X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Yay! I have a day off from work and finally got to see X-Men: Days of Future Past!!! Now let's get into what I thought about it!

Plot: In a distant future, the world mutant and opposing humans who could have mutant offspring are being exterminated by robots called Sentinels. The X-men in this future learn that this was caused by Mystique killing the designer of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask. So Kitty Pryde sends Wolverine back to the year 1973, where he has to find Professor Xavier and Magneto from during that year and help him stop Mystique and prevent the deadly future from ever happening.

Honestly, I'm still a little taken aback as to how this movie turned out in both good and kind of concerning ways. Now I want to make it clear that yes, this was definitely a good movie. With little to no doubt, even if it's not better than X-Men 2, it has to be at least the second or third best X-Men without really even trying. Heck, I'd say it would actually be my personal favorite of the series. (But that's coming from someone who did not grow up with X-Men, for those of you who love X-Men 2 more.) But at the same time, I find myself asking a lot of questions throughout the movie. Some of them where answered and done fairly well, which I'm pretty happy about. Other explanations...are while were indeed given, I feel they could've been delivered a lot better. Particularly with what exactly happened in the past between X-Men: First Class, and what's happening right now witht he younger versions of Xavier, Magneto and Mystique. And the premise of the story has a major flaw with Kitty's apparent ability to send people back in time. It has nothing to do with her phasing abilities, it's not something that was never in the comics, it just basically came out of nowhere. I guess you could make the argument that it was something that she got in the future by growing up and gaining new abilities or something like that, but they don't give us any explanation whatsoever so that's am issue. But enough about what problems I have about this movie, let's talk about what's good about it, cause there is a lot of stuff to really like about it. First, there's the action, which comes off much bigger and in some respects, smarter and well thought out than the action form the previous films. Not that the action was completely terrible in the last films, but comparing how the battles where a lot of mutants are fighting here, to what was happening in the third film where it was a little confusing and out of focus, they clearly put much more thought into the idea. There's also the moments around the first half of the movie where things are done in slow motion, particularly with Quicksilver that are surprisingly very well made. I know that seems like an odd thing to say, but some of these slow motions shots were really stylized, and I can't help but really enjoy that, as well as Quicksilver himself as much of a bummer as it is that he's not in the movie for very long. Secondly, there's the acting. While Ian Mckellen and Patrick Stewart go without saying as to how awesome it is to see them again, it's also nice to see Wolverine and how he interacts with the past versions of Xavier and Magneto while still being bad-a and funny, even if he has his bone claws throughout the majority of the movie. And it was nice to see James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jenifer Lawrence again. I also very intrigued to have Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask. Granted, that character is not a dwarf in the comics, but at the same time, it's an interesting idea, Dinklage is a very good actor, and he gives a good performance here, so you kinda just let the matter go. And finally there's the story. Now true, the concept of going back in time to fix the future that is destroyed by robots is by no means original by today's standards. But to be fair, this is loosely based off a comic book storyline that was made in the very early 80s. Plus, I do think it has some of it's own different take on it with focusing on both the future and the past instead of just the past, and the fact that Wolverine technically isn't completely in the past. He has his body still in the future, but he's controlling his body from the past and he has to be protected in the future while he's still on his mission. That's actually a little unique, and having his real body stay in the future, does help with being focused on both points in time. And while the story is done very loosely, they do make up for it by giving the characters from the past these different situations that helps keep the story interesting. Was it always done right? Not really. Because like I said, while the explanations where indeed given, they needed a little more work. Because let's face it, they give us a lot of big stuff that happens between the events in First Class and the events in 1973, and they mainly told us what happened instead of showing it. That does bother me a lot. But ultimately it does lead to a climax that gives us an ending similar to the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that leaves me excited to find out what they're going to do next and if they're going to take every advantage to what is happening.

And that's my review for X-Men: Days of Future Past. I have my problems with how they explained some of the things that happen in the movie, but at the end of the day, it was a great step forward and a big improvement  in the X-Men franchise after X-Men: The Last Stand. The acting was good, the action was enjoyable and it has a good story that leaves you wanting to find out what they're going to do next. If you are an X-Men fan, and you want to see this movie, you should definitely do so. If you're not a fan and you haven't seen all of the X-Men/Wolverine films, you should do so first to understand and also appreciate what they're doing here.

Rating: 85%