X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Director Bryan Singer
Cert: 12A, 131 minutes
X-Men: Days of Future Past unites cast members from the first three X-Men films, and the recent prequel, X-Men: First Class.
In a dystopian future where the fearsome robot Sentinels are hunting down all mutants, Charles Xavier / Professor X and Erik Lensherr / Magneto send Logan / Wolverine back in time to try and stop the war before it begins. He must then try and persuade the younger Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) to team up with the younger Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) in order to stop Raven Darkholme / Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the creator of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask, which would send her on a dark path and inadvertently create this bad future.
Bringing sides together
While Erik Lensherr and Bolivar Trask position themselves as champions of mutants and humans respectively, and each sees the other side as the enemy, Charles Xavier seeks to love his enemies (the humans who hate mutants) and bring both sides together.
However, following the events of X-Men: First Class, Charles is a broken man from the rift with his two best friends Erik and Raven, with only Hank McCoy / Beas remaining alongside him, and Wolverine must convince Charles not to give up on himself.
From there, he also learns not to give up on Erik and especially Raven, trying to steer them on the path to redemption. The film nicely illustrates that grace is the greatest superpower of all.
The film also introduces the supporting character Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who, though a thief, nevertheless has fun with his abilities in a way that the other mutants don’t, particularly in one memorable sequence which shows how using one’s God-given talents can be a joyful thing.
The special effects are impressive, the future scenes are particularly well realised and the story remains dramatic throughout.
