Knight Owl's Review of X-Men: Days of Future Past; Timey Wimey Stuff

I didn't hate it. So there's that.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on my opinions on past X-films, because I've done so ad nauseam. Long story short, I'm not a fan. The exception comes in X-Men: First Class, the only film that didn't accompany Singer's directorial stamp. First Class seemed to be the only movie in the franchise that had any fun, any charm to it, not to mention the only film that shows the characters as they should be shown: as comic book characters. Costumes, personalities, style. First Class did what The Avengers did for the other big Marvel team, only First Class did it all in one movie. Even Kevin Bacon was likeable in this movie.

When Bryan Singer (whom I've already taken the time to tear apart) reclaimed control over the franchise I spent the following year, give-or-take, groaning about it because I knew that the magic that was First Class would be taken away. I was, for the most part, absolutely right about that. That charm that First Class had was noticeably absent. It was no longer a comic book movie, it was an X-Men movie. It sounds weird, but there is definitely a difference, in the same way that Tim Burton's Batman movies are not comic book movies. They are fine as movies, but are nearly unrecognizable when compared to their source materials.

It didn't help when Singer immediately brought back all of the original cast to the film, many of whom I felt were miscast. I HATE Halle Berry as Storm. You'd think an Oscar winner could throw some personality into a character, but then again, she's also 'Catwoman'. And that's just an example. The lack of depth affects pretty much every character in the films that doesn't have adamantium bones or isn't 100 fucking years old (sorry, Patrick and Ian. You're both awesome).

No context given. None needed.

This was, of course, balanced by two things. First is Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine, 'cuz no matter how hard I hate on this franchise there's no way I'm throwing shade at him. This guy IS Wolverine, has been for 14 years now. It was nice to see First Class survive without him, but also awesome to see him back in a good-to-great movie. The second saving grace was the return of the bigger stars of First Class: James McAvoy's Xavier, Fassy's Magneto, Nicholas Hoult's Beast, and Dat Jennifer Lawrence. The chemistry within this cast is undeniable, and definitely helps carry over whatever context First Class contributes to this film. Without this cast, I would probably be mid-rant about how fucking awful this movie is (even though it's not even that bad).

In regards to the plot: ugh, time travel. It's never good. It's only good in Doctor Who because of how batshit insane that show is. It's ok though. Why? Because it's canon, that's why. Same justification I have for Superman killing Zod in Man Of Steel: it happened in the comics, was in fact a major event in the story, and was mostly well interpreted into film given the additional context of the franchise. It made enough sense for anyone with the typical suspension of disbelief for any comic book movie to get behind. It also serves, as X-Men always has, as a decent allegory for social prejudice against a minority. In this film it's more of a representation of the ethnic conflicts taking place around the time that the events of DOFP is set. There has always been a comparison between Xavier and Magneto with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, respectively, and it is never more apparent than in this film. However, the subject matter of the film does not leave a lot of room for levity. This film was not a feel-good movie. Say what you will about Amazing Spider Man 2, but it was fun. So was First Class. The only notable scene with any joy in it featured the criminally underused Quicksilver character and it came close to going over the top, almost seeming like it was overcompensating for the grim nature of the rest of the film. In the words of Marty McFly, this film is heavy.

For as dark a film as this is at times, it's hard to tell who the villain is. There are a lot of contenders here, without getting too spoilery. First, the most apparent villain is Magneto, but between his desire to protect his kind and Fassy's undeniable charisma it's hard to hate on him. Then there's Mystique, but then again, Dat Jennifer Lawrence. The character has pretty similar motivations to Magneto, on top of being all of the adorable. I feel as though Tyrion Lannister's turn as Bolivar Trask was the intentional villain of the story, but even he's driven by factors that are very understandable if not sympathetic. Again taking away from being a comic book movie, there is no true good and evil here, just shades of gray. It made me miss the shit eating grin of Kevin Bacon and January Jones' incredible bitchface. Those are people one could hate. 

Another criticism I have for DOFP in contrast to First Class is the style it was presented in. By that, I mean that when you watch First Class, it is obvious that the film is set in the 60's. Everything from the appearance, to the music, the set pieces, even the gadgets right down to Cerebro itself is clearly out of the era. In this movie, not so much. Yeah, there's 70's music and clothes and stuff, but there are glaring irregularities, the most obvious of which are the sentinels themselves. Forget that the average computer in the 70's was neither powerful nor small, nothing on this earth circa 1970 looked like a fucking Macbook. 

The highest person in 1970 couldn't come up with this.

Here, we have 20 foot tall purple robots that might as well have the Droid logo inscribed on its fucking face. Not to mention MP3 player-looking pieces of movie science bullshit that Tyrion's just pimping around with. This is technology that we don't have NOW. If you're going to have this kind of sci-fi gimmickry going on in an era 40 years ago, at least make it look the part. Let remotes have big ass antennae. Have the Sentinels look less like in iPad mini and more retro, like a first generation Megatron. At the very least, throw in some shag carpeting or a pimping plaid suit, Don Draper style.

There are two things here that really bugged me about this film, and while both are admittedly nitpicky, that's how I do. The first is pretty simple: as we know, time travel is kind of the lynch pin of the plot. The problem is there is no explanation as to how that time travel happens. Just some random character who shall remain nameless but is already an established part of canon inextricably develops the ability to send people through time. That is maybe the most conveniently random plot hammer in the franchise. The X-Men franchise. It's an accomplishment. The second is the most offending evidence of Bryan Singer's devil-may-care attitude towards the franchise's continuity. So throughout the film, there are little but relevant references to the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. For those who don't remember, Jean Grey goes nucking futs, kills an approximate fuck ton of X-Men, including Cyclops and Xavier, followed by getting herself shanked by Logan. So given the fact that X-Men 3 is accepted canon in DOFP, I have a question. HOW THE FUCK IS PROFESSOR X ALIVE IN THE FUTURE? I'm open to suggestions. Anyone?

Please, keep in mind. This is a movie I liked.

It's on me to accept the fact that First Class is a moment in time, a high point in a franchise I'm never going to whole-heartedly love. And that's OK, because in that context, DOFP is the best movie in the franchise that isn't First Class (so I guess it's Second Class! Jokes!). I'm on board from here on out, especially if the First Class alumni keep making appearances. If that Fassy-starring Magneto movie gets greenlit, I'll buy my ticket tomorrow. In other exciting news, Channing 'My Fave' Tatum is officially Gambit. This could be really fucking good, or just as fucking bad. As long as he's more 21 Jump Street and less Dear John we should be fine. Do I like Bryan Singer's involvement? Nope, but if he ends up being a multiple rapist, karma dictates that at the very least he gets to stop making millions of dollars off of a guaranteed money making film franchise. All in all, this film is a success, especially if you're not prone to hating the X-films like I do. I definitely think it's worth seeing. It has enough nods to the source material for the comic book faithful and plays well enough for the general population.

But if what I hear is true about the next film, they best not fuck it up. I mean it. 

Knight Owl