Fancy some time travel? How about some giant robots? What about Michael Fassbender lifting an entire football stadium? Well you’re in for a treat with X-Men: Days Of Future Past as it has all the above, and then some. Including one of the movie sequences of the year, which will not only blow your jaw off, but it gives one of the finest examples of how to use 3D correctly. Bryan Singer, in what is arguably the biggest movie of his career, has done well. Actually make that very well.
With a gigantic ensemble cast here and more characters than you’d find at Comic Con, X-Men: Days Of Future Past is one helluva big movie. All your favourites are here. Magneto (Michael Fassbender / Ian McKellen), Charles Xavier (James McAvoy / Patrick Stewart), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) are front and center, with a supporting cast that is equally as large and includes the likes of Shawn Ashmore (Iceman) , Omar Sy (Bishop), Daniel Cudmore (Colossus), Halle Berry (Storm), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Peter Dinklage (Dr. Bolivar Trask) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver). So you’re reading this and thinking “Not even Joss Whedon could pull off this balancing act” and you’d be kinda right. With such an enormous cast, Singer had has work cut out for him here, but to his credit, as mentioned, he does very well. Ultimately it comes down to Wolverine, Magneto, Xavier and Mystique while everybody else is a bit under developed and under utilised. Not necessarily to the detriment of the movie, but it certainly is noticeable where characters like Storm are nothing more than an after thought. However, with little exception it shouldn’t bother too many people as doesn’t derail the picture.
Wolverine finds himself time travelling back to the early 1970s and must unite the younger Xavier and Magneto in a bid to change history and in turn change the future, and yes, you’ve guessed it. Save the world. While it’s a straight forward story, the way it’s presented is a bit disconcerting at first, and if it wasn’t for Wolverine’s Disco Stu inspired wardrobe, you would be alot more confused. But after a brief period of acclimatisation, you’ll be up and running and thoroughly enjoying what is one the best X-Men movies to date.
With time running out in the present, the intensity and urgency in the past is presented through some gripping set pieces. One of the most impressive is Magneto lifting an entire football stadium. Words do no justice to how incredible this scene is and the visual effects here are second to none. While Fassbender’s character lifts it with ease, you really do feel the weight of the whole thing, which is helped superbly by an equally heavy sound mix. As jaw dropping as this scene is (and we won’t say what he does with the stadium) its a scene involving Quicksilver that cements itself instantly, as one of the most incredible set pieces of the year. Not only is it a fun scene, where Quicksilver takes on an entire kitchen full of security guards and has plenty of light hearted moments with them, but it gives one of the greatest examples of how to use 3D correctly. And this is a post conversion movie, meaning the movie was converted to 3D as opposed to being shot in 3D. It is truly brilliant and it’s a scene you could watch over and over again without ever getting bored.
It’s fair to say that audiences are well familiar with the cast of characters here and to the actors credit they have evolved their characters to the next level. Wolverine in particular is fantastic and no matter how hard you try, Hugh Jackman owns this character. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are on screen for a very limited amount of time and I’d hazard a guess they could have well shot their entire scenes in a fortnight. It’s not that what they do is bad, far from it. They embody their characters, but they don’t do a whole lot, except sit around with the occasional stroll.
But it’s James McAvoy and in particular Michael Fassbender who own this entire movie. McAvoy is full of wit, passion and personality and his portrayal of Charles Xavier is really evolving the character from the last movie. Fassbender on the other hand, as Magneto, is in a league of his own. He just exudes so much personality, it’s phenomenal. The arrogance, the tone of voice, even the way he walks and carries himself is just perfect. And like McAvoy before him, he has really evolved this character into someone that commands your attention every frame they are on screen.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past is well paced, and whilst a little confusing, it’s only major criticism is that it has just too many characters and tries to do a little bit too much. It just falls short of the full five stars. However, it is a riveting piece of cinema with a number of standout moments (the Quicksilver scene is worthy of the price of admission alone) and like other Marvel movies of recent times, evolves the comic book genre into something far more special and intelligent than many people ever give it credit for. This is compelling viewing and is a must watch.
