Movie with Abe: X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Directed by Bryan Singer
Released May 23, 2014

Before I was into movies in the way I am now, I was a big fan of comic books. The characters I followed most consistently and closely were the X-Men, and the original films in the series came out at just the right time. Though the first film diverged in a number of ways from the comic book, I enjoyed it, and I liked the second as well. I wasn’t as fond of the third or of the recent reboot that took the story back in time. The latest film, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” is considered a sequel to both, and while it’s an improvement on both, there’s still a bit too much going on.

This film begins in a devastated future where mutant-hunting sentinels scour the Earth for the last remaining mutants. Kitty Pryde, Storm, Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine are a few of the survivors who fight to stay alive. A combination of powers and technology enables them to send someone back in time to prevent a crucial event that led to all that happened to create this future, and Wolverine, with his healing powers, is the obvious choice to make this tremendous journey. Setting the film in two times means rewriting history as events occurs in both the past and the future.

This plot is jam-packed with action and a bevy of characters, some of whom appear only for a moment yet receive top billing, and it’s all very ambitious. Only despair and regret remain as the precious few fight for survival in the future, while the younger mutants don’t really know who they are just yet. Professor X and Magneto are the two characters who appear in both times, and it’s interesting to see young actors James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender opposite veterans Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

This film is nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, the film X-Men film to earn that honor. There’s no denying the awesomeness of each time some random face morphs into Mystique or when each mutant is shown using his or her powers. The story as a whole never quite feels tight enough, and it’s all just a matter of surviving long enough, or changing the timeline, to make it to the next film. I hope that forthcoming “X-Men: Apocalypse” tackles the Age of Apocalypse, though it’s possible that condensing a major comic book event into one movie may prove just as tough as fitting everything from Days of Future Past into this overloaded film.

B

Tuesday’s Top Trailer: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

X-Men: Days of Future Past – Opening May 23, 2014

I had the chance to watch this trailer online a few days after it was released and I had already heard that people were incredibly excited. I have mixed feelings about both the trailer and the film, mainly because, while I liked the first two “X-Men” films, I wasn’t thrilled with “X-Men: First Class.” I’m not familiar with the Days of Future Past comic book storyline, so I don’t know exactly what it entails, and I would have been considerably more enthralled by an Age of Apocalypse film. Being that this is what we have, I think it’s worthwhile to try to get into it, and though the trailer includes more unspoken shots of drama and action than actually addresses the plot, it’s hard to know just what we’ll be in for. The most appealing part of it is the combination of the casts of both the recent reboot and the first three films from the 2000s. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were always a superb pair, and having them come face-to-face, at least at some point, with their younger selves in the form of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, seems like a terrific idea. Involving Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in both eras is also fantastic, and I’m hopeful that this will be just what it promises to be – an action spectacular with two magnificent casts side by side. It’s not coming out until May, so I’m sure we’ll get many more glimpses before then.