Ok, so I watched it again. Looks like I didn't fall asleep last night like I thought, was just really dozing off when Magneto was putting the metal on the sentinels.

It's a very solid film but I wasn't in love with it like I thought I would be. By the end I wanted another film with the old cast rather than the new one.

A decade and a half ago, director Bryan Singer launched the popular X-Men franchise, an ongoing story of heroic mutants fighting to save a society which largely distrusts or even despises them. After building to the graceful and magnificent X2, which may still be the finest, most exciting, and most moving superhero film, Singer bequeathed the franchise to to other directors with mixed results, ranging from the pop exuberance of X-Men: First Class to the downright toxic-waste nightmare which is X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Singer returns with strength to the franchise's director's chair with X-Men: Days of First Past, which finds audience favorite Wolverine time traveling to change events in the 1970s to avert an apocalyptic crisis in the 2020s.

The film cuts between the past (the focus) and the present: Wolverine locates and recruits a youthful Charles Xavier and Magneto, at the arguable height of their legendary feud, while the friends he left behind in the future, including Iceman and Storm, prepare for a final fight with murderous, powerful robots known as the Sentinels. In almost every respect, Days of Future Past soars. It moves at an exciting clip without losing sight of its core characters and themes, and the set pieces are staged with characteristic straightforward flair by Singer, who nods toward the depicted era by showing certain moments of conflict and pursuit through the lenses of bystanders' 8-mm cameras.

The cast, now a diverse ensemble to be envied, is in fine form. Portraying Wolverine for the seventh time, Hugh Jackman can now unleash the character's blend of stoicism and humorous cynicism in his sleep, yet his performance is still energetic and vital. The actor and the role have, it is clear, become old friends. As the elder Xavier and Magneto, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen do not have much to do other than lend the film a certain West End-honed prestige, but James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, reprising their First Class versions of the characters, shine. They again generate a riveting air of hesitant friendship and raging rivalry between them. McAvoy, with his long hair and melancholy eyes, is particularly adept at portraying Xavier at a crossroads: haunted by the initial failure of his mutant-friendly school amidst the early years of the Vietnam War, he has become an ambivalent and narcotized shell of a man, and Wolverine must try to rouse him from this spiritual pause.

Despite my general enthusiasm, I do, however, have a few reservations. Chief among them is the abrupt way the film drops the audience into the scorched-earth, Sentinel-conquered future, which is reminiscent of the Terminator franchise's vision of cities post-Judgment Day. The way this film says, "This is the world now! Everything is on fire! Concentration camps! Death!" and then instantly leaps into time-travel motion jars a tad, and I wish there were more time—a half hour even—to explore how our heroes navigate this frightening environment and its nest of Sentinels. And on the subject of the Sentinels, I wish they were given a bit more space and time to shine considering how long many of us have anticipated their direct involvement in a live-action X-Men film. They are present, to be sure, and very imposing and neat, but there is no single, awe-inspiring Sentinel moment.

B+

Among the new mutants, I dig Blink a lot. She is not given much to -do- in an overt sense, but she has an engaging screen presence, and her portal-conjuring power is expertly used. Quicksilver is also fun and obviously has the film's most crowd-pleasing, stylized moment, though it is a bit strange how he drops out of the film almost completely after dominating it for 10 or so minutes.

I could have done without Magneto lifting the stadium. A bit shoehorned in, I believe, so Fox could have an over-the-top, destructive spectacle shot for the trailers. The finale does not need this flourish, honestly.

Oh:

1. X2
2. X-Men: First Class
3. X-Men
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
5. The Wolverine
6. X-Men: The Last Stand
7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Indeed, the future elements are basically everything you would ever want from a Terminator future esque sequel, and you definitely wish there was more. For instance I read there was an initial scene that also featured the character of Blink that helps Kitty and others escape from a concentration camp. And who is indeed in charge of the Sentinals now. Are they self contained? A single conversation between Storm and Logan, or Kitty and Bobby's love other than simple glances. Though You can't blame the film for trimming everything else to literally "this is desperation mode". I think we will definitely see some scenes mostly from the future side.

My only major issue with future installments is First Class was initially made out of necessity, now to continue this cast they always have be 30-40 years behind the present time After that ending, one can't help wish with everyone game, and ready to go, why couldn't they go on as well. Is it Singer's Swan song to help craft an awesome conclusion to his own trilogy? Or is it really a blank slate. Also 11 years have passed for First Class, it's explained that Mystique will age slower, but jumping another 10 years for the next there going to have to start aging the actors appropriately.

For instance if Apocalypse will indeed now feature a young Scott and Jean, one would have to think Wolverine would no longer be there as the love triangle won't work like it did before. While I am excited on where this franchise can go. One can't help think that there are two very strong ways to go as a result of this film and financially speaking it's still on the side of the Old.

I do believe there is a very brief reference to 'the worst of humanity' being left in charge in the future.

It is just such a tantalizing environment. It hurts a bit it can never be explored more. I want to see Wolverine traveling and surviving in this scorched world. I want to hear the mutants converse inside one of the prison camps. I want to see who is in charge of the Sentinels and how they operate.

