X-Men the famous franchise of Marvel's superhero world where evolution has allowed certain individuals with an X- gene to wield incredible gifts. Their mutations. Having based the original trilogy on comic book arcs the fans of the franchise were disappointed in how it ended. Due to this Brian Singer (X-Men and X2 director) took over as director for the Days of Future Past (DOFP) film in order to correct the issues and wrong doings made (especially with X-Men: The Last Stand), within the 'timeline' and to the X-Men franchise.
Days of Future past combines cast from the prequel movie X-Men: First Class along with the future/present time cast in order to restore the fractured lineage of The X-Men. This film managed to do this.
*If you do not wish to read spoilers I advise you to read no further and/or do not click read more.
The storyline itself contained a rich plot; incorporating apocalyptic features for the scenes of the future, whilst scenes from the past offer a familiar 'first class' feeling. With the remaining mutants of the present day on the brink of extinction by machines known as Sentinels, iconic names from the X-Men franchise such as Professor Xavier, Magneto, Kitty Pyde, Blink, Sunspot and Warpath to name a few are running from the inevitable wrath of the Sentinels. The Sentinel programme was produced by Bolliver Trask and using the young Mystique's DNA allowed him to give the Sentinels the edge they needed to take down mutants and now, even humans. The ability to take a mutants power, adapt to them and use them themselves. It is then revealed that Kitty Pryde (Shadow Cat) has evolved since we last saw her in X-Men The Last Stand and can now phase a person's consciousness back in time. Xavier's plan to evade this apocalyptic future is to make Kitty phase his consciousness back to the year 1973. But even the worlds most powerful mind would not survive a trip that far back. However there is one mind that could: Wolverine's.
At this point in the film we see what it is like for the X-Men and other mutants after the Sentinels have been released on civilisation. We hear of many mutants' deaths - and we see the Sentinels utilising iconic powers such as that of Emma Frost and Darwin from the First Class Movie. It should also be noted that Rogue and Bobby (Iceman) are no longer together and he is now with Kitty.
Having been sent back to his younger body Wolverine awakens in his retrospective physical state with the mission to find the younger Professor Xavier and Magneto to help stop Mystique from ever murdering Bolliver Trask (the incident that caused them to utilise Mystiques power for the programme). This is the main focus of the film.
The death of Trask is (in the future casts perspective) the first person Mystique kills and this allows us to see the route she took to become the Mystique we have known since the beginning of the X-Men movies. With morality and retribution key themes within the film we are shown that the characters are not what is expected of them. The idea of being truly evil is explored within Mystique's character and we are shown that she is not at heart a murderer. By not ending Trask's life, Mystique not only altered the timeline within the universe but also changed her own path. This was a great part of the movie that I was very pleased with. Having seen so much of Mystique when she was younger it was nice to see that 'evil' characters are not set as evil- the term is fluid like. And I am sure that I am not the only one who was expecting her to have to murder towards the end of the film to become the iconic villian-ess we expect in the future. It was nice to see that this was not the case. Also this opens up many more doors in terms of story lines for Mystique.
The humorous elements of the film are strung from Quicksilver. His comical scenes when utilising his mutation of super speed were great. Without giving too much away if you have not seen these scenes, it is shown to the audience that Quicksilver has literally all the time in the world and is very quick witted- which we love in a superhero/villain to be/ Evan Peters. The way X-Men got around the licensing issue of not being able to acknowledge the relationship between Magneto and Quicksilver was ingenious. Within the comics Magneto is his father, and this is alluded to by Quicksilver whom states his mother knew a man who could manipulate
metal. Brilliant, but defiantly a 'you had to be there,
super geek moment'.
I was asked whether I felt this film was appropriate for children. I must honestly say that I am in my early twenties and I was a little creeped out by Sentinels. The violence is very clearly that of a superhero battle which should make some potential viewers feel at ease. The moral undertones are also worth teaching to anyone of any age, especially children. Life is not set, and no one is evil or bad if they chose not to be. There is however a little bad language and even use of the 'f' word- my advice is that you cover their ears for that. this occurs during the scene where Wolverine meets the younger Xavier for the first time. I hope this is beneficial in deciding the appropriateness of the film.
The death of Trask is (in the future casts perspective) the first person Mystique kills and this allows us to see the route she took to become the Mystique we have known since the beginning of the X-Men movies. With morality and retribution key themes within the film we are shown that the characters are not what is expected of them. The idea of being truly evil is explored within Mystique's character and we are shown that she is not at heart a murderer. By not ending Trask's life, Mystique not only altered the timeline within the universe but also changed her own path. This was a great part of the movie that I was very pleased with. Having seen so much of Mystique when she was younger it was nice to see that 'evil' characters are not set as evil- the term is fluid like. And I am sure that I am not the only one who was expecting her to have to murder towards the end of the film to become the iconic villian-ess we expect in the future. It was nice to see that this was not the case. Also this opens up many more doors in terms of story lines for Mystique.
The humorous elements of the film are strung from Quicksilver. His comical scenes when utilising his mutation of super speed were great. Without giving too much away if you have not seen these scenes, it is shown to the audience that Quicksilver has literally all the time in the world and is very quick witted- which we love in a superhero/villain to be/ Evan Peters. The way X-Men got around the licensing issue of not being able to acknowledge the relationship between Magneto and Quicksilver was ingenious. Within the comics Magneto is his father, and this is alluded to by Quicksilver whom states his mother knew a man who could manipulatemetal. Brilliant, but defiantly a 'you had to be there,
super geek moment'.
