Days of Future Past What you didn't like about X-Men:DOFP - Flaws/Critiques

[gdw]

My only real "flaw" was the stadium.
I didn't really get what Magnetos plan was until he set it down and then I was like "cool! he's made a battle dome/ring to contain them to fight him. But then he just did a lot of posturing and there wasn't a load of fighting in it so it seemed a bit pointless overall.

Considering he was going after the president, at the White House, yeah, it made perfect sense. He completely cut them off except for from the air, and he had the Sentinels for that if he needed them.

 

[Havok83]

Except that there WAS a "need," as that was why they approved the program after Trask's death. Mystique assassinated him, and that pushed them over the edge into approving the Sentinels.

Not really. They captured Mystique on the spot and had the situation contained and handled. She served to show them that mutantkind could be a potential threat. The government approved further research into the Sentinel program and its likely the money and resources they had which allowed for the more advanced models to be created decades later. There however wasn't a "need" for them to be used in the 30 year gap until Xmen 1 which is why they weren't activated and unleashed on to society. They kept it in their back pocket so to speak until a mutant threat actually presented itself and the stuff that Magneto had done in X1 and TLS, combined with Dark Phoenix likely served as a catalyst to finally approve actually activating them

 

[X-Maniac]

Also, remember that no more Sentinels were made after 1996, as suggested by the Trask Industries viral website. This could be because they agreed to shelve them (this is same year as Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in our world, so they could have had a Sentinel Ban Treaty), or because Trask died without an heir and his company was mothballed.

Then, after X3 and all the tensions documented on 25 Moments, the distant relative who inherited Trask Industries (ie the Bill Duke Trask) decided to get things moving again.

 

[gdw]

Not really. They captured Mystique on the spot and had the situation contained and handled. She served to show them that mutantkind could be a potential threat. The government approved further research into the Sentinel program and its likely the money and resources they had which allowed for the more advanced models to be created decades later. There however wasn't a "need" for them to be used in the 30 year gap until Xmen 1 which is why they weren't activated and unleashed on to society. They kept it in their back pocket so to speak until a mutant threat actually presented itself and the stuff that Magneto had done in X1 and TLS, combined with Dark Phoenix likely served as a catalyst to finally approve actually activating them

Where was that said in the film?

Considering the simple existence of Magneto and Mystique were enough to move them to immediately roll out the prototypes in the altered 70s, there's NO way that the fact that they captured Mystique would make them hold off on using them for 40 years.

There had been PLENTY of incidences that were FAR more threatening events after, Mystique's assassination of Trask, and BEFORE X3.

If what you're suggesting was the case, they would have rolled them out right after Liberty Island, if not earlier. The fact that they weren't rolled out IMMEDIATELY after Liberty Island is what makes this all so nonsensical.

Also, remember that no more Sentinels were made after 1996, as suggested by the Trask Industries viral website. This could be because they agreed to shelve them (this is same year as Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in our world, so they could have had a Sentinel Ban Treaty), or because Trask died without an heir and his company was mothballed.

Then, after X3 and all the tensions documented on 25 Moments, the distant relative who inherited Trask Industries (ie the Bill Duke Trask) decided to get things moving again.

Yes, and THIS suggests that they WERE being used from 73-96 then.
That would suggest a VERY different world leading up to the first X-Men film. Also, no mention of them in X-Men Origins: Wolverine which overlapped that time frame.

 

[Lord]

Care to elaborate? Never played it myself, though I highly doubt they'd be relying on it as an explanation. They played fast and loose with a bunch of minor details, but this is a big thing.

Well, X-2 and Last Stand were pretty much retconned, which means the game was too, but it did kinda work inside the storyline, it also explained why Nightcrawler wasn't in X-3

 

[X-Maniac]

Where was that said in the film?

Considering the simple existence of Magneto and Mystique were enough to move them to immediately roll out the prototypes in the altered 70s, there's NO way that the fact that they captured Mystique would make them hold off on using them for 40 years.

There had been PLENTY of incidences that were FAR more threatening events after, Mystique's assassination of Trask, and BEFORE X3.

