Days of Future Past Official Rate and Review DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

[kedrell]

Yeah, it pretty much makes no sense - but I don't put much stake into post-credit teasers. They don't always add up to something so perfectly so much as do just that - tease an idea/concept/character (see: Thor post-credit bit for example).

Thor's added up.

 

[spider-neil]

First Class is a substantially better movie.

- Every character earns their role, there is nobody shoehorned onto the plot;
- The movie takes place in 1962 because it tells a plot that could take place in no other time, and it feels like 1962. DoFP takes place in 1973 because that's a meaningful year to the audience, but it doesn't feel like 1973.

See Devin Faraci's review, he agrees that FC > DoFP with extended arguments.

I agree. It doesn't 'feel' like the 70's. Also The Sentinels from the 70's should have been Sentinels in the future and the 70's Sentinels should have look more 'period'. I mean, c'mon, could 70's technolgy have come up with technology that cutting edge? They should have looked no more sophisticated than a car.

 

[Son of Coul]

The Sentinels were commissioned and fast-tracked in the 70s because of the stuff that happened in Paris when they tried to stop Mystique. In the original timeline, Trask wasn't able to get them commissioned, but his work continued after his death and Sentinels ultimately came later.

Aight, makes enough sense.

 

[spider-neil]

The difference is that you could put that Apocalypse stinger after ANY of the previous 6 films in the franchise and it wouldn't matter(you can't do that with the Marvel/Disney stingers. They are specific and they pertain to the film you just saw and usually to a larger story going on) because they are just doing small self contained stories. There is no bigger picture with Fox's X-Men franchise so far. Which flies in the face of everything they've said they wanted to do in getting their own X-Men/FF Cinematic Universe going. That's what those end credits things are for(as well as fan service). This one is nothing but fan service and zero story/universe building and I find that to be a missed opportunity.

I'll tell you what was a missed oppotunity, not have the future battle at the Baxter Building, they have the movie rights to do it. The comic fans would geeked out and the GA would be given a peek/reminder of the upcoming FF movie.

 

[GregComicFan]

Great movie.

I think they should retire both the OT cast and the FC cast though. Any further films inside this continuity will be too confusing.

(See my post in the Days of Future Past SPOILER thread for more of my thoughts)

 

[DCW]

Rarely do this but I'm giving this a 10/10. Loved every second of it. I thought they did an excellent job of blending future and past scenes not to mention perfectly tying it into previous x movies.

 

[A Dollar Short]

9/10

Only real criticism is the lack of scenes in the future.

Jackman's ass is a 10.

 

[SuperT]

Just got back from seeing this - it get a 9.5 out of 10 for me. Holy cow - I need to see this again.

 

[CapLover]

It's not a throwaway. It took place two years after The Wolverine, and several years before the Sentinel program destroyed everything.

It was also awhile after the events of X3, so by then Xaiver had returned and Magneto had his powers back. They saw what was coming, and sought out Wolverine (and presumably, other X-Men as well) because they wanted to try and stop it from happening.

In the end, they just weren't able to stop the war from happening. The plan to send Logan back came about years later.

It makes total sense.

Spoiler

If it's not a throwaway, that's fine.
But even without "The Wolverine" credits teaser, I would have liked an explanation as to just how Patrick Stewart/Professor X was alive and well in the first place prior to the time change at the end of the movie.

They had a post-credits tease at the end of "The Last Stand" where that body with no consciousness was lying in a hospital and appeared to be where he transferred his mind to. But how would that body end up looking EXACTLY like him (and at the same age) that he was when Jean Grey incinerated him?

 

[CaptainCanada]

Young Magneto is actually shoehorned onto the plot, which is a huge problem. We're told at the beginning that he will be needed to stop the future, but everything we're shown tells that he only worsens the problems, he slows down the progress of the heroes, and at no point is he needed. He could have been needed if he had contributed to Mystique's change of heart, but there is none of that. Magneto doesn't really fit into the story at all except to create action scenes.

