X-Men: Days of Future Past

• Directed by Bryan Singer
• May 10, 2014 (Javits Center) / May 23, 2014 (US)
• Based on X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

From a devastated future, Wolverine travels back to 1973 to change history and prevent an event that results in rise of the Sentinels and the eradication of mutant kind.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a classic comics storyline, and I was quite excited to see it adapted in some way-ANY way-into a film. I hoped for a one-to-one translation, but that was not to be though I am still quite pleased with what we did get.

The film includes returning characters from the predecessor as well as a grab-bag from the first three films along with some new faces. Since this is a time travel movie my biggest gripe is the inclusion of Bishop (Omar Sy) who was still relatively new to the comics in comparison to other characters but very popular at the time. Why? Bishop is from a future further away than the one this is set in and events here would prevent it from existing at all. Great casting, performance, execution, and costuming so I am willing to forgive.

It is a well-constructed film that connects the past and present casts in a way that unites the two series while also saying goodbye to what came before. It does so with a gripping story packed with emotion and excitement. In a world of sequels, it never suffers from BEING a sequel.

It is not an action-oriented film but a dramatic movie with action. Humor is used to demonstrate a character or just judiciously. It is not done in a way that points out how much of a fiction Days is. The audience knows it is not real. The humor of the MCU is not here.

Some of the high quality is due to the imagination used. Power uses range from demonstrations of raw strength to the more casual like looking at film. While the Quicksilver (Evan Peters) moment got all the press, the scene in the airport where Professor X (James McAvoy) is using telepathy to talk to Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) via multiple people is a standout in style too.

There’s a poignancy to many of the scenes. Character deaths mean something. Future Charles and Erik (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen returning) handle their regret for mistakes of the past like old friends who know they spent too much time at odds. Spectacle movies these days don’t understand that what happens needs to matter to the characters. When it starts to matter to the characters, it matters to the audience. 

You may go “But how is Professor X alive? He died in X-Men: The Last Stand?” If you watched the whole movie not only did they give a way for Professor X to survive but he was revealed to have used it at the very end. This embraces what came before while acting as a hand off story.

The popularity of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine cannot be understated. Despite not being the correct height, he is intimately connected with the character. He did a job so good that he is the standard by which future actors for a long time to come will be measured by. Given the period they were aiming to portray, he was the only choice to replace Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) in the time jump. It gives the story more emotional weight at the end with his confusion AND satisfaction over the changes.

I do not think it would have been that difficult to make the Sentinels either in the past or future look like the classic design. If I recall in Last Stand (which Days was as much a sequel to as it was First Class) had the head of one in their Danger Room sequence. Not saying the design they went with was bad.

Peter Dinklage takes over as Bolivar Trask. Why do I say ‘takes over’? Because a character called ‘Trask’ whom one could assume to be Bolivar Trask previously appeared Last Stand. Bill Duke, best known for always shaving in Predator, played the part very briefly. His hair still had not grown back.

That aside, his Trask is a man blinded by bigotry who also sees a bit of a chance to make a buck dealing with a threat he perceives. Dinklage-as-Trask is a threat based on his driven nature and ability to bend facts to get what he wants.

All the actors take the material seriously and perform it with dramatic weight. Once again the story revolves around the dynamic between Magneto and Professor X and all four actors make it matter to the audience. James McAvoy is an emotionally tormented man having lost several along the way by this point. A broken man with crushed dreams and significant loss. 

Erik is still motivated by the events of his youth. It’s not that he’s trying to create a better future. At least the past Erik but he is more seeking revenge against the world. This is a villain not motivated by evil but his lashing out has convinced himself he has his extreme methods are entirely justified.

If there is a weakness it is how does Kitty keep her spot in the future for hours or days without sleeping or eating or dropping a deuce? Time is passing at about the same rate in the past and present until success or failure. So how does she even stay awake? Rogue (Anna Paquin) takes part but only when the stresses start getting to her and Kitty needs a break. They are not trading regularly.

Epic and exciting and dramatic, X-Men: Days of Future Past is another win in the X-Men saga. It may not be a one-to-one adaption but it is a great film and fantastic superhero storytelling.