If what you're suggesting was the case, they would have rolled them out right after Liberty Island, if not earlier. The fact that they weren't rolled out IMMEDIATELY after Liberty Island is what makes this all so nonsensical.



Yes, and THIS suggests that they WERE being used from 73-96 then.
That would suggest a VERY different world leading up to the first X-Men film. Also, no mention of them in X-Men Origins: Wolverine which overlapped that time frame.

They were clearly put into the background, much like nuclear missiles and atom bombs are in our own world. A deterrent, not a visible presence.

Maybe some more militarised nations had them more visibly present, but America learned not to use such a sledgehammer approach that in the end only inflamed things further.

 

[Havok83]

Where was that said in the film?

Considering the simple existence of Magneto and Mystique were enough to move them to immediately roll out the prototypes in the altered 70s, there's NO way that the fact that they captured Mystique would make them hold off on using them for 40 years.

There had been PLENTY of incidences that were FAR more threatening events after, Mystique's assassination of Trask, and BEFORE X3.

If what you're suggesting was the case, they would have rolled them out right after Liberty Island, if not earlier. The fact that they weren't rolled out IMMEDIATELY after Liberty Island is what makes this all so nonsensical.

Mystique's botched assassination and Magneto's fight were both televised and broadcast to an audience. They couldn't cover things up and pretend like it didn't happen. Nixon made it clear that he needed to send a clear message to the American people and public that he could handle the situation and protect them, hence the sentinels. In the original timeline, Mystique killed Trask in private and the situation was self contained, therefore no public message was needed to send out to the world.

If only things were that simple. Sentinels are huge weapons and they cant just be thrust into society lightly. If everytime a mutant committed a criminal act in history, they were to have introduced it, the DOFP future may have happened earlier. In order for this program to move forward you need the right combination of a major serious threat and people in charge to move it forward. There have been many different presidents from the time Nixon was in office till whoever was around 2006. Just bc Nixon would have done so in 1973, doesn't mean others that followed would have as well. We see this in American history all the time with different Presidents having their own method to deal with foreign threats and American policy

Magneto was captured after the Liberty Island incident and they saw mutants, good ones saved the day. The threat in X2 didn't come from a mutant so there wasn't another big one till TLS, where you have Magneto pretty much building an army and striking back in addition to Phoenix going crazy and causing mass destruction. This coincided with Trask having a position within the government and while we don't know everything between that gap, its likely that he pushed to move the sentinel program forward much like his ancestor before him. The events of TLS would serve as good arguments why they should have done that.

 

[gdw]

Well, X-2 and Last Stand were pretty much retconned, which means the game was too, but it did kinda work inside the storyline, it also explained why Nightcrawler wasn't in X-3

Well, as we're talking about where the Sentinels were during the original timeline, the fact that event's have since been reconnected isn't relevant to the question.
That aside, you didn't actually elaborate on the relevant part: the Sentinels.
How did the game address them?

 

[MynAmeIsedDie90]

They could have easily had Havok in the stadium scene. It would have been cool to see him and Beast together again fighting sentinels alongside each other. There could have been potentially funny moments between Havok and Wolverine knowing how the relationship between the latter and Scott was. It would have been funny to see them really get along.

 

[gdw]

They were clearly put into the background, much like nuclear missiles and atom bombs are in our own world. A deterrent, not a visible presence.

Maybe some more militarised nations had them more visibly present, but America learned not to use such a sledgehammer approach that in the end only inflamed things further.

Good points.

Mystique's botched assassination and Magneto's fight were both televised and broadcast to an audience. They couldn't cover things up and pretend like it didn't happen. Nixon made it clear that he needed to send a clear message to the American people and public that he could handle the situation and protect them, hence the sentinels. In the original timeline, Mystique killed Trask in private and the situation was self contained, therefore no public message was needed to send out to the world.

