X-men: Days of Future Past

I have always loved the X-men movies. Yes it is another superhero movie but the variety of characters is what made the X-men movies so different from other superhero movies. Marvel is a world of superheroes and X-men has a quite central position to this world.

From the first movie when we were first introduced to some of the core characters, we know that there will be more movies to come, as one movie is just not enough to introduce all the colourful and interesting characters that populate this X-men universe. After the first movie, we had “X-men 2” and then “X-men: The Last Stand” that kind of wrapped up the initial trilogy. In these three movies we get to know Professor X, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey (aka Dark Phoenix), Rogue (still think they did not do justice to this character), Magneto and Mystique. We also had a glimpse of Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Pyro, and Juggernaut etc. In the third movie we also had a glimpse of the Sentinels, which was one of the very important story arcs in the comics. After the first trilogy, we had some spin offs such as the Wolverine movies and “X-men: The First Class” that tell us more about the back-stories.

In “X-men: Days of Future Past” the Sentinels finally took centre stage and the scene was not pretty. Mutants are being hunted ruthlessly including humans who have the potentials to produce mutant offspring. The weapon once designed to protect the human race became a tool to oppress whoever is different or has the potential to become different. In order to save the day Wolverine was sent back to the past attempting to change the course of history. He needs to enlist the help of other mutants (the cast of “X-men: The First Class”) to change an important event so that mutants in the future (the cast of the original X-men trilogy) could avoid a complete extinction.

It is really exciting to see that director Bryan Singer did attempt to bring back most of the original cast members for continuity. After all a lot of them are now more expensive and well known. It is also very cool that these now super stars are willing to reprise their roles but some of them in a smaller capacity. Halle Berry reprises as Storm so did Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Professor X and Magneto. They together with Ellen Page’s Kitty Pryde and Shawn Ashmore’s Iceman formed the pillar of the future arc. When Wolverine was sent back to the past, he encountered the younger version of Professor X and Magneto (played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender), Beast (played by Nicholas Hoult) and not to mention Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence). New comers to the series included Evan Peters’ Quicksilver, Bingbing Fan’s Blink, Omar Sy’s Bishop and Booboo Stewart’s Warpath. It was a strong cast with a huge variety of personalities.

One thing I like about Bryan Singer’s X-men movies is they do have great humour despite a lot of times they are talking about serious issues such as discrimination, fear and oppression. It is good that in this movie, humour is not just exhibited by Wolverine but also the younger or past version of the X-men. James McAvoy proved once again that he is no an inferior version of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and can hold his own ground. Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique had matured and now more and more similar to Rebeca Romijn’s famous interpretation. Michael Fassbender’s ruthless Magneto made sharp contrast to the older repenting Magneto who is fighting for his survival. Ian McKellen commanded most of the heavy weight story line with Patrick Stewart and you could see how a friendship bond by similarity then torn by differences came back in full cycle. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is as great as ever and I think when this character is thrown into the array of other X-men, it became more interesting than just him as Wolverine holding a full movie together. However I must say the short appearance of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver had stole quite a bit of limelight from his other fellow X-men. His scenes were just brilliant.

“X-men: Days of Future Past” is not a particularly uplifting movie as oppression and discrimination are at their peak with the sole intention of elimination and extinction. However, the story was so tightly woven together that you do not want to miss a single moment of it no matter how heavy the tone is. Also the story tied up a lot of loose ends in other X-men movies and wrapped up different storylines nicely by referencing them skilfully throughout the story. I personally hope that there won’t be another X-men movie coming out any time soon so I can relish this feeling for me for a bit longer. As for the movie itself, it was a full house of applause when the credits roll, so you know what that means and I rest my words here.