I was asked whether I felt this film was appropriate for children. I must honestly say that I am in my early twenties and I was a little creeped out by Sentinels. The violence is very clearly that of a superhero battle which should make some potential viewers feel at ease. The moral undertones are also worth teaching to anyone of any age, especially children. Life is not set, and no one is evil or bad if they chose not to be. There is however a little bad language and even use of the 'f' word- my advice is that you cover their ears for that. this occurs during the scene where Wolverine meets the younger Xavier for the first time. I hope this is beneficial in deciding the appropriateness of the film.
The film utilised historical footage from the peace talk after the Vietnam war. Adding footage of characters such as Mystique, Beast and Magneto onto of original historical footage was truly impeccable cinematography. This allowed the film to be perceived as realistic and that the actions that were changing the past were actually solidifying within history. There was a sense that as these events were unfolding the audience were witnessing a new history being made. This echoed the same device within First Class and allowed the First Class film to feel more connected to DOFP and not just film used to amend the damaged time line. It was impressive!
The future cast are not given a substantial amount of screen time however this alows the cast of the past to propell the storyline. The scenes of the future are used to give those awesome super powered, superhero fight scenes we all love! However the scenes balance out perfectly topped off with the final scene of the future cast revealing to us that the time line was in fact amended. With the original X-Men back in the Xavier Institute, this is when we see that somehow a ripple effect must have occurred after 1973 to stop the death of Jean Grey and Scott Summers (along with many other characters). Jean is shown in a red dress along with red hair- suggesting the Phoenix Force and herself now coincide. As the young Xavier read Wolverine's mind seeing what would happen to Jean Grey perhaps utilised different tactics and methods after recruiting her, that allowed both consciousness' to harmonise peacefully. This, one would imagine, will be an issue addressed in later movies. After all the return of an Omega level mutant must have effects on the X-Men Universe. Here we also see that Bobby and Rogue are still together. Possibly a storyline that may be expressed in later films. Either way, I was happy to see Bobby back with Rogue and not with Kitty, for me that just didn't work.
The after credits scene! Oh my god the after credits scene! This was truly epic! Showing us Ancient Egypt 5000 years ago, En Sabah Nur (which translates to 'The First One'- or at least was meant to, rumour has it the translation is a little off). The First One is the first mutant Apocalypse. We see a young slim built man in a cloak being worshipped by thousands of people as they chant En Sabah Nur, and whilst he produces and aligns segments of a great pyramid. In the back ground we see four horses with riders- an obvious allusion to Apocalypse's iconic enslaved warriors: The Four Horsemen Of Apocalypse.
Within the comic book literature Apocalypse awakens due to Cable's time travelling so it is understandable as to why Singer has used the DOFP movie as a gateway to the epic arrival of En Sabah Nur in movies.
With Singer claiming that the Apocalypse movie will involve many future cast members (whilst focusing on the first class cast) just about any character we have ever seen in the films (or wanted to see) may become one of Apocalypse's enslaved horsemen. As he takes control of a being in order to enslave them as his horseman. There is so many routes to take with this film and so many levels and areas to be explored, especially the mythology and history of Ancient Egypt and the lineage of the movies 'Big Bad'. This film titled X-Men Apocalypse is due to be in cinemas May 2016 and has the potential to be the biggest and best superhero film we have ever had!
The after credits scene! Oh my god the after credits scene! This was truly epic! Showing us Ancient Egypt 5000 years ago, En Sabah Nur (which translates to 'The First One'- or at least was meant to, rumour has it the translation is a little off). The First One is the first mutant Apocalypse. We see a young slim built man in a cloak being worshipped by thousands of people as they chant En Sabah Nur, and whilst he produces and aligns segments of a great pyramid. In the back ground we see four horses with riders- an obvious allusion to Apocalypse's iconic enslaved warriors: The Four Horsemen Of Apocalypse.Within the comic book literature Apocalypse awakens due to Cable's time travelling so it is understandable as to why Singer has used the DOFP movie as a gateway to the epic arrival of En Sabah Nur in movies.
With Singer claiming that the Apocalypse movie will involve many future cast members (whilst focusing on the first class cast) just about any character we have ever seen in the films (or wanted to see) may become one of Apocalypse's enslaved horsemen. As he takes control of a being in order to enslave them as his horseman. There is so many routes to take with this film and so many levels and areas to be explored, especially the mythology and history of Ancient Egypt and the lineage of the movies 'Big Bad'. This film titled X-Men Apocalypse is due to be in cinemas May 2016 and has the potential to be the biggest and best superhero film we have ever had!
Overall I give this film the highest of recommendations (providing some of the time line errors are ignored). This film was not only a continuation of our beloved X-men but also a connecting platform for the two to coincide. The film corrected some of the poorest decisions made within Marvel film adaptations whilst also being an accessible and enjoyable film for new audiences who had not experienced previous films. In my opinion X-Men Days of Future Past is the best X-Men film we have had and has set the standards for many more X-Men films to come. This film has saved the X-Men universe- and literally half of the members of The X-men. Oh how we love time travelling.
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