Movie: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page
Rating: ****
The time travel concept when used effectively as a movie plot can literally resurrect any sagging franchise, introduce new characters and even create possibilities for the development of a series without affecting the origin of the story. Bryan Singer has quite easily achieved all of the above with X-Men: Days of Future Past, which shows us exactly how creative a filmmaker can get with the help of this concept. This time travel tale from Singer combines almost all the characters from the X-Men trilogy with the cast from X-Men First Class, to produce a story that serves as both sequel and mash-up to all the previous installments in the franchise.
Days of Future Past is about how the mutants go back in time in order to stop an oncoming war in the future between their kind and giant robots called Sentinels, made from the DNA of a mutant, thus making them almost invincible. Using the teleportation abilities of Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back in time to the 70s by Charles (Patrick) and Erik (Ian) to find them (McAvoy and Fassbender) in the past and stop an assassination that will set in motion events that eventually lead to the invention of Sentinels.
When I read that Singer will be bringing together all the characters so far we’ve seen from the franchise in Days of Future Past, I had my doubts about the film. I thought it would turn out to be a big-budget screw up in the name of a summer blockbuster. But Singer knows his strengths and weaknesses and uses the same wisely to give us a story that’s easy to understand even though it may not the best in the series. I still give credit to this film because even with a plot, that keeps switching back and forth in time; Singer still manages to keep us hooked with an entertaining screenplay. The best film in the X-Men trilogy came from Singer, and he doesn’t disappoint on his return especially after directing the disastrous Jack The Giant Slayer. He ensures that the there’s enough scope for the extension of the franchise.
DOFP doesn’t feature a strong antagonist and even the awesome Peter Dinklage is not used to the best of his potential, but that doesn’t make this film a weak successor to First Class, which still remains to be the best film in the series. DOFP is a rare film that not only does justice to its immediate predecessor but to the entire franchise. This time, the battle is within the mutant community and for a better tomorrow they have to join forces. The villain is one among them. It’s the story of how the ego of one mutant causes havoc in the mutant world and in order to restore peace, the past needs to be amended.
Despite a story that loses steam at regular intervals, the actors keep you entertained from the get go. Jackman, McAvoy, Fassbender all rising up the occasion to give knock out performances but the best and the most entertaining one comes from Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters, and the prison break scene featuring him is probably why you will enjoy this film more than expected. Lawrence plays her role with dignity and is convincing in a violent and emotional role. Dinklage is probably the one actor who fell flat in this ensemble and one can’t certainly blame him because his character hardly had any scope for performance.
Still don’t understand why these films are made in 3D if there are not enough 3D-enriching scenes to satisfy us. The reason is obvious and there’s no point talking about it. Your collective memory of all the X-Men films will be tested with DOFP, and therefore, it’s best to brush up before you plan to watch it.
Don’t forget to watch the post credits scene!