X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Distributor:       20th Century Fox

Year:                  2014

MPAA:                PG-13

Content:             AC, AL, V

Genres:               SCI / ADV / FAN

Technical:           2.40:1 (HD)

Runtime:             131 mins.

Country:              USA

Language:           English

Budget:                $200M

 

 

CAST

Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Nicholas Hoult, Omar Sy, Shawn Ashmore, Evan Peters, Daniel Cudmore, Lucas Till, Fan Bingbing, Booboo Stewart, Josh Helman, Evan Jonigkeit & Adan Canto; cameos by Famke Janssen, James Marsden & Kelsey Grammer

 

CREDITS 

Director: Bryan Singer; Screenwriter: Simon Kinberg; Producers: Lauren Schuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg & Hutch Parker; Director Of Photography: Newton Thomas Sigel; Production Designer: John Myhre; Editor/Music Composer: John Ottman; Costume Designer: Louise Mingenbach

 

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

In the darkness of the future 2023, mutants have all been but wiped out by the Sentinels—government-created robots—with the exception of Wolverine (Jackman), Storm (Berry), Professor Xavier (Stewart), old nemesis Magneto (McKellen), Kitty Pryde (Page) and a few of the younger generation mutants. Hiding out in China, they are about to be destroyed when Xavier convinces Kitty to telepathically send Wolverine back to 1973—where his younger self will hook up with younger Xavier (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) to stop Mystique (Lawrence) from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask (Dinklage). The assassination will instigate the creation of his Sentinel Program and cause the future apocalypse.

Back in 1973, Wolverine encounters a drunk, broken Xavier and loyal friend Beast (Hoult) and convinces them to bust Magneto out of the Pentagon’s prison with the help of mutant Quicksilver (Peters) if they are to save the future—but the cunning Magneto may have devastating plans of his own…

 

THE (mini) REVIEW

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is a solid entry (the 7^th) in that other Marvel film series—and the first to feature original director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, Valkyrie) back at the helm since 2003—more on that in a moment. Eschewing bombastic spectacle for a surprisingly intimate point-of-focus yarn, the movie respects the history, characters and the stories while providing top-notch production/technical values and a big cast of familiar faces & characters.

Written in a compressed style by genre veteran Simon Kinberg (2004’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand, Sherlock Holmes) and based on the 1981 comic book series Uncanny X-Men (issues #141-142) titled Days Of Future Past by Chris Claremont & John Byrne—the movie version juggles many characters, of which some roles are severely truncated in the theatrical release. Understandably, with so many X-Men characters and a movie that needs to run under a certain amount of time, plotlines and characters get snipped.

Also, a sense of internal logic and plotholes (per the other canon films) begin to tug at the organic fiver of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. But they really do not interfere in the overall entertainment quotient, as least in my opinion—but remember (and full disclosure): I never read the comics. Feel free to scour the internet (or fist-fight those other wacky comic book geeks) to understand and analyze the internal logic & plotholes.

I must give credit to Singer for maintaining and respecting the story—it shines through in this movie. Under his helm, it DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (solemn, yet entertaining) is just as terrific as its immediate predecessor X-Men: First Class (2011)—directed by Matthew Vaughn, who retains a story credit along with Kinberg and First Class co-writer Jane Goldman. Singer is, of course, abetted by his grand cast—led by the versatile Hugh Jackman as the mercurial Wolverine.

It’s amusing to note how the most popular X-Men character (and the actor himself) has become the poster boy for the franchise. Still, Jackman excels in a part that he was born to play. Top scores are also in order for McAvoy & Fassbender as the young mutant frenemies—while veteran actors (and best buds) Stewart & McKellen buoy those actors’ performances the necessary gravitas to flesh out these inimitable characters. What suffers in comparison, however is the limited time given to the other actors—hello Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and Ellen Page! Nice extended cameos, but still…

On the flipside, young actors Nicholas Hoult (dignified) and Evan Peters (anarchic) almost walk away with the picture. Even Peter Dinklage exudes quiet, sinister resonance as the Frankenstein-esque creator of the robot apocalypse. And Jennifer Lawrence? A great actress who seems weirdly-removed in her role as Mystique—here the unwitting catalyst of what transpires—but seems to pop in and out of the movie as if she was still shooting those Hunger Games movies at the same time. Just sayin’…

Production values for this $200 million production (boxofficemojo.com) are top-shelf across the board. DAYS OF FUTURE PAST was lensed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada—both on location and in studio soundstages. Credit veteran production designer John Myhre (Oscar®-winner for Chicago & Memoirs Of A Geisha; also did X-Men, Dreamgirls & Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and his crew for coming up with a versatile mise-en-scène spanning 50 years—including the White House, the monastery in China and about another 40 set pieces.

