Synopsis:
The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from X-Men: First Class in an epic battle that must change the past - to save our future.
Like I said earlier, Bryan Singer comes back to helm the latest X-Men film, at first there was some hesitation from my part since his last films didn't exactly live up to expectations and just showed the weakness of Singer as a filmmaker. Having seen the first photos and trailers for this movie though, it immediately got me excited and gave a similar feeling when I watched the first X-Men film. Now I can say this with full honesty, the film is brilliant. Let's talk about the story of the film, one of the integral parts of the film is the time travel aspect of it. Time travel is hard to write about so props to Simon Kinberg for writing this film with little to no plot holes (based on my first viewing) and also for his sharp and emotional screenplay, it was gut-wrenching and really helped you to be invested with the characters no matter how short or how long their screen time is.
Another aspect in the story that really caught my eye is the theme of it, this movie is all about getting your hope back and this film did it well. Through this theme you can get the whole gist of the movie and through this you can get how the characterization of the characters will be throughout the movie. It was just displayed well and really help you be invested with the plot and with the characters. The interlocking scenes with the past and the future were also done well and showed that it basically mirrored each other and it worked, it didn't feel forced and it didn't feel convoluted and complicated. If anything, this has probably the most complex (yet easy to follow) story I've seen in a superhero movie.
Now let's talk performances, the film stars the original cast of the X-Men films and the new comers from X-Men: First Class, so casting wise, we are getting the best of both worlds. Let's talk with the original cast first, while their screentimes are only limited, I must say that their characters are still very well developed and to see Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman etc. together again just brings a big dose of nostalgia to me and their performances was just powerful even though they have only limited lines like McKellen and Stewart, even the small emotions that you can see from them is still very affecting and you can clearly see that this mission is their last resort. This is also Hugh Jackman's best performance of Wolverine, but not because of how angry he can get as Wolverine but because of how different his characterization of the character is this time, it is the complete opposite of how he is portrayed in the past films, although we get to see some spirit of the old Wolverine so it offers balance to the character. It just seems like that as the years go by, Jackman is just getting better as Wolverine and right now, he owns the character and no one can do it better.
There is a lot of newcomers and "sophomores" in this film but I will just talk about them in a brisk manner, firstly, let's have the "future" mutants played by Omar Sy, Adam Canto, Fan Bingbing and Booboo Stewart, I think most of them did a good job with what they are given and you still feel invested for these characters because you can see the struggle they are living daily and that's all about I can say about them. Now let's talk about the "past" mutants, Evan Peters' Quicksilver is probably the most hated character when the first publicity photos were released but when this film is released, the opposite happened because this character is just great, Peters' steals every scene he's in because his performance was refreshing and he just showcased the best aspects of the character. The main villain of the film is Bolivar Trask portrayed by Peter Dinklage, and he was so good in the film, he was not your generic mustache-twirling villain but rather he was this hands-on villain who wants to know ore about the mutants. What made me like the character more is the fact that in his outlook he is not a villain, he is just fascinated with these mutants and he just made a solution if these mutants ever becomes a problem. Also, Dinklage's dwarfism was never used as a device for the characterization of the character and I just loved that they did that.
Now let's discuss the lead characters from the "past" timeline, reprising their roles are James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult. Firstly, let's have Hoult while I thought that his performance was basically the same as the one seen in First Class but it was still good because you can see the similarities of his Beast to Kelsey Grammer's Beast (X-Men: The Last Stand). Lawrence's performance is a significant improvement over her Mystique in First Class because this time we got to see the more sinister and dark side of the character and none of the "mutant and proud" crap (not really a fan of that), what also made her performance great was the fact that Lawrence can look sympathetic if she wants too or look like killer if she wants too, her performance is basically the same as her character. While I loved Hugh Jackman's performance, there was still two performance that really out-shined for me and those are Fassbender and McAvoy's. Fassbender was able to retain the calm demeanor of the character but still able to show the idealistic side of the character and he's just able to balance those that you can see that aspect of the character just by looking at his eyes or through Fassbender's delivery of his line. McAvoy definitely displays one of his finest performance, we got to see his character at his lowest point and at the most vulnerable and McAvoy displays it perfectly because you can see that this character is indeed hopeless but when he finally gets back on track you can see the glimmer of hope in him, it was dramatic and very touching, a masterful performance and award worthy if you ask me.
Onto the technical sides of the film, the score, the set production, the VFX and the cinematography were all great. John Ottman returns to score this film and hearing his composition from X2 in a more operatic way in this film and it gives off this "Bryan Singer is back" type of feeling and also helped staple that this is a Bryan Singer picture. The sets and the VFX were also great and they worked well together, the mixture of visual effects and practical effects was a great thing for the film because they were able to show these grand sets that are merely impossible to be done in real life. The designs of the Sentinels was also superb in my opinion and the usage of both practical and CGI effects really helped it because it showed how scary these things are and also the VFX was able to show the powers of the mutants at its full extent and it just delivered on the visual aspect. Lastly, also coming back with Singer and Ottman is the original cinematographer in X-Men 1 and 2. Newton Thomas Sigel did a great job with this film because the shots that he has shown was a spectacle, he was able to show the grand operatic scale of the movie and it was jaw-dropping. The actions scenes was also well-shot and it didn't look like a shot-after-shot action scene like what most films are doing today.
The film was directed by X-Men 1 and 2 director Bryan Singer and like I've said before, he nails it in this one. This to me is the best X-Men film to date but not because of its action or spectacle, it's because of how Singer was able to handle all these character with just the right development and how he was able to instill the main theme throughout the movie. The pacing of the film was great, it never dragged and it never felt fast too, I also liked how he did the seriousness of the film because this was a dramatic picture yet Singer knows how to break that mold and inject a little humor in it so as not to make it feel a bit depressing.
Overall:
To conclude this review, hands down, this is the best X-Men film to date. It was a touching and dramatic film that really captures the essence of hopelessness and being hopeful again. The cast delivered a great performance, the score is beautiful yet hunting, the VFX was phenomenal and the plot of the film really keeps you hold your breath towards the end. I honestly can't complain about anything in this film, it was just perfect to me. Not only is this a great comic book movie but it is also one great film. This is by far my favorite film of the year.
Grade:
Favorite lines/dialogues:
Charles Xavier: I don't want your suffering! I don't want your future!
Professor Charles Xavier: Please... We need you to hope again...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erik Lehnsherr: All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hank McCoy: Are you a parent?
Logan: I sure as hell hope not!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hank McCoy: A teleporter?
Logan: No, he's just fast...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Charles Xavier: Logan, I was a very different man. Lead me, guide me, be patient with me.
amazing!! I'll make sure to watch this movie!
ReplyDeleteIt is worth it! Watch it ASAP!
ReplyDelete