That's the problem with Apocalypse. Will it also feature the future? They had mentioned that Bishop and Blink, and possibly Deadpool and Cable will be there in addition to possibly Jackman and Stewart in addition to the others. So it could as well go to the future as well. I hope Havok returns as well as I believe that is Cyclops brother.

I actually hope the final Wolverine film is about his later life in the future if there will indeed not be another Old School X-Men film

I don't see the point in having any more dark future than is featured, mostly because otherwise it's wasted time - this future is going to be completely wiped out by movie's end anyway, why get hung up on it too much? There's just enough to set that things are grim and the past needs to be changed for me to stay interested, and then the film does a good job of sharing those stakes with the 1970s characters (particularly Xavier).

Anyway, this was really good, probably the best superhero/comic book film since The Dark Knight (although only the best superhero film since Chronicle). Outside of some third act messiness it's a blast. Much like X2 it has so much shit going on that it threatens to go off the rails, but Singer keeps the plates spinning impressively well. Also, McAvoy and Lawrence really upped their game from First Class.

My franchise ranking:

1. X2
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
3. X-Men
4. The Wolverine
5. X-Men: First Class
6. X-Men: The Last Stand
(n/s: X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

I can admit that I was wrong about Quicksilver; once he stops playing Pong (uggggh) he's a huge highlight of the film. He's so delightfully OP that he has to be written out of the finale, which is a pity, but it had to be done.

The biggest issue with the film, for me, was a lack of any emotional connect to the future scenes. We see the X-men get viciously murdered twice on screen, and despite looking cool as hell, it doesn't ever escape the "Well, we know this is going to cease to happen" trap that befalls time travel movies. I think David's assessment for the lack of development of this era is spot on.

Also, those glasses at the end were among the stupidest pair I've ever seen.

B

I see your point, but I just cannot agree. Sure, I "get" this future is grim and must be changed, but I believe the film is harmed by racing through these early scenes at such a rapid clip. I wish I felt the fear and the despair on a more profound level. This would only intensify Wolverine's mission in the past.

I think the point me and David were making is that they won't have another opportunity to make a grim film about the future X-Men for a while now and definitely not with the ideal cast they have now. It's one of the reasons why T4 was so bad as the future Cameron set up has still never been realized. McG's film was a wasted opportunity. DOFP isn't, but it would have been cool that they made this a 2 part cliffhanger with Logan going back at the end of the first film, and the 2nd film tying this up. There was a lot that could have been explored.

I mean being that Kitty has to explain everything it seems that Logan, Storm and the other mains have been away a while on their own trying to find them.

We will never get to see the rise of the Sentinels, for example. Sad face.

The franchise just goes from Magneto and Charles meeting Logan in the airport at the end of The Wolverine ("There's this nasty new government program, and we need your help, pal") to full Cormac McCarthy apocalypse. I will always be intrigued by the in-between and wish it could be shown in a film.

Holy cow, this was amazing. So many great little moments coupled with a great storyline.

A

I mean you just have two awesome movies that are truncated. Imagine if the film started with this:

An action scene involving Azezel, Angel, Mystique, and Banshee and they are captured, then tortured, and one is killed right there and then Cut TO: the scene in which bodies of mutants are just being unloaded in the future, other mutants walk by in the concentration camp as they see this, leading to a prison escape by Blink and others. Granted that would be grim as hell, but there is certainly two films worth of content in there, and ways to keep it entertaining.

I want to see this scene in motion:



The picture is from a viral ad campaign for the film.

And this scene, described as part of the same campaign:

They seriously skipped an amazing hypothetical movie.

I would have liked it if the stylized "evolution" opening was replaced by something that chronicled the Sentinels takeover of Earth.

At the end of the day, I guess this is the "problem": this is truly a First Class sequel with Wolverine, even though the advertising emphasizes a blend of the two casts. Not much space is given to performers such as McKellen, Stewart, Berry, and Page.

Also, I guess this is a middling criticism more than anything, but I'm so, so happy that the effects work in this movie was actually acceptable, unlike the fakey rush job of First Class. Damn that movie had some shoddy CGI.

It's really hard to say if it's better than this. But it is the closest we'll ever come in my opinion.

BJs Grade:

A

best film in the franchise, loved it, cant wait to see it again.

It might show up in the deleted scenes. Originally, when Logan has his attack and stabs Kitty, she starts fading badly. Magneto and Bobby head off to find Rogue, who's being held captive at a Trask facility in the old X Mansion (you can see them carrying her through a tunnel in the first trailer). Bobby ends up sacrificing himself so that Magneto can get her out.

Thinking about it more, I wish they had cut out the JFK nonsense. An extremely dangerous mutant is already in custody for assassinating the president, but the murder of a nobody military contractor is what spurs the creation of a genocidal weapon. What?

That comes from softening Trask. Originally Trask killed Kennedy and framed Magneto, using the outrage to further his position.

It is a shame they did not just reference Emma Frost being in captivity. They could cast a new actress in the role later. An afterthought murder of such a rich character, January Jones or not, is a bit of a shit move.

She was in Origins as well saving Cyclops. What is so good about her character?

In the comics, she is this blend of cruel, intelligent, playful, sexy, and volatile. They have never captured the magic on the big screen. I forgot "she" was even in Origins: Wolverine. It was the most halfhearted, unfaithful rendering imaginable.