Review: “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” Another Fabulous Trip Down Mutant Lane

 

Review By: Cole Clay

Twitter: @WordsByCole

Make sure you brush up on your “X-Men” film history before you sit down for “Days Of Future Past.” Director Bryan Singer and scriptwriter Simon Kinberg assume you are already familiar with the previous installments. This tricky globe-trotting, time traveling, blockbuster doesn’t apologize for the convoluted plot line ,but makes up for this by handling the narrative with care. 

 This film still doesn’t quite live up to Singer’s last trip down mutant lane “X2” which still remains to be the franchise’s shining star. He keeps this one moving at a quickened pace despite the lengthy bits of exposition throughout. At times you put aside that you are watching yet another superhero movie and focus on the socially relevant themes that prove to be the most interesting elements to the film. 

We meet up with the X-Men crew including  Storm, (Halle Berry) Iceman, (Shawn Ashmore) Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and several other familiar faces. Even more mutants are added to the mix like an adolescent Quicksilver (Evan Peters) who graces the audiences with a high speed prank-a-thon that is one of the best sequences. To the film’s credit the action set pieces are small in scale which gives the chance to hone in on character development despite the high concept premise. 

It comes as no surprise that the show stopper is of course Michael Fassbender; his casting as Magneto comes as one of the best moves in comic book film history. He brings a sense of menace to the character that was never completely captured by the great Ian McKellen. The true grandeur of this character never ceases to amaze physically and emotionally before coming to a head in the final act involving a sports stadium. Additionally, this film shows that Jennifer Lawrence can bring an excellent presence to a role especially when the focus isn’t primarily on her. 

While juggling drama, action, and at times espionage the film still manages to sneak a bevy of laughs throughout, with several tips of the hat to other entries in the franchise. “Days Of Future Past” doesn’t fully dive head first into the inherent cheesiness of the early 1970’s quite like last year’s Oscar darling “American Hustle,” but that doesn’t stop Singer from having a little fun with the era. 

There are plenty of crowd pleasing moments and plenty of time and space to do so and this is undoubtedly the best installment since Singer left the chair. You will get pulled in a dozen different directions before you even notice a ripple, but with that being said this is an incredibly satisfying experience that will be remembered for many summers to come.