If only things were that simple. Sentinels are huge weapons and they cant just be thrust into society lightly. If everytime a mutant committed a criminal act in history, they were to have introduced it, the DOFP future may have happened earlier. In order for this program to move forward you need the right combination of a major serious threat and people in charge to move it forward. There have been many different presidents from the time Nixon was in office till whoever was around 2006. Just bc Nixon would have done so in 1973, doesn't mean others that followed would have as well. We see this in American history all the time with different Presidents having their own method to deal with foreign threats and American policy

Magneto was captured after the Liberty Island incident and they saw mutants, good ones saved the day. The threat in X2 didn't come from a mutant so there wasn't another big one till TLS, where you have Magneto pretty much building an army and striking back in addition to Phoenix going crazy and causing mass destruction. This coincided with Trask having a position within the government and while we don't know everything between that gap, its likely that he pushed to move the sentinel program forward much like his ancestor before him. The events of TLS would serve as good arguments why they should have done that.

Good points as well. Makes sense.
Would have been nice to have something like that made clear in the film. Even just in Xavier's summary about the Sentinels commenting on how Trask's death lead to the program moving forward, but still in the background till after TLS and The Wolverine.

Speaking of which, I'd REALLY love to see whatever happened between TLS and the post credit scene of The Wolverine.
The Wolverine scene would appear to be still at the start of the deployment of the Sentinels, and we know pretty much how things go from the deployment to the future we see in DOFP, but we don't see how Charles teams up with Eric again after X3. Considering the fact that that has all been re-written, I doubt we'll ever see that, nor that it matters much anymore.

 

[henzINNIT]

Some details bugged me. The main thrust of the story was satisfying.

- No explanation about Xavier's Return? I didn't expect a long winded essay, but was surprised there wasn't a throw-away line considering the film was dealing with a similar kind of shifting consciousness.

- Future Logan's metal claws. They weren't used at all, so why bother creating that inconsistancy? Should have just left them as they were,

- Toad's different appearance didn't bother me until he did nothing in the film. Could have been any other character.

- I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't Stryker at the very end who picked up Wolverine from the lake. It was a neat way to tie a few things up, and would have been a good end for a story arc that has appeared more than enough already.

- No mention of Erik helping to build Cerebro. I was really hoping this would come up at some point. It's a big plot hole in my opinion, easily dealt with. He could have helped during the events of First Class.

Overall I was pretty happy with everything. Maybe a little more detail about how 2023 came to be would have been nice, but the beginning was exposition heavy already.

 

[Lord]

Well, as we're talking about where the Sentinels were during the original timeline, the fact that event's have since been reconnected isn't relevant to the question.
That aside, you didn't actually elaborate on the relevant part: the Sentinels.
How did the game address them?

They were part of William Stryker's backup plan in case the Cerebro one failed, being activated in order to wipe out all mutants

 

[eledoremassis02]

- No mention of Erik helping to build Cerebro. I was really hoping this would come up at some point. It's a big plot hole in my opinion, easily dealt with. He could have helped during the events of First Class.

Yea, I was hoping for that too. I guess you could make the assumption that he "helped build it" since he was there during testing at the Gov. facility and probably had some help in planning the one in the maniton (metal plating and such). But it appears not that Beast did most of the work. But I'd still say there is some room for imagination.

But something official would have been good.

 

[The_Shadow]

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I really didn't like the happy ending. It was too much of rainbows and butterflies for my liking. It does leave open a OT sequel which I'm happy about though.

 

[Feenix]

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I really didn't like the happy ending. It was too much of rainbows and butterflies for my liking. It does leave open a OT sequel which I'm happy about though.

The ending is just for this movie. It's not that one that necessarily "sticks", especially with Apocalypse coming into the picture. I think the DOFP ending is from a timeline without Apocalypse.

 

[Heretic]

The ending is just for this movie. It's not that one that necessarily "sticks", especially with Apocalypse coming into the picture. I think the DOFP ending is from a timeline without Apocalypse.

So, Wolverine change timeline 1 into timeline 2 and woke up in timeline 3?

No...after they changed the timeline, he woke up in the future of the new timeline. It was a horrible decision that telegraphs much of the sequels. They will likely be strongly considering a retcon of that scene in the suture.

