Have to start this by being honest, I liked X-Men 1 and 2. And the last time that I saw X-Men 3, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine , I actually liked those movies at the time.
It's been so long since I've seen those movies, and to be fair, my views have changed since those days. So cut this reviewer some slack (please!).
REVIEW
X-Men Days of Future Past starts off, and you can tell that Bryan Singer isn't just trying to redeem the past X-Men movies but the past two Terminator movies as well (Yes, I am joking about the last part).
Sentinels are terminating humans and mutants alike, and the ONLY way to stop them is to send someone back in time, and who better to send than The Wolverine?
I KNOW I KNOW! X-Men Purists wanted Kitty Pryde. But honestly for *this* particularly movie, Wolverine works better.
The Acting
There are many things I can say about that acting in this movie, and it just wouldn't be enough. The acting in this movie is absoulutely superb.
Among all the summer movies thusfar, THIS movie has the best acting out of all them. There are a lot of big names in this movie, but everyone owns their role. When watching them on-screen, the actors actually feel like their characters, and that's awesome in my opinion.
Hugh Jackman still kicks all sort of tail as Wolverine. They made Wolverine a more likable person in these X-Men films and he is still the coolest character on the team, and Hugh Jackman is a big part of that.
James McCavoy was a great young Xavier in X-Men: First Class, but he's even better this time around. You can really feel his pain in a lot of scenes.
Michael Fassbender is still superb as Erik Lehnsherr, and with all due respect to Mr. Ian Mckellen, Fassbender is the better Magneto in these films.
Speaking of which, Ian Mckellen and Patrick Stewart are great as Old Professor X and Old Magneto. The scenes involving the two were great, especially one in particular where Magneto states "We spent all those years fighting eachother...", and I won't quote any further as to avoid spoilers.
One thing I have to mention is Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde. Page hasn't gotten a lot of screen time in these movies (and she doesn't get a whole lot here), but when she is on screen, I absolutely love her character and the way she's portrayed. I really liked the interactions that she had with Professor X and Wolverine.
The Characters
I really liked how the characters were done in this movie, particularly how they were done in the past scenes.
They really humanized Xavier's character in this movie, they made him more relatable. Some purists will have a problem with that, but honestly this movie would be a lot less interesting if they didn't make McCavoy's Xavier a bit more relatable.
Seeing Xavier so broken down in the 70's is really gut-wrenching, but at the same time, it's kind of inspiring to know what he'll eventually become.
It was interesting to see Wolverine try to take on the mentor role in this movie. As Charles stated "I need you to do for me, what I once did for you...", and seeing that on-screen was pretty cool in my opinon.
The dynamic between Young Xavier and Wolverine is great. Just knowing how tight these two will enventually become makes the movie so much more fun to watch.
Erik in this movie hasn't really changed much from the last movie. But that works just fine, because that makes the scenes with him and Xavier more interesting.
I sort of wondered how Erik's attitude would change when they told him about the future events to come. I think anyone who watches the film and is a fan of the X-Men comics will be satisfied with the outcome.
The Plot
The one thing you've probably heard about the plot in this movie is that it's surprisingly simple. Of course simplicity doesn't mean stupidity. This movie doesn't have an Inception-like plot, but it's still complicated in some areas.
The plot never felt all over the place for me personally. It was really well done. And just so I can avoid spoilers, that's pretty much all I'm going to say about it.
The Action
This movie isn't overloaded with action, but when the action sequences go down, it is great to see. I enjoyed the future scenes where the X-Men used their powers together. In a way it shows how Bryan Singer has grown as a director when it comes to the action portion of his films.
The past scenes are great as well .There was one scene in this movie that was humorously and visually amazing, but I won't spoil it for you. Go see the movie.
The CGI
One thing that I was impressed with was the CGI. Never at a point, did I think "that looks so fake". The greatness of the CGI really shows with the future Sentinels.
They look absolutely menacing. The effects crew deserve a raise for that.
And the opening credits scene looks really friggin awesome. My friend even said " I wonder if the rest of the film will look this good".
Suffice to say, he was not dissapointed.
One Little thing...(SPOILER ALERT!!!)
There is one thing I have to talk about, because it's been on my mind since I saw the movie.
And that thing is....How can Kitty Pryde send people through time? I've seen most of the X-Men animated series (all of them), and I have one X-Men graphic novel, and I thought she could only walk through wall and things like that.
If you are a X-Men comics fan, can you please tell me whether or not Kitty Pryde has this ability in the comics? I really need (and want) to know.
The Verdict
I really don't have any complaints about the film. It's not just a good comic book movie, but it's a great film, and it rivals Captain America: The Winter Soldier as best summer blockbuster this year.
I give X-Men Days of Future Past a
5/5.