Abetting the production design is handsome HD-widescreen 3-D lensing by Singer’s usual cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns). Utilizing the ARRI Alexa M & ARRI Alexa XT Plus camera systems for stereoscopic principal photography shooting, Sigel has created a striking dichotomy of the 2023 future (clean, industrial) and the 1970’s past (warmer earth tones). The pièce de résistance is the use of the Phantom v642 Broadcast camera for the movie’s best sequence (Quicksilver’s freeing of Magneto in the Pentagon prison)—which was shot at over 3000fps for an incredible slow-motion ride! Very well done indeed.

Veteran editor/composer (and Singer associate) John Ottman (X2: X-Men United, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, Valkyrie) does double duty here, showcasing sharp cutting between time periods as well as providing a robust score that energizes the DAYS OF FUTURE PAST proceedings. And finally, another Singer associate, costume designer Louise Mingenbach (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns) dazzles with the X-Men costumery as well as the sight of shaggy hairdos, mutton-chop sideburns and plenty o’ polyester for us ‘70s fans.

 

 

 

IMDB:                   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_Days_of_Future_Past

Official Site:          http://www.x-menmovies.com

 

Prisoners

MPAA/Content R [AC, AL, SV]

Distributor Warner Bros.

Technical HD 1.85:1

Genres DRA CRI THR

Runtime 153 mins.

Country USA

Budget $46M

 

CAST

Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoë Soul, Erin Gerasimovich, Kyla-Drew Simmons, Wayne Duvall & Len Cariou

 

CREDITS

Director: Denis Villeneuve;  Screenwriter: Aaron Guzikowski;  Producers: Broderick Johnson, Kira Davis, Andrew A. Kosove & Adam Kolbrenner;  Director Of Photography: Roger A. Deakins;  Production Designer: Patrice Vermette;  Editors: Joel Cox & Gary D. Roach;  Costume Designer: Renée April;  Music Composer: Jóhann Jóhannsson

 

THE SYNOPSIS

Keller Dover (Jackman) is a hardworking-but-struggling-carpenter and loving family man to his wife Grace (Bello) and his son Ralph (Minnette) & daughter Anna (Gerasimovich).  Thanksgiving dinner finds the Dovers visiting their neighbors, The Birches: Franklin (Howard), wife Nancy (Davis), elder daughter Eliza (Soul) & younger daughter Joy (Drew-Simmons).

Complications occur when Anna and Joy go missing.  Hours later, the police arrive, with the taciturn but determined Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) leading the case.  An RV that was spotted in the neighborhood earlier is searched and its owner, simple-minded Alex Jones (Dano), arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.  But without any evidence or proof of life (or death), Loki must release Alex to his Aunt Holly (Leo).

Keller, driven by blind rage, kidnaps the young man and chains him to a pipe in Keller’s abandoned building.  He brings Franklin in and the men torture Alex.  Days and weeks go by, but a bloodied Alex refuses to talk.  Loki, alerted by Holly (Leo) as to his disappearance, suspects that Keller is holding him hostage.

A break in the case occurs when another young man, Bob Taylor (Dastmalchian), confesses to the kidnappings.  He then kills himself while in police custody—leaving no conclusive evidence of his crimes.  Keller is not convinced that Taylor did it—especially when Joy is discovered drugged, but alive.  She informs Keller that he was already near them when he went to Holly’s house to discuss Alex.

Keller approaches Holly for answers at her house—and she shoots him in the leg.  Turns out Holly has a few dark secrets—and they involve kidnapping children, like Alex and Bob were long ago.  Holly imprisons Keller in the same underground pit where she held the girls.  Who knew that the Face of Evil could seem so normal?

Loki appears—having already found Alex barely alive at Keller’s building–and having come to the same conclusion as Keller.  A bloody confrontation occurs that ends badly.

