So I thought I’d review X-Men: Days of Future Past in the style of my “Meanwhile…” posts, where I compare what’s “Hot” and “Not.” But in this case, I’m calling my categories “LOVED IT!” and “Not so much…”
Because, basically, I loved this movie–that’s why “LOVED IT!” is all in caps. It was a lot more fun than The Amazing Spiderman 2, which we saw a few weeks ago (and I may get around to reviewing someday, eventually…if I can work up the enthusiasm for it…). But honestly, I don’t think there will be too much in my “Not so much…” column for X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Well…let’s get started and find out!
LOVED IT!
CASTING, CASTING!
First of all, what a great concept, to combine the casts of the two tiers of X-Man movies! For someone like me, introduced to the X-Men (and indeed the entire Marvel Universe) through X-Men (2000), the original cast of those first three movies will always be, in my mind, the REAL X-Men. Now, having said that, I also immensely enjoyed X-Men: First Class a few years back, in which we get an X-Men origin story. 
In some ways, First Class was even better than some of the original movies, and one of these days I would love to get around to reviewing First Class as well.
But for now, I’ll just say: I’m totally on board with combining the casts. It’s interesting to see how the newbie mutants have matured over the decades, not just in their appearance, but also in how their experiences have shaped their personalities. Of course, I don’t know a lot about the X-Men, having only read through three comics at this point, but the parallel between the two movie casts is nearly seamless. Russ and I often comment that one of the greatest strengths of Marvel movies is that they start out with EXCELLENT casting (Can you imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark?). Marvel usually gets it right in the casting, and in the world of X-Men, they’ve gotten it doubly right. And that makes it doubly enjoyable to watch Days of Future Past.
I’M FROM THE FUTURE AND I’M HERE TO HELP YOU
You know that moment when you’re sitting in the theater, and you hope the movie is going to be good, but you’re not sure yet, and then suddenly something happens on screen, and you get a warm, fuzzy feeling and smile, and think, “Oh…yes!!” Well, that happened to me the first time Wolverine, suddenly finding himself 
transported back to 1973, unapologetically introduces himself as being from the future. And then he goes on to tell everyone he meets that he’s from the future.
Too often, in movies about time travel, the travelers are so extremely secretive or coy about what they’re doing there. Yeah, of course, it adds a layer of drama, but in this movie, Wolverine’s brutal honesty works so much better. He doesn’t strike me as the type of guy to be coy (though secretive may be an entirely different matter…). He comes right to the point, and because the people he’s trying to help are open to all the wild possibilities, they quickly accept him. It was refreshing to not spend a whole lot of time tiptoeing around the concept of time travel. We’ve got a world to save, let’s get on with the action!
LITTLE BIG MAN
Again, being new to the X-Men title, I don’t yet know anything about Bolivar Trask, the villain of this piece, other than the fact that he shares a name with some infamous Dark Shadows villains. Therefore, to me, Trask is simply a good name for a villain.
Russ has explained to me that though Trask is a canon character, in the comics, he is not a “little person,” as we see him here, portrayed by Peter Dinklage. Again, with the casting! What a creative choice to have the “Big Bad” be a man of small stature. It fits in so perfectly with the entire X-Men theme that appearances can be deceiving. Nice touch.
DON’T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
One of my favorite moments: when Xavier first meets Wolverine, he keeps giving him funny looks, and eventually says something along the lines of “OH! I just figured it out! I remember where I’ve seen you before!” Their first meeting, in X-Men: First Class, seemed nothing more than a throwaway comedy cameo, but now it comes up again as the punchline to the joke. The entire movie could survive perfectly well without this “bit,” but you have to love the attention to detail. Was it all planned this way from the beginning, or at some point later, did someone say, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if….?” I don’t know, and I don’t care. The end result is fun.
TAKING LIBERTIES WITH HISTORY
Historical events from 1962 are woven into the plotline of X-Men: First Class, and now we find ourselves eleven years down the road. The events of 1973 are not strictly historical, but the mindset, the music, fashions, and grainy news footage all contribute to the feel of the era. Several historical references are played for laughs, and one or two fit into that “Wouldn’t it be cool….?” category. It was also cool that they had a fairly good Nixon lookalike (Mark Camacho) who delivers his “My fellow Americans,” line with stirring conviction.
QUICKLY NOW!
Oh! Yes! Quicksilver makes it into this movie. Also cool. I won’t say more. There’s one scene. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t…go see the movie.
BEASTY BOY
Loved Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy in X-Men: First Class, and love him even more in Days of Future Past. As a human, he’s adorable, and as Beast, this second appearance finds him looking a little rougher around the edges. And that’s a good thing. Because he is, after all…a beast…
And yet now, as a human, even more adorable.
SHADES OF GRAY
Finally, in my “LOVED IT!” column: this is a movie about superheroes. Good guys and bad guys, right? Well, hold on just a minute there! In some superhero movies, those lines are clearly drawn, but not so much here. Every character in this movie is motivated by what they consider noble intentions. Every character can make a good case for their actions. It’s not so much about Good vs. Evil as it is about conflicting agendas. And sometimes, it’s about inner conflict. Any way you slice it, conflict is good, and this movie has plenty of it.
Not So Much….
THIS TIME WE’LL GET IT RIGHT. RIGHT?
Okay, I guess I have to say something bad about this movie or you’ll think I’m just a gushing fan girl. Well, I am a gushing fan girl, but I’m also someone who is incredibly inept at 
understanding all the ramifications of time travel. However, I don’t think I’m alone in this, and perhaps I need to share my dunce cap with the writers and producers of this movie. They try, but paradox will rear its ugly head now and then.
There isn’t actually a whole lot of traveling back and forth in time, which is good, since it cuts down on the number of times Wolverine could end up being his own grandpa. It also helps keep the story fairly easy to understand. But when it’s all over, as you’re leaving the theater, even before that warm fuzzy feeling has completely left your body, you suddenly perk up and say, “Hey, wait! If all this happened in 1973, then WHY…???…and HOW…???”
You’ve seen time travel movies before, so you know the drill. No one ever gets it completely right. That comes with the territory. Don’t let it bother you—just go see the movie.
And keep your eyes open for Quicksilver. He’s…fast. And you wouldn’t want to miss him.
