X-Men: Days of Future Past

In 6 editions of the franchise, X Men has generated $2.31 billion at the box office.  That is billion with a “buh” as Alan Harper (2.5 men) would put it.  Now the sad part is that despite this massive level of success, it is still not in the top 10 franchises of all time.  Embarassingly below the Twilight series.  With Days of Future Past, they should easily surge ahead of the silly tweenage romance.

X Men Days of Future Past (XDFP) marks the return of one of my all time favourite directors – Bryan Singer.  Singer’s brilliance set the tone for the first 2 editions of this wonderful franchise.  The difference was starkly visible in The Last Stand, First Class and both the Wolverine series.  Matthew Vaughn came close to Singer’s execution with First Class but not remotely close to the scale and class of XDFP.

I had not completed my usual research before I walked in to watch XDFP last night.  I actually walked in with a hope somewhere in the back of my head for Bryan Singer to direct this one.  In about 20 seconds, Singer’s trademark stamp was visible all over and the fan boy in me took over from the avid movie critic.  Singer has also written this brilliant story that will have you riveted to the screen.

XDFP starts somewhere in the near future where the clan of Mutants has fast depleted.  The final few are struggling for survival because they are being hunted down by a new creation called The Sentinels.  The Sentinels are the brain child of the insecure, yet brilliant scientist and businessman Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).  Trask believes that mutants will take over from homo sapiens after annihilating the human race.

Whats the big deal about all this?  Trask died way back in 1971.  He was killed by Raven / Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) to prevent the Sentinel programme.  However, Mystique was captured in the bargain and in less than 50 years, Trask’s followers replicated her DNA to give Sentinels who can mimic every known mutant to mankind, leaving our heroes defenseless.

The final bunch of Mutants include Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) who can transport your mind back in time.  But moving someone 50 years back to the 70s will need someone who can withstand the force and heal quick.  No points for guessing who takes that job.  At this point, you need to fasten your seat belts and let the adventure begin.

Over a little under 2 hours after establishing the premise, Singer takes us through some fantastic visual effects peppered with just the right amount of dialogue and humour to ensure that a very broad spectrum of the audience will be entertained.  The action sequences are brilliantly shot and most importantly are not something that we have seen.  Don’t miss the sequence where Peter / Quicksilver gets Erik/Magneto out of the Pentagon.

What takes the cake for me are the performances.  Whoever thinks that superhero movies are more about effects and lesser about acting should take a look at XDFP. James McAvoy / Patrick Stewart and Michael Fassbender / Ian McKellen as Professor and Magneto continue to be superb.

But to me, brilliance came in the form of Jennifer Lawrence who was so at ease with her role as Mystique that you cannot fault anyone if she would be mistaken for Mystique in real life going forward.  Simply superb.  And I can assure you that it is not the fan boy in me speaking.  Take my word for it.  XDFP is the Superhero movie of the year so far.  8.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3858345241/?ref_=tt_ov_vi