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