X-Men: Days of Future Past - Film Review

Bryan Singer's return to the X-men franchise Director's chair brings a welcome return to form for the cast of the original trilogy of films. Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg have managed to bring to the screen a compelling drama whose focus on characters and themes harkens back to the highly-acclaimed 'X-Men' that launched the franchise and Singer's career fourteen years ago. In addition to key cast members Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, 'Days of Future Past' also sees the return of the key cast members from the prequel reboot 'X-Men: First Class'. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult have all seen their careers head north since their first X-Men outing and the combination of the two casts is arguably the best comic book movie ensemble ever assembled. Throw in 'Game of Thrones' star Peter Dinklage as the film's misunderstood villain - Bolivar Trask - and 'Days of Future Past' transcends its comic book origins to be a film that offers more than just slick set-pieces and zippy dialogue.

The gang's all here, as Mutants from the past and the future come together to collapse the X-Men timeline in on itself and provide a re-set for a franchise that had its fair share of story-telling mis-steps over the last decade.

The story is an allegory about the horrors committed by monolithic oppressors and, in part, continues Singer's fascination with the acts of violence committed by the Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s and the Second World War. 'Apt Pupil', 'X-Men' and 'Valkyrie' have all dealt with this issue, but 'Days of Future Past' is different. Simon Kinberg's screenplay gives the near-extinct 'X-Men' of the future the chance to go back through time and convince their younger selves that they must change the course of history by preventing the death of the man who has discovered the means to eradicate the Earth of the perceived Mutant threat. It's a great moral dilemma and one that sees Hugh Jackman's Wolverine selected to have his consciousness sent back through time, as his self-regeneration mutation is the only type that can survive being forced fifty years back into the past. It’s convenient, but a clever move on Kinberg’s part, to use Wolverine, as he never ages; so it’s easier for those somewhat familiar with the previous X-Men films to accept that Jackman doesn’t look markedly different in either time period. At this point, if the viewer can suspend their disbelief of this MacGuffin, they will enjoy everything that happens throughout the rest of ‘Days of Future Past’, as Wolverine’s passage back in time is the critical story moment in understanding the relationship between the 'Past' and 'Future' storylines.

Hugh Jackman's 'Wolverine' gets the job of going back in time to prevent the assassination that allows the development of the Sentinels and, ultimately, the extinction of Mutants.

While fans of the franchise will be delighted to see the return of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in their ‘Professor X’ and ‘Magneto’ roles, the 1973 'Past' storyline is far more interesting as the talents of Jackman, McAvoy, Fassbender and Hoult work together incredibly well in their efforts to prevent Jennifer Lawrence's 'Mystique' from setting the entire Mutant race on the path to extinction. The main four are joined for a short period of time by Evan Peters as 'Quicksilver', whose ability to travel at incredibly fast speeds is put to good use to break Fassbender's 'Magneto' out of an impossible-to-escape prison. Peters inhabits the role wonderfully and his youthful enthusiasm for his powers makes for the most visually striking sequence in the film, as well as one of its funniest, as ‘Quicksilver’ ensures his new-found Mutant friends make their way to safety. Kinberg's story doesn't allow 'Quicksilver' to overstay his welcome as the main players head to Paris where the backdrop of the 1973 Vietnam War Peace Accords are used for an extended set-piece that sees the Mutants revealed to the entire world and sets in train the events that lead to the film's Washington DC climax.

Evan Peters gets a scene-stealing turn as 'Quicksilver'; a character that should feature more the already announced follow-up to 'Days of Future Past' - 'X-Men: Apocalypse'.

To fully appreciate 'Days of Future Past' the audience is required to understand a lot of exposition and are asked to make a number of cognitive leaps to keep pace with the story. It also requires some knowledge of the four previous 'X-Men' films to fully sympathise with the character's crises in the events that unfold in the 'Future' time period. (Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Origins movie is completely ignored, while last year's 'The Wolverine' is obliquely referenced in a scene between Jackman and McAvoy's young Charles Xavier.) This may make the film’s story a challenge for the uninitiated, as the “destruction porn” so prevalent in current blockbusters is eschewed in favour of genuine drama built around the dynamic but challenging relationship that exists between McAvoy’s ‘Charles’ and Fassbender’s ‘Erik’. There is no doubt that the Producers of the ‘X-Men’ movie franchise backed two winners in casting these two great actors in ‘First Class’, but their skills are continuing to appreciate and there’s an added layer in both of their performances this time around that imbues ‘Days of Future Past’ with authenticity and maturity not seen since Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ was released in 2008. Fassbender is especially good and the steely resolve of his eyes are put to good effect by Singer on more than one occasion where all that is required is a “look”.

On the production side, much credit for the success of the film must go to Kinberg’s screenplay; however, he was not a lone scribe on this project. Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughan help Kinberg create the story framework for ‘Days of Future Past’ in a continuation of the work they started back on ‘First Class’. Goldman and Vaughan’s association dates back even further than ‘First Class’, as they were collaborators on the first ‘Kick-Ass’ movie. Bryan Singer brought back many of the original ‘X-Men’ movie crew to get this new movie up on the Big Screen. Newton Thomas Sigel returns to the ‘X-Men’ universe for a third time, following his work on both the first and second films. The multi-talented John Ottman returns as both Film Editor and Music Composer. The movie’s score is the best of the ‘X-Men’ films and the ‘Hope’ track, which is Charles’s theme, is an especially moving piece of music that beautifully captures the hopes and anxieties that both Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy convey throughout proceedings. Special mention must also be made of Production Designer John Myhre, Costume Designer Louise Mingenbach and the entire Make-Up Department; all of whom have contributed to realise the early 1970s in all its flared-glory and mutton-chop panache.

In ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, Bryan Singer has brought to the screen a remarkable film. Not only does it entertain in its own right, it manages to set straight many of the inconsistencies created through a lack of story coordination for the ‘X-Men’ franchise throughout the six previous films. This may not be important to the average movie-goer, but it’s important to fans of both the movies and the comic books that consistency exists within the ‘X-Men’ universe. The movie’s conclusion leaves plenty of story options for the already announced ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, as well as any further stand-alone movies including a follow-up to ‘The Wolverine’. The final moments leave the franchise in the best place it has been since the end of ‘X2’ over a decade ago and, once again, demonstrates that when comic book franchise properties are handled with care they can deliver as much drama & emotion as they do action & excitement!