X-Men Days of Future Past: A Movie Review

I took my nephew to see X-Men Days of Future Past.  He, for good reason, didn’t want to go car shopping with my parents and my niece.  (Lord have mercy, my niece has a car…I..it…huh.)  Instead of being stuck at home by himself all day on a Saturday at the beginning of his summer break, we had lunch, a movie, some video games and Legos (well, he didn’t want to play with Legos, I did.)  Two of my favorite things about the day:

1. The look on my nephew’s face when the girl at lunch asked me about my Doctor Who T-shirt and proceeded to tell my nephew not to hate on The Doctor.
2. My nephew’s whining over my Assassins’ Creed philosophy, mostly because I don’t play it the way he does. (Which is basically running around killing everyone.)
3. The latest installment in the X-Men franchise. (okay, so that’s three not two, but only because I forgot how much I enjoyed my nephew’s snark)

With the next installment already under contract for Hugh Jackman, this will make him the longest running actor to play a superhero.  X-Men Days of Future Past marks his sixth appearance as the Wolverine in a film.  (Yes, I counted.).  In an interview, I also saw him get ridiculously excited about being the only character to get to drop an F-bomb in the films, so far. (I have not watched them all over again to verify, but I believe him)  The interview with James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman and Michael Fassbender on Graham Norton is pretty adorable.  They dance and Graham shows McAvoy and Fassbender fan art.  They also discuss off camera antics and pranks, and singing, yes, singing…totally worth a watch.

Wolverine has always been one of my favorite characters, and Jackman doesn’t disappoint here.  The gruff character may be mellowing a bit around the edges, but not too much.  Nostalgia maybe?  Going back 50 years and seeing your past self in a life you left behind…it has to be a bit trippy.  Jennifer Lawrence’s performance as Mystique/Raven is stellar, as always.  Mystique’s character only became more intriguing to me after X-Men: First Class, and watching the evolution of Mystique/Raven is fascinating.  Things change in this film, and it left me with an intense curiosity about what’s next for the shapeshifter.  Actually, for all of them.  Magneto and his motley crew were always adversaries, but will they continue to be that foil?   They changed history when they sent Wolverine back in time, so….how much really changes?  It is a paradox.

Here are the basics.  Wolverine gets sent back to 1973 to prevent the Sentinel program from being launched, because 50 years later those Sentinels are not only killing off mutants but a bunch of humans too.  1973 finds the characters from First Class still suffering from the after effects of the events in Cuba, in many ways.

Now, I haven’t read all the comic books (yet), so I don’t know if you see Professor X trying to find his way after losing the use of his legs.  If you don’t get to see it there you definitely get to see it here.  McAvoy does a fantastic job with Xavier’s struggle.  A poignant story, he is in turns angry, frustrated, infuriating, stubborn…well, you get the picture. Professor Xavier always came across as calm, cool and collected, and even though we saw Charles Xavier’s youthful exuberance and passion from McAvoy in X-Men: First Class, the man always retained that stoicism that his character exhibits in the later years we’re more familiar with.  The trailer below shows him punching Magneto…that alone should clue you in to a different character than we’re used to seeing.

A stand-out in this film is Quicksilver, the young man who is fast…like, super fast.  Smart mouthed, irreverent, funny, and intelligent Evan Peters provides a great performance.  Now, comic book fans may be wondering how the Fox X-Men franchise and the Marvel’s Avengers franchise are going to handle a character that inhabits both worlds. (I may not have read all the comic books, but I’ve done a little homework.)  They made a deal, Quicksilver will appear in both franchises, but no mention will be made of the crossover.  Pietro Maximoff will be taking the role in Avengers: The Age of Ultron, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with the Quicksilver character.  As much as I adore McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence, and Jackman’s characters in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Quicksilver definitely shone.

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this installment of one of my favorite stories, and it lived up to my expectations.  (Well, there was no Gambit.  I knew there was no Gambit, but I always want more Gambit.)  It is definitely worth a trip to the theater this summer.

I also got a look at trailers for some upcoming films, and Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson looks good.  Really good.  The trailer shows her kicking some serious butt, and although, I expect no less of the woman who took on the role of Black Widow, I can’t wait to see her do it again.  Several other films struck me as worth seeing, but Lucy stayed with me.  Guardians of The Galaxy  showed a trailer I hadn’t seen before, which does not lessen my desire to see that movie at all.  (Come on, Bradley Cooper is a rage filled raccoon!  Vin Diesel is a freaking tree.  How can you not want to see this movie?)  What movies have you seen?  Any I should be checking out?

‘Til next time,

Jessica