I totally disagree there.

First, sure, we're told he'll be needed to stop the future, but that's just Future Charles and Erik's belief, because they're such an awesome bromantic team. And, indeed, he probably would have been useful, but Past Erik didn't play ball; Future Erik really can't predict with absolute certainty what his past self will do.

The younger Magneto's alternate course of action drives the climax, and he and Professor X are the two sides that Mystique is positioned between.

Anyway, I loved it. Built on the promise of First Class excellently (these two movies together feel like how the X-Men should have been done from the start; not to say that I didn't like the earlier ones too), albeit whilst culling a lot of minor characters in between films (Havok survived the carnage, at least)>

The implications of this for the earlier films are pretty broad. [BLACKOUT]I've seen people talking about it retconning X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Origins - Wolverine, which is true, but it also wipes out the earlier films, realistically. The crux of the movie is preventing nice JLaw Mystique from turning into eviler Rebecca Romijn Mystique, and they succeed at that. So unless she's doomed to end up like that anyway (which goes against the movie's thematic content completely), the plots of both of those movies shouldn't happen (Mystique being more than a little important to both of Magneto's plans).[/BLACKOUT]

The MCU version of Quicksilver will have some work to do to live up to the X-Men film version (and already starts at a bit of a disadvantage in that I don't expect Aaron Taylor-Johnson to suddenly become super-charismatic under Joss Whedon's direction after Matthew Vaughn and Joe Wright, among others, couldn't accomplish that).

They had a post-credits tease at the end of "The Last Stand" where that body with no consciousness was lying in a hospital and appeared to be where he transferred his mind to. But how would that body end up looking EXACTLY like him (and at the same age) that he was when Jean Grey incinerated him?

The body was identified as "P. Xavier"; it's an identical twin.

 

[Marvolo]

Loved the film! Those future sentinels were scary as ****!

 

[antonydelfini]

Wow, a 2nd viewing made me love the movie more. From 8/10, it's now a 9/10. Now number 2 behind TDK and above Avengers.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

Does anybody else think the entire first 3 films were [BLACKOUT]wiped from continuity?[/BLACKOUT]

My friend thinks so, I think not.

Thoughts?

 

[Liam_H]

Not entirely but certainly changed, how much remains to be seen. Or we may never know.

 

[Binker]

Saw it Thursday, and I thought it was great. I don't know if overtime I will lower that from great to very good, but as of now, DOFP is great.

Could've had more Rogue, or just have Rogue, but the blu-ray should be fixing that; Quicksilver was funny and entertaining to see; I felt everyone had the right level of screen time and roles to fill. Surprisingly for me, even though Wolverine and Hugh Jackman are the star of this, he isn't the main character but the catalyst of the story: Xavier and Magneto were the main characters, and I guess that felt surprisingly for me because it's, well, Wolverine. Plus, the ending with the corrected future left me and everyone else happy, and that included seeing Beast, Cyclops, and Jean Grey back.

I also felt that for a time travel story which can be complicated to tell,this story was pretty simple. The paradox that led to a new future will most likely cause fans to create a timeline that will make sense of the original and new timelines, which I would like to see from them, but I want the next film to give light to it too, as that may or may not be the last one (doubtful, but let's pretend). I really want to know what is now different in the new timeline from what we saw since 2000, and if the next film's events is what led certain events to occur from he original timeline, that will happen again in the new (i.e. Xavier and Magneto working together, building (or in this case improving) Cerebro, maybe even show them meet Jean Grey like in X3).

Speaking of Apocalypse; the post credits showed that we will be getting a respectful version of the character. I really want to know what kind of story they'll do for the next one; time will tell, but it is frustrating the wait.

Overall, DOFP was great. It's almost like Singer, quality control-wise, decided to pick up where he left off, and deliver DOFP similar or moreso than how he planned for X3. It's almost like it's the Bryan Singer who just came from doing X2 that did DOFP. Hopefully he'll do Apocalypse.

