X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (Spoiler Alert)
Days of Future Past (DoFP) is one of the most ambitious of the X-Men movies to date,
acting both as a sequel-to-the-prequel that was First Class but also showing a
glimpse of the dystopian future that has been heavily portrayed in the comic
series.
A good chunk of the original cast are back (Hugh Jackman, Sir
Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan, Ellen Page and Halle Berry among the most
prominent) and they are joined by the main protagonists from First Class such
as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult.
There are few cameos from some unexpected characters and the task of “main bad
guy” has been handed over to Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) in the guise of
Bolivar Trask.
The movie begins in the future with the remaining X-Men being
systematically hunted down by the Sentinels, giant machines created by Trask
initially to wipe out mutants but which have taken recently to having a pop at
general humanity too.
The decision is taken to send Wolverine’s consciousness back in
time to his former self in 1973 – the plan being to stop Mystique’s
assassination of Trask which was the catalyst for his Sentinel plan to get the
go ahead in the first place.
Wolverine locates Beast and Xavier in Charles’s mansion and
eventually convinces a drunken Xavier of who he is. After breaking Magneto out
of maximum security prisoner the race is on to stop Mystique and change the
course of history.
DoFP cracks along at a far pace, as do all the X-Men movies, and
the ensemble cast gels together fantastically. The dynamic of McAvoy and
Fassbender is as good, if not better, than the one between Stewart and McKellen
and Jackman seems to enjoy playing second fiddle somewhat. He has carried a
good few of the X-Men films himself and he appears to relish not being the
focal point this time.
Comic book bad guys are all pretty clichéd so it is no surprise
that Trask falls into that category. Dinklage does his best with what is there
and his familiar style breathes life into an otherwise unconvincing bad guy.
Jennifer Lawrence has almost a Mystique-like ability to shift
between her acting roles and she is once again bang on the button (not to
mention she looks FANTASTIC throughout – I know that shouldn’t come into it but
I’m afraid it does!). She strikes the right balance between vulnerability and
psychosis that Mystique displays throughout the comics, something that I think
is always key to her storylines.
The action piece scenes in DoFP are typically ambitious (witness
Magneto relocating RFK Memorial Stadium AROUND the White House) but it is the
quieter moments that I really enjoyed. The moments of contemplation and
reflection where you can see the characters’ conflicts and understand the
burden placed upon them.
Overall this didn’t disappoint. There has been a real glut of
prequels over the last 4 or 5 years, not all of them successful. First Class
was a very good prequel and DoFP continues along this vein.
The advantage of X-Men as a franchise is that they have so many
characters to play with that they should always be able to keep the franchise
fresh, but it does require good storylines and the right actors to carry them.
Thankfully DoFP delivers on both counts and the intriguing
post-credit scene hints at more mutant-based fun and games to come in the not
too distant future.
Verdict: 4.5 stars out of 5
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