

Logan travels fifty years into the past to prevent a dark future from coming to pass in "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

Note: At AMC Empire 25. If you want to learn more about the 3D version, go here.

The X-Men ranks as one of the biggest and most popular comic book franchises in publication today but that wasn't always the case. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the eponymous X-Men—originally dubbed 'The strangest superheroes of all!'—debuted in September 1963 but the Marvel series was met with a lukewarm reception from readers and was cancelled seven years later in 1970 with issue #66. Hard to believe given how prolific the X-Men are nowadays. Although the title returned to store shelves nine months later, each issue merely reprinted earlier stories. This would last until 1975 with issue #93. The release of Giant-Size X-Men #1 that same year led to a revival of the original series, with the title resuming publication of original material with issue #94, written by Chris Claremont. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby may have created the X-Men but it was Claremont who made them who they are today. His uninterrupted, sixteen-year stint on the series—which was later renamed to Uncanny X-Men with issue #114—transformed the title into a powerhouse in terms of sales and popularity. Many of the most acclaimed X-Men storylines, the ones that comic book readers like me have repeatedly deemed classics, were written by Claremont but the one tale that proved to be a game-changer occurred in 1981 in Uncanny X-Men #141 and #142. It was called…DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.

The cover image of the first part of the story, illustrated by John Byrne, depicted a graying Wolverine protecting Kitty Pryde while a large searchlight shines on them. Behind the two characters is a tattered poster with the faces of various X-Men, obscured by red banners reading 'SLAIN' or 'APPREHENDED.' The first page finds a middle-aged Kitty Pryde walking through a bombed-out Manhattan in what appears to be a prison uniform. Claremont's text reads: 'This is New York. The "Big Apple." Once upon a time, it was a nice place to live. It is no longer…Welcome to the 21st Century.' Ambitious and grim, the 'Days of Future Past' storyline was born out of the imminent separation of Claremont and Byrne, whom Marvel was assigning to Fantastic Four. Several months prior, the two had stunned readers by killing off Jean Grey, one of the five original X-Men, in the 'Dark Phoenix Saga,' which director Brett Ratner infamously botched in the 2006 film "X-Men: The Last Stand." Claremont and Byrne decided to up the ante by killing off everyone in a storyline that involved assassinations, the mutant-hunting Sentinels, and time travel. Hell, the second part of the story depicted a Sentinel crushing Storm in one hand while incinerating Wolverine with the other. The tagline on the cover simply read 'THIS ISSUE: EVERYBODY DIES!' It's amazing how much story Claremont and Byrne packs in with just forty-four pages and it's doubly amazing that director Bryan Singer—returning to the film franchise he made famous after an eleven-year absence—manages to pull off the impossible with his big-screen adaptation "X-Men: 'Days of Future Past." As Cinema Blend film critic Sean O'Connell writes, this is 'an X-Men story that's nearly fourteen years in the making' as it unites the cast of the original "X-Men" trilogy with 2011's "X-Men: First Class" in a globe-trotting adventure to save mutant-kind's future. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is by far the greatest "X-Men" film to date and like 2012's "The Avengers," sets a new standard for comic book film franchises.

Sunspot, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, and Colossus are just some of the X-Men that managed to survive the Sentinels' wrath.

It is the year 2023. A war against the mutant population—perpetuated by giant sentient robots dubbed 'Sentinels'—have brought about a devastating global apocalypse that has left mutants on the brink of extinction and humans facing extreme oppression. The surviving X-Men, led by former enemies Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Ian McKellen), devise a desperate plan to send one of their own into the past and prevent the Sentinels from ever being created using Kitty Pryde's (Ellen Page) time-phasing powers. Xavier explains to the team that in 1973, Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) infiltrated the Paris Peace Conference and killed a military scientist named Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). Trask is the creator of the Sentinels and had been experimenting on mutants. Mystique was captured following Trask's murder and her mutant DNA was used to create the shape-shifting Sentinels they face now. Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) volunteers to go back in time as his healing ability will allow him to withstand the pain of having his consciousness sent fifty years into the past. Waking up in his younger body in 1973, Logan travels to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters but discovers that it has fallen into disrepair. Meeting a young Charles (James McAvoy) and Henry 'Hank' McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult), he tries to convince them of the dark future that awaits them and urges the two to help him prevent it. Charles, however, has become disillusioned due to the strain of losing his friends Erik and Raven, whom he had feelings for. The onset of the Vietnam War also led to many of the mutant students being drafted and forced the school to shut down, which finally broke Xavier's spirit. Charles initially refuses to help but soon reconsiders. Logan reveals that they'll need the younger Erik's (Michael Fassbender) help as well in order to track down Mystique and stop her from murdering Trask.

Welcome back, Bryan Singer! The release of the original "X-Men" during the summer of 2000 ushered in a comic book movie renaissance, one that is still going strong to this day but a lot has changed in the past fourteen years, especially in the wake of 2012's "The Avengers." In addition to pioneering a shared cinematic universe, the films from Marvel Studios fully embrace their comic book origins, allowing fantastical characters like Thor and soon Rocket Raccoon to grace the big screen. "X-Men" and its 2003 sequel "X2: X-Men United" are great comic book films but Singer was never able to delve into the more fantastical and larger-than-life elements of the characters because Tom Rothman, who was CEO of Twentieth Century Fox at the time, wouldn't allow it. He is the reason why we had to wait so long for the Sentinels to make their big screen debut and was partially responsible for the watered-down mess in 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." Following the release of the production-troubled "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" in 2009, it looked like the franchise's best days were long gone. Although it was only in a producer capacity, Singer's return in 2011's "X-Men: First Class" put the franchise on the path of a much-needed recovery, a path that has led to his return as director for "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which manages to pull off the impossible by seamlessly adapting Chris Claremont and John Byrne's classic 1981 storyline in the context of the continuity-screwed "X-Men" film franchise while also righting all the wrongs that the series has suffered from in his eleven-year absence.