BTW, when Apocalypse appeared, people who were waiting for the post credits scene asked one common question: "who the heck is that?" "facepalm"

 

[Fumardude]

Everyone in the theatre clapped for the quicksilver scene .. Loved it havent seen people cheer in a movie since avengers.. Also anyone know the song that was used during the kitchen scene?

 

[Liam_H]

Time In a Bottle

 

[Figs]

Just got home from the theater and I have no idea what to rate this movie. I liked it a lot and there really wasn't anything that I hated, but there were missed opportunities I guess.

 

[Jumpman]

My rambling review of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. So many thoughts about this film and what it means to me, what it means to the series, and what it means for the future, I couldn't keep straight what I wanted to really say. In reality, I could write three reviews for this damn film. Either way, have at it....http://letterboxd.com/corysims/film/x-men-days-of-future-past/

The return of the master of the X-Men universe brings about the full return to quality filmmaking that began this franchise in 2000. And with it, what we have is a franchise at 20th Century Fox that is born anew. The X-Men franchise is fully back and it's been sorely missed by this viewer.

As a person who never read comics in his youth but gravitated towards the genre with Singer's first film, this franchise has a special place with me. Fourteen years ago, it showed this novice of the medium of comic books that these stories, told correctly, play with universal themes that we can all identify with. And when done elegantly, they can be eye opening in their entertainment value.

The X-Men series was the first series in this genre that had the potential to transcend the genre that it helped spawn. But, it was all derailed back in 2006 with the release of the trilogy close out film THE LAST STAND. In reality, the derailment began in the fall of 2003 with the release of Singer's superior sequel X2 on home video. Long story short, Fox should've given the keys to the kingdom to Singer that fall to insure a successful, never ending, license to print money franchise for a studio, that at the time, was struggling with franchises.

It wasn't meant to be and ever since then, Fox and the producers have been desperately trying to get this franchise back on track. ORIGINS WOLVERINE in 2009 didn't help matters. But, things changed in the summer of 2011 with the release of the official prequel to Singer's first film, FIRST CLASS. It was the jolt that began the journey to DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. Two years later, THE WOLVERINE (2013) was released and it followed the footsteps of FIRST CLASS with very good, quality filmmaking on the shoulders of the star of the entire franchise since day one, Hugh Jackman.

Now, a year later, Singer has been tasked with not only fixing the franchise for the future at Fox but also satisfy the fans and himself for the wrongs that have happened to this franchise.

In a nutshell, his return has brought about one of the best films of the genre. An emotional, complex, nostalgic, celebration and ultimately supremely satisfying closing chapter to the cast of the original trilogy. And yet, it also acts as a thrilling sequel to FIRST CLASS that leaves the door open to a final chapter with the prequel cast.

I adore this film from end to end. From FIRST CLASS being the story of Erik's rise to Magneto to this film being the redemption of Charles Xavier to Professor X, this is a heavy story. To complicate matters even further, in between the two titans of this series lies the battle for the soul of Jennifer Lawrence's Raven/Mystique. And with that, you have some really thrilling and deep drama that plays out in a race to save the future for mutants and humanity.

McAvoy, Fassbender, and Lawrence own this film. You feel and understand every perspective these characters take. You want them to find their way back to one another. And yet, you understand why that might not ever happen. Couple that with the added history and emotion of supporting work from Jackman, Stewart, and McKellen, what you have here is an actor's delight.

Jackman's position as front man of this series has always been a certain cause of angst for hardcore fans of the source material. In the end, having Jackman being the centerpiece of this series from day one truly pays off as he goes back in time to witness the history of this on going conflict between two men, but he also gets to relive some of his own history that he's lost. It's thrilling to watch the Wolverine play diplomat in this story. It brings all back around to when Xavier first helped Logan all those years ago.

Familiar faces from the original films are a welcome sight because they bring the history of three films with them, even if it's only for a minute or so. It all comes to head in an absolute, emotional crescendo of an ending that, to anyone who's followed this series from day one, will leave them in tears. It is Singer's way of giving the proper send off to the cast he originally formed. And despite the logic of it, there's just no other way for this film to end. It is splendid.

