omar-sy_web.jpgIn X-Men:Days of Future Past, we find our favorite mutants in the near future working over-time to stay alive after the humans have unleashed very large, very ruthless robots called Sentinels. 

The Sentinels are designed to track mutant DNA in mutants, future mutants and parents of future mutants who carry the mutant gene, then annihilate them.  Their main purpose is to be a biological weapon against the mutants, because the humans are afraid of being taken over by “the unknown.”

In order to stop the Sentinels, Professor X of the future (played by Patrick Stewart) teams up with future Magneto (Ian McKellan) to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman in all of his hard-body glory) back to 1973 to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing the man who used her blood to complete his designed prototype for the Sentinels.  Using Mystique’s DNA – which can change into any form it chooses – the Sentinels are able to adapt and use their victims’ powers against them.  The plot is heavy, to say the least.  It hinges on the idea that we can change time for the better using a little ripple in the course of an event.  It also works quite nicely for a good franchise reboot.

Director Bryan Singer really brings his A-game to this franchise film.  He really brings to life the stunning imagery of screenwriter Simon Kinberg’s (with story help from Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn) script, which incorporates every possible storyline and plot point that has gone before this latest installment, blending the old guys with the young, hot newbies.  He also takes the audience back to the roots of why they loved the X-Men in the first place.  

In Kinberg’s world, an angry Mystique is really a sensitive Raven trapped in a hot woman’s body. Charles and young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) are still in love with Raven/Mystique. Charles is also an alcoholic who can walk. This critic may get crucified for this next admission, but Kinberg has the right idea when it comes to time travel: it’s neat, concise and easy to follow. That was not the case for the first Star Trek reboot of Chris Pine’s career.  I still don’t know what a time-space-continuum is and I don’t care.

Enough about that other franchise that Stewart starred in as Captain Picard on a television series.  Let’s talk about the cast.  Peter Dinklage is the anti-Tyrian Lannister as Dr. Bolivar Trask, the guy who invents the prototype for the Sentinels.  At first, you want to applaud Trask for being patriotic in his pursuit to protect the human race from a mutant race that was still very new in the 1970s.  Then you realize Trask is just another weak man, hiding behind his goon and his prototype, waiting for the monster to pass by him.  Trask is definitely not as likeable as Tyrian, but he does make a good argument for protecting ourselves from beings that can become too powerful and take over the world.

Luckily, there’s Lawrence, the young and hot Magneto, and James McAvoy as a younger and darker Charles Xavier, and Wolverine to keep things fun and remind the audience that mutants can choose to use their powers for good or evil.  And, let’s not forget Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and his inherent nature to be a nice person, except for the whole turning into a big blue beast thing.  Of this team, Wolverine is a favorite.  He’s brash and boisterous, but deep down, there’s a really nice guy in there somewhere and he’s been letting that guy out lately.

You will get to see some of your favorite mutants, like Storm (Halle Berry), Rogue (Anna Paquin), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Bishop (Omar Sy), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Blink (Bingbing Fan), Havok (Lucas Till), Toad (Evan Jonigkeit), and many others.

All in all, Kinberg really dug into his bag of X-Men characters and plots and really brought an original story to marry the past and the present. It was about time, right?  Just make sure you do two important things other than buy your X-Men movie ticket: watch X-Men: First Class before the film and stay in the theater after the end credits.  Marvel Entertainment’s requisite teaser will get fans’ hearts aflutter and maybe eager to see the next installment.     

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