"Please...we need you to hope again..."

As "X-Men" neared its July release date in 2000, prolific X-Men writer Chris Claremont spoke with New York Magazine and remarked that the X-Men were about 'finding a way to win no matter what. Even in the face of the greatest adversity, the key is to never lose hope, never lose sense of the dream that drives you. That whatever happens, we'll find a way to win.' I don't know if Claremont foresaw the release of Singer's adaptation of "Days of Future Past" fourteen years ago but what he said perfectly encapsulates what the new film is about. The X-Men in the year 2023 are pretty much hanging by a thread and only survive thanks to Kitty Pryde's time-phasing powers (yes, I'm fully aware that the character doesn't have such powers in the comics but just go with it). Whenever the Sentinels attack, the rest of the team serves as a distraction while Kitty sends Bishop (Omar Sy) a few days into the past to warn the X-Men's younger selves of the Sentinels' impending attack. Despite the time travel premise, "Days of Future Past" is really about letting go of one's hatred and having compassion for those who hate and fear you. With Magneto imprisoned underneath the Pentagon, Alex Summers/Havok (Lucas Till) fighting in the Vietnam War and most of her mutant comrades dead due to experimentation by the government, Mystique finds herself on her own as she goes on a one-woman quest to kill Bolivar Trask, believing that this will stop the Sentinels from being created. However, she doesn't realize that this act incites anti-mutant sentiment even more and has grave consequences in the future. Charles Xavier's mission is to deter her from that path and convince her to be better than the humans who let bigotry rule them. This makes "Days of Future Past" an atypical superhero film. There are action scenes and massive CGI set-pieces (like Magneto raising the RFK Stadium as a show of force) but victory doesn't come from pummeling the crap out of a bad guy; it comes from something more existential and is more about upholding an ideal, upholding the dream that equality must come through compassion and forgiveness. It's the reason why Bryan Singer is the perfect person to being X-Men to life because he understands that these themes is what makes the characters so enduring for the past fifty-one years.

Of course, convincing Mystique to give up her quest is easier said than done. When Logan locates Charles in 1973, he finds the professor to be a very different man from the one he previously knew. The younger Charles is a disillusioned drug addict who takes a special serum to suppress his mutant powers (this also grants him the ability to walk again). He spends his days wallowing in his own self-pity and part of Logan's mission is to inspire Charles to once again champion his dream of mutant equality. The way James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence bring their respective characters to life is just one of many reasons "Days of Future Past" works so well. Charles, Erik, and Raven are people who have been hurt by one another. The latter two lash out at the world while Charles withdraws further inward. Their struggle to move past the hurt in their lives functions as the lynchpin of the film, with all three actors delivering excellent performances because they take the material seriously, bringing a raw emotion that allows audiences to sympathize or at the very least, understand their actions.

Mystique's actions serve as the catalyst for the dark future that awaits mutant-kind.

In spite of the grim story, the film isn't completely devoid of humor. Hugh Jackman remains absolutely wonderful in his seventh outing as Logan/Wolverine. The scene where he wakes up in 1973 is rather funny, with Logan finding himself on a waterbed next to a naked woman. However, the real standout is Evan Peters' Quicksilver. I'll be honest; I wasn't enamored with the early promotional material depicting the character but one playful, visually dynamic scene set to Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle completely changed my mind about him. Joss Whedon certainly has his work cut out in next summer's "Avengers: Age of Ultron," where Quicksilver—played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson—is also set to appear. It's a shame to see Peters exit the picture so early but given how many super-powered characters are in the film, it's understandable that not all of them will get a full dramatic arc. The inclusion of Bishop, Blink (Fan Bingbing), Sunspot (Adan Canto), and Warpath (Booboo Stewart) is pretty much pure fan-service but Singer makes sure to show off each of their abilities before they're hustled off-screen. If there's one weak link, it's Peter Dinklage. Although the "Game of Thrones" actor delivers a fine performance, the script unfortunately fails to develop his character's hatred of mutants beyond the fact that they're…mutants. It somewhat feels like a waste given how talented Dinklage is.

Released on May 23, 2014, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" has received overwhelmingly positive reviews with 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics hailed it for combining 'the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise's finest installments.' The film is all but guaranteed to dominate Memorial Day weekend. While it may fall slightly short of the $122.9 million earned by 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Days of Future Past" should have longer legs at the box office given the critical acclaim it has received. I could spend pages talking about "X-Men: Days of Future Past" but the best way is to experience it in the theater yourself. Carefully retconning the franchise's most problematic installments, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is a film that grabs hold of you from the very first minute and doesn't let go until the post-credits scene. Cinema Blend film critic Sean O'Connell says it best in his own review: This is 'the best, most complete and most entertaining "X-Men" movie we've ever seen.'

Final Rating: 5 out of 5

Professor Charles Xavier: I don't want your suffering! I don't want your future!

Future Professor Charles Xavier: Please...we need you to hope again...

Make sure to stay through the entire end credits for a very special teaser to 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse"!