Highest marks go to the cinematography, visual effects, action, and production design. This is a lovely, lovely looking film.

In the end, the X-Men are whole again. And with that, we await APOCALYPSE to see where the FIRST CLASS cast/characters end their saga.

Highest of recommendations.

 

[X-Maniac]

Spoiler

If it's not a throwaway, that's fine.
But even without "The Wolverine" credits teaser, I would have liked an explanation as to just how Patrick Stewart/Professor X was alive and well in the first place prior to the time change at the end of the movie.

They had a post-credits tease at the end of "The Last Stand" where that body with no consciousness was lying in a hospital and appeared to be where he transferred his mind to. But how would that body end up looking EXACTLY like him (and at the same age) that he was when Jean Grey incinerated him?

That scene at the end of TLS was Xavier's consciousness waking in the body of his braindead twin brother, who had been lying in a vegetative state his whole life (74 years to be precise, as Xavier was 12 in 1944 and this scene was in 2006, when TLS takes place according to the Empire Magazine official timeline). Since the twin had never moved or walked, his muscles had atrophied and he was essentially as immobile as Charles.

Cheesy though it may sound, that was the answer to how he survived. Rather than have someone explaining that cheesiness, they just left it. Then we were shown Xavier alive at the end of The Wolverine to estabish the fact ready for DoFP.

 

[Jumpman]

That scene at the end of TLS was Xavier's consciousness waking in the body of his braindead twin brother, who had been lying in a vegetative state his whole life (74 years to be precise, as Xavier was 12 in 1944 and this scene was in 2006, when TLS takes place according to the Empire Magazine official timeline). Since the twin had never moved or walked, his muscles had atrophied and he was essentially as immobile as Charles.

Cheesy though it may sound, that was the answer to how he survived. Rather than have someone explaining that cheesiness, they just left it. Then we were shown Xavier alive at the end of The Wolverine to estabish the fact ready for DoFP.

Wait a second, did it actually say that was Xavier's twin brother in the actual film? I never really looked for clues.

 

[X-Maniac]

Wait a second, did it actually say that was Xavier's twin brother in the actual film? I never really looked for clues.

Not in the film, but in the commentary. Yes, it's hokey and hammy, but it's what they were left to work with.

 

[Incredible Hans]

Since the twin had never moved or walked, his muscles had atrophied and he was essentially as immobile as Charles.

In that case, Xavier shouldn't be able to move his arms either (or any part of his body!).

But in the future scenes, it's only his legs that can't be moved...

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

7/10 for me

positives:
-X2 theme!
-opening credits.
-Original Cast
-Blink
-Wolvys future outfit
-Wolvy waking up, both times.Very cool atmosphere and tone.
-Dinklage
-Some Mystique action scenes felt like X1 and 2.
-Magneto action
-Quicksilver. Peter's acting.
-Time travel setup was suspenseful. Great editing
-a couple poignant moments
-The ending!

Negatives:
-Was this not 24fps? it looked like hfr. Wasnt a fan.
-Some of the cinematography was a little underwhelming at times.
-Jennifer Lawrence.
-Some of the action and setpieces were a little underwhelming. The overall scale felt small, which had its charm I suppose.
-Some of the drama was a little melodramatic at times, and the Young Xavier/Mystique/Eric story wasnt quite as compelling as it could have been. The climax in the stadium wasnt terribly satisfying.
-Cheesy flashback to kid Charles/Raven.

A fun, neat movie, but not as powerful, exciting, or effectively character driven as I'd hoped. Not many glaring flaws, but nothing truly exceptional either. Still very excited for the next one though.

 

[X-Maniac]

In that case, Xavier shouldn't be able to move his arms either (or any part of his body!).

But in the future scenes, it's only his legs that can't be moved...

Like I said, that's why they didn't go into it. Best left alone.