X-Men: Days of Future Past
If you can change the past, you control the future.

Futility piecing together 20th Century Fox’s superhero franchise, Bryan Singer returns to the director’s seat to connect the dots between X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine. He’s definitely got his work cut out for him in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

In the future, a dark, desolate world where mutants and ordinary humans who help them are hunted down. Some are killed, others imprisoned. In this dystopian future, a small ragtag team of mutants are all that remain and their time is quickly running out. With their options dwindling, their only hope is to send Wolverine’s consciousness back in time in order to alter their future. Makes sense, right?

After time travelling back to 1973, Logan must stop Mystique from killing the mad scientist, Dr. Bolivar Trask in order to stop the Sentinel robots from ever being created and preventing a mutant-hunting war. But he can’t fight the battle alone. Wolverine must convince Professor X, Beast and Quicksilver (who is hilarious in his introduction, btw!) for help, which is tough.

The story is split between the pending disaster of the future and a possible one happening in the past.

I really like how the climax of the past directly lines up with the future’s, even though the movie focuses more on the past. Even though the title says “X-Men,” it’s technically the adventures of Wolverine in time. It would’ve been nice to have showcased the ensemble instead of focusing on one character, but this story isn’t taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or it would’ve been perfect.

The entire movie is action packed and includes a ton of great special effects, but it’s painfully obvious Jennifer Lawrence is lip-synching while her character transforms. In this day and age, isn’t there a way to fix this with technology?

At one point, the movie seemingly becomes a ’70s undercover cop drama that showcases a who’s who of the Marvel Universe (which in itself would be an amazing movie).

Sacrifices are made for the heroes to save the day and this movie has a unique storyline that allowed James McAvoy’s Xavier to walk around, if only temporarily. Many obstacles were dodged with this movie, including retconning future sequels to erase the stench of Last Stand.

The whole gang’s here, in fact, 22 mutants total (including a couple of actors playing the same characters). It’s interesting to see this rogue’s alley of contributors come full circle. Halle Berry claimed she’d never be in a comic-based film after X-Men: The Last Stand… before doing Catwoman and returning for this. Bryan Singer left the franchise for his dream project, Superman Returns. Both projects totally flopped.

Still not sure how Patrick Stewart’s previously deceased Professor X is alive in the distant future, since he supposedly died during Last Stand… also, this Magneto seems to be the spawn of Marvel’s Dr. Octopus and a Sith Lord of Star Wars. I found that intriguing.

Logan foreshadows the events depicted in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. If only he could have stopped that bad movie from ever being made…

“The future is never truly set.” That line of dialogue lingers for the characters, as well as for the audience. Does more credit belong to the director or did this movie have no chance of failing by uniting both time frames? I guess the truth will be revealed when Singer returns for the next superhero sequel: X-Men: Apocalypse.

Strength: Great action sequences and two engaging storylines.
Weakness: Still not a fan of PG-13 movies dropping the f-bomb.
WTF Moment: Either Michael Fassbender’s Magneto killed JFK in this alternate past, or the former President was a mutant. The jury’s still out on that one.

Notable Quotes:
– “Is the future truly set?”
– “We all have to die sometime.”
– “So, you were always an asshole…”
– “Sometimes we all need a little help.”
– “Did you lose your way, while I was gone?”
– “Would you believe me if I told you I was sent here from the future?”
– “Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.”

Review: 4/5