{"id":326,"date":"2014-05-26T11:42:46","date_gmt":"2014-05-26T15:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=326"},"modified":"2014-08-05T22:36:03","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T02:36:03","slug":"movie-review-x-men-days-future-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2014\/05\/26\/movie-review-x-men-days-future-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Brought to you by our friends at <a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/reviews\/x-men-days-of-future-past\/\" target=\"_blank\">Reel Worth<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div><strong>Movie Info<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Director:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/director\/bryan-singer\/\" rel=\"tag\">Bryan Singer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Genres:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/genre\/action\/\" rel=\"tag\">Action<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/genre\/drama\/\" rel=\"tag\">Drama<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rating:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/rating\/pg-13\/\" rel=\"tag\">PG-13<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Release Date:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/release-date\/23-may-2014\/\" rel=\"tag\">23 May 2014<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Screenwriter:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/screenwriter\/simon-kinberg\/\" rel=\"tag\">Simon Kinberg<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Starring:<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/hugh-jackman\/\" rel=\"tag\">Hugh Jackman<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/ian-mckellan\/\" rel=\"tag\">Ian Mckellan<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/james-mcavoy\/\" rel=\"tag\">James McAvoy<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/jennifer-lawrence\/\" rel=\"tag\">Jennifer Lawrence<\/a>,<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/michael-fassbender\/\" rel=\"tag\">Michael Fassbender<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reelworth.com\/celebrity\/patrick-stewart\/\" target=\"_blank\">Patrick Stewart<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>X-Men: Days of Future Past\u00a0Film Review<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What Worked?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[dropcap]W[\/dropcap]hat mutants represent in the Marvel universe is the label of \u201cthe other\u201d that we learn to fear; no other comic book story line touches upon this better than the X-Men. Bryan Singer is back in the director\u2019s chair, after taking a lengthy\u00a0break, and he\u2019s taken on quite a story with\u00a0X-Men: Days of Future Past. \u00a0Singer creates a cohesive film that makes for a fantastic sequel to<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reelworth.com\/reviews\/x-men-first-class-2011\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0X-Men: First Class<\/a>, and roots back to all the other installments.<\/p>\n<p>Singer left the X-Men world over a decade ago, but now he\u2019s back, and he\u2019s better than he\u2019s ever been. All the characters are given time to shine, and the story-line is tight and captivating. Singer took some tips from James Cameron\u2019s\u00a0Terminator\u00a0films to handle the time travel aspect, and he definitely benefited from doing so. The action sequences are intense, and creative, while packing an emotional punch. The sentinels are a nightmare for the X-Men, making for a heavyweight title match-up every time they go head-to-head. The CGI used in the film is well done too, complementing the film rather than being a distraction; it puts the audience in a state of awe rather than have them think \u201coh hey, that\u2019s good CGI!\u201d In addition to the strong story, characters, action, and acting, there are lots of extra goodies and nods to keep comic book geeks\u00a0smirking throughout.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the cast. The cast was amazing, with no weak links to be found.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reelworth.com\/reviews\/12-years-a-slave-2013\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Michael Fassbender<\/a>\u00a0is a undeniable force as the younger Magneto. He is commanding in the role, projecting\u00a0a fully developed villain that truly believes in his purpose of leading mutants to rise above and dominate. On the other hand James McAvoy continues to do a solid job portraying a younger, troubled Professor X that\u2019s trying to find his way back to become the leader and inspiration of the X-Men. Magneto and Professor X are different sides of the same coin, and Fassbender and McAvoy channel that perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>Of course,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reelworth.com\/reviews\/real-steel-2011\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hugh Jackman\u00a0<\/a>is back as Wolverine, and he still delivers as one of the baddest characters in comic book history. This time around, he\u2019s older, wiser, and a tad bit more mature than we\u2019ve seen him in past installments. Also, Jennifer Lawrence plays a much larger role here as Mystique, and her charisma and emotional draw really fleshes out the character more than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart reprising their respective roles as Magneto and Professor X was like getting a gift you already knew about, but are still excited to open up. They both embody the characters so well, and haven\u2019t lost a step. They share one of the most touching scenes in the series, as Magneto poignantly states, \u201cAll those years wasted fighting each other, Charles,\u201d as sentinels are closing in. It was a pleasure to see them in these roles again, and they definitely do not disappoint.\u00a0There are plenty of other mutant appearances, including Bishop and Storm, but the scene-stealer out of them all is Evan Peters as Quicksilver. Just sit back and enjoy while he\u00a0runs away with every scene that he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n<p>X-Men: Days of Future Past\u00a0is a marvelous film, and is arguably the best of the X-Men series. Despite being an entertaining comic-book action flick, it\u00a0has several layers; for example, it goes into the dangers of technology with the sentinels, showing us that having men solve problems with each other is far more effective than\u00a0a man-made solution. It also touches upon the unreachable\u00a0goal of equality for all men. The only way we can maintain hope of achieving that unreachable goal is to keep fighting for it, and how we choose to fight for that equality is what will define us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Potential Drawbacks:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a time travel movie, and plot holes and continuity errors are unavoidable. Professor X got obliterated in\u00a0X-Men 3: the Last Stand, so why is he in tact in this film? Who cares?\u00a0X-Men 3: the Last Stand\u00a0was horrible! There are more time-travel plot holes and such, but none that actually derail the entertainment value of the film.<\/p>\n<p>Common complaint: too many characters, and too many references to the past five installments. Sure. It\u2019s not exactly a stand alone movie, so viewers that haven\u2019t watched the other films might be a little confused or might miss out on some references. Plenty of characters clog the screen at times, although the main characters are given enough time to shine.<\/p>\n<p>Some might think that the film is all over the place. It\u2019s a blockbuster film, but the plot is beyond the capacity of typical blockbuster caliber flicks. Therefore, it may be a little too much for some viewers to absorb at first.<\/p>\n<p>[youtube]http:\/\/youtu.be\/gsjtg7m1MMM[\/youtube]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brought to you by our friends at Reel Worth. Movie Info Director:Bryan Singer Genres:Action,\u00a0Drama Rating:PG-13 Release Date:23 May 2014 Screenwriter:Simon Kinberg Starring:Hugh Jackman,\u00a0Ian Mckellan,\u00a0James McAvoy,\u00a0Jennifer Lawrence,Michael Fassbender,\u00a0Patrick Stewart X-Men: Days of Future Past\u00a0Film Review What Worked? [dropcap]W[\/dropcap]hat mutants represent in the Marvel universe is the label of \u201cthe other\u201d that we learn to fear; no<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2014\/05\/26\/movie-review-x-men-days-future-past\/\" title=\"Read More\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167,138],"tags":[166,154,153,165,164,163,161,162,158,160,157,159,156,155,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movie-reviews","8":"category-movies","9":"tag-brian-singer","10":"tag-comic-books","11":"tag-days-of-future-past","12":"tag-hugh-jackman","13":"tag-ian-mckellan","14":"tag-james-mcavoy","15":"tag-jennifer","16":"tag-lawrence","17":"tag-magneto","18":"tag-michael-fassbender","19":"tag-mystique","20":"tag-patrick-stewart","21":"tag-professor-x","22":"tag-wolverine","23":"tag-x-men"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}