20th Century Fox.
Midway through Days of Future Past—the latest in the X-Men franchise—a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), exasperated and frustrated, breaks down and yells at Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). “I don’t want your future!” he screams. It’s a curious and loaded moment in the film as the time-traveling narrative is both indebted to and in spite of all the previous films in the uber-successful superhero franchise.
There is, of course, an unintentional irony in that moment of the film. Director Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two films of the franchise, has come under intense fire lately, with several disturbing lawsuits alleging sex abuse thrown at him. Considering Days of Future Past’s central premise—that the X-Men of the future can send Wolverine back in time to rewrite history—I’m sure there’s a little more than wishful thinking on Singer’s part that he could send Hugh Jackman back in time to maybe prevent things that may or may not have happened from allegedly happening. But perhaps what actually lured Singer back to direct another X-Men film is the string of mediocre-to-awful sequels and spinoffs that followed after X2: X-Men United. Save for Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, all of the other films haven’t nearly lived up to the precedent Singer set, and the idea of creating a sequel that can clear the bad taste from the franchise’s mouth without completely starting over is more than promising.
And that’s just what Days of Future Past does. It serves as a franchise palate cleanser that builds upon what’s already been established but delicately threads a fine needle to negate all of the negative aspects from previous films, effectively tying together the loose threads from the last four X-Men films.
Based on the classic ’80s comic book by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Days of Future Past kicks things off in a dystopic future setting. A voiceover by future Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) explains that an army of mutant-hunting robots called the Sentinels evolved, started hunting humans, and pretty much destroyed much of the planet in their hunt for mutants (or anyone carrying the mutant gene). What little mutants aren’t dead or captured live in hiding, trying to find new ways to fight the Sentinels. Xavier, Magneto (Ian McKellan), and several other X-Men have come up with a risky, last-ditch effort to effectively end the war before it even begins: using her power, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) is going to send Wolverine’s consciousness into his younger self in 1973 to try and convince Xavier and Magneto to prevent Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage), the man who created the Sentinels. According to the history books, Mystique’s assassination led to her capture, which then led scientists to manipulate her unique DNA and apply it to the Sentinels, making them extra hard to kill. If Wolverine can stop Mystique, the war would end before it even begins.
20th Century Fox.
It sounds like a complicated, convoluted plot, but Singer brisk direction and the economical script by Simon Kinberg, Jane Goldman, and Matthew Vaughn keeps it tight without it ever getting overly complicated or nuanced. Instead, it almost feels like a terse political thriller, with Wolverine, young Xavier and Magneto, and others trotting the globe, trying to track down Mystique and save the future.
The first two X-Men films worked so well because the conflicting ideologies of its characters often clashed with their emotional tendencies—the bond between Xavier and Magneto remains strong, despite the clashing ideologies that puts a vast divergence between them. The emotional narrative between Xavier and Magneto—putting aside their political differences to save their future—along with the complicated relationship between the pair and Mystique adds an effective sentimental hook to the film that’s so often absent from big budget blockbusters.
But that doesn’t mean Days of Future Past isn’t as exciting as any other Marvel film—it is. The addition of new mutants—Blink (Fan Bingbing), Bishop (Omar Sy), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), and others—along with franchise veterans like Storm and (Halle Berry) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) more than delivers in terms of spectacle. In fact, it’s probably the most visually exciting X-Men film since X2: X-Men United.
Still, it’s not without its faults. As much as Singer tries to keep things moving along, the film sometimes falls victim of “too much plot” syndrome, and parts of it slog before the two timelines begin to come together. Faults and all, Days of Future Past fits perfectly with the beat of the first two films, and Singer does a fine job trying to clean up the mess left after he departed from the franchise.
Oh, and you get to see Magneto levitate RFK Stadium and drop it right in the middle of the National Mall.
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X-Men: Days of Future Past
Godzilla
Directed by Bryan Singer
Written by Simon Kinberg
With Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, and Ian McKellan
Rated PG- 13 for sequences of intense sci-fi violence and action, some suggestive material, nudity and language.