 

THE CRITIQUE

Wow.  Like a punch to la panza, PRISONERS leaves its mark on the viewer.  Especially this viewer—someone who has always held some trepidation about watching these types of movies.  When I was a kid, I always wondered what would happen if I were ever kidnapped…

I now realize that I was such a precocious little bastard that the kidnappers would have: 1) simply returned me to my house within 20 minutes… 2) kicked me out of the proverbial white van (what is it with kidnappers & terrorists and white vans?)… and 3) given my parents ransom money to KEEP me.  Yeah, that’s about right.  But I digress back to the movie review…

Written in taut fashion by newbie scribe Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), PRISONERS is a serious movie whose title has several meanings.  It is helmed with exacting manipulation by Quebeçois director Denis Villeneuve (Enemy)—coaxing terrific performances from his cast and utilizing the tight cutting schema of his editors Joel Cox (Clint Eastwood’s cutter and Oscar^®-winner for 1992’s Unforgiven; also cut J. Edgar, Flags Of Our Fathers, Sudden Impact) & Gary D. Roach (J. Edgar, Gran Torino, Invictus) to ratchet up the tension.  This dude has a future in Hollywood, that’s for sure.  And the editors?  They’re already brilliant.

The always-dependable Hugh Jackman brings gravitas to his Keller Dover role.  Bringing out the violent dark side of an honest, blue-collar family man is something that he’s up to.  Hey, this dude can act (and sing, dance and do whatever the hell else he freakin’ wants!).  But sorry ladies—he keeps his shirt on in this one.

One thing I wonder about is if the screenwriter purposely named his character “Dover”—whose etymology (by a quick search on the internet) refers to not just a port in England, but also the river that leads to it.  Could the name be reference to Keller’s emotional states in the movie… calm or turbulent as a river?  And the root word of his last name is “Dove”—meaning peaceful?  A peaceful man who travels the turbulent rivers of life?  Just some random thoughts…

Also of note is the other half of the top billing, Jake Gyllenhaal as the intrepid Detective Loki—who also brings a different intensity as another person (under the auspices of the Law) trying to find the missing children.  But his name throws me for a loop: Loki.  In Norse myth (and the Thor/Avenger movies personified by British actor Tom Hiddleston), Loki is the God of Mischief.  How does that relate to Gyllenhaal’s character—who is, if anything, quite pedantic in his investigative methods.  Beats the hell out of me—but Jake’s a good actor and he and Jackman have great tension rapport, so I’ll just leave it at that!

The supporting cast is also top-notch—with the standouts being Paul Dano (a chameleonic actor if there ever was one) as the kidnapper-or-victim Alex Jones and Oscar^®-winner Melissa Leo (for 2010’s The Fighter) as Aunt Holly with the dark secrets.  Bello, Howard and Davis do their parts well—but register less than the former two thespians.

Production values on the $46 million production (boxofficemojo.com) are solid across the board.  The Pennsylvania-set movie was actually shot in what has to be the dreariest parts of Georgia.

Actually, most of the “dreary” part must be credited to brilliant, veteran British cinematographer Roger A. Deakins (Skyfall, No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski, The Shawshank Redemption)—for properly conveying (in dreary blues and muted grays) this grim mood via his use of HD lensing with the ARRI Alexa Plus camera system.  A codicil to this kudo must also go to fellow Quebeçois Production Designer Patrice Vermette (Enemy, The Young Victoria)—for creating “normal” environs that are both vanilla and dreary (yes, that word again).

PRISONERS is reminiscent of a kidnapping yarn that would have starred Charles Bronson back in the day.  You know that his mustache alone would have made Dano’s character sing like a canary!  Seriously, this movie works on all levels.  Even the ambivalent, non-Hollywood ending works—much to the chagrin of regular moviegoers.  But it does show that not everything in Life has a happy ending—or does it?  The movie might end with salvation…we can only hope.  Either way…kudos to all in front of—and behind—the camera.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE 

One of (if not) the grimmest movie of 2013, PRISONERS is a harrowing yarn made palatable by terrific casting, strong direction and taut screenwriting that does not go the typical Hollywood route.  Buoyed by all-around talent, this one could make a decent run come awards season.  But don’t chain me to a pipe if it doesn’t come to pass!

 

 

 

IMDB:                    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392214/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_(2013_film)

Official Site:          http://prisonersmovie.warnerbros.com