 

[X Knight]

wouldn't it be ironic, that after the events of the next film with Apocalypse, the government decides to restart the Sentinel program ( and Trask's research into evolving Sentinels based on Raven's DNA ) as a direct response to the threat posed by Apocalypse?

 

[Feenix]

So, Wolverine change timeline 1 into timeline 2 and woke up in timeline 3?

No...after they changed the timeline, he woke up in the future of the new timeline. It was a horrible decision that telegraphs much of the sequels. They will likely be strongly considering a retcon of that scene in the suture.

What? No. The ending of DOFP would be timeline 2 as you call it and then after AOA, there will be a new timeline (3).

I read comments from members who said that AOA would have to end happily because DOFP did. This isn't necessarily true, as Apocalypse can travel through time himself. He didn't appear in this timeline, but will create a new one when he does appear, thus changing the ending again.

 

[Lord]

Bolivar Trask, he was good, but needed more scenes, as it is, he doesn't hold up very well against Magneto, William Stryker or Sebastian Shaw

 

[Mulholland-Jr]

Thank God.

It always takes me right out of the movie when he shows up.

We had a Chris Claremont cameo instead.

It was cute... ten years ago.

 

[gdw]

Yea, I was hoping for that too. I guess you could make the assumption that he "helped build it" since he was there during testing at the Gov. facility and probably had some help in planning the one in the maniton (metal plating and such). But it appears not that Beast did most of the work. But I'd still say there is some room for imagination.

But something official would have been good.

Also, it could be brushed off as just Xavier's memory. Eric was there at the time the original Cerebro was being built, and Eric was helping him build the first class at the time as well. Considering it was around 40 years ago, relative to when he said Eric helped him build it, he might be just mushing his memories together.

That doesn't address the fact that it was meant as an explanation for how Eric was able to avoid detection via the helmet.
Of course, as you mention, he likely was exposed to the workings during his time with Charles, so that still makes sense.

HOWEVER, the BIGGER problem is that the helmet wasn't even Eric's! First Class has Shaw with it originally, I'm assuming designed from experience with Emma's telepathy.
Not to mention, Charles seems to be informed of the helmet's ability to prevent him from mentally accessing the wearer, so the fact that he's puzzled by it initially in the original movie makes no sense.

 

[gdw]

They were part of William Stryker's backup plan in case the Cerebro one failed, being activated in order to wipe out all mutants

Gotcha.

 

[Heretic]

What? No. The ending of DOFP would be timeline 2 as you call it and then after AOA, there will be a new timeline (3).

I read comments from members who said that AOA would have to end happily because DOFP did. This isn't necessarily true, as Apocalypse can travel through time himself. He didn't appear in this timeline, but will create a new one when he does appear, thus changing the ending again.

Sounds to me like more screwing around with things.

I can't stand time travel in comics, and can't stand it in movies unless it is a stand alone story.

 

[Feenix]

Also, it could be brushed off as just Xavier's memory. Eric was there at the time the original Cerebro was being built, and Eric was helping him build the first class at the time as well. Considering it was around 40 years ago, relative to when he said Eric helped him build it, he might be just mushing his memories together.

That doesn't address the fact that it was meant as an explanation for how Eric was able to avoid detection via the helmet.
Of course, as you mention, he likely was exposed to the workings during his time with Charles, so that still makes sense.

HOWEVER, the BIGGER problem is that the helmet wasn't even Eric's! First Class has Shaw with it originally, I'm assuming designed from experience with Emma's telepathy.
Not to mention, Charles seems to be informed of the helmet's ability to prevent him from mentally accessing the wearer, so the fact that he's puzzled by it initially in the original movie makes no sense.

Shaw says in FC that the helmet was a gift. From the Russians I believe. Emma didn't have anything to do with designing it.

 

[Nilso]

The ending pretty much solidifies that the x-men won't lose in the next movie.

Also, QuickSilver just goes home to watch this on the TV. He wouldn't have helped in any of the situations.

The movie was a 7 as a CBM, a 6 as a regular movie. A lot of the plot is just unnecessarily convoluted. I'm sorry there are def things to enjoy but this isn't a game changer.