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Irmgard Rossie
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" is a better than but not substantially different from other superhero movies. It's as visually indistinct and paint-by-numbers-plot-driven as most Marvel Comics-based projects, especially the gaggle of recent Avengers-related films. That creative deficit is a major problem in "Days of Future Past" since it follows characters who travel in time to prevent a future apocalypse. Thankfully, there's just enough right in "Days of Future Past" to offset what's wrong. Director Bryan Singer's confident direction mostly compensates for familiar comic book movie problems, including bald expository dialogue and forgettable action. The storytelling has such momentum that you don't have time to realize that the story lacks urgency.
The movie starts in the future. A murder of mutants led by benevolent Charles "Professor X" Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and frenemy Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr (Ian McKellen) conspire to save both human and mutantkind from shape-shifting, killer robot Sentinels. To prevent the Sentinels from becoming government-sanctioned weapons, the mutants send Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to 1973 to stop Raven "Mystique" Darkholme (Jennifer Lawrence) from murdering the Sentinels' creator, Bolivar Trask ("Games of Thrones"'s Peter Dinklage). And in the process, Logan is forced to motivate and re-unite younger versions of Raven, Xavier (James McAvoy), and Magneto (Michael Fassbender).
Unfortunately, the obstacles that stand in Logan's way and the stakes that he's fighting for aren't particularly well-developed. "Days of Future Past" moves so fast that you might think Dennis Hopper posthumously strapped a bomb to it, and yet the relentless forward motion proves a mixed blessing. "Days of Future Past" is the seventh X-Men movie since 2000. As a result, Singer (director of the franchise's three best films) and screenwriter Simon Kinberg are confident enough to bluster through key scenes with just enough one-liners and character-defining action to push things along. But it's still frustrating to see such a propulsive film selectively revisit certain subplots. There are precious few scenes set in the film's dystopian future, and such new supporting characters as Peter "Quicksilver" Maximoff ("American Horror Story"'s Evan Peters) and Bishop ("Intouchables" star Omar Sy) are given as little screen time as the future versions of Xavier and Magneto.
More importantly, key character flaws, such as young Xavier's need to take a drug that removes his powers but gives him the ability to walk, are barely developed. In place of real development we have blocky dialogue, as when Logan and young Xavier first meet, brusquely explaining away almost all of Xavier's insecurities in a scene or two. It's nice to know that these shortcuts were made for good reasons; Singer and Kinberg were at least thoughtful enough to consider their sprawling story when they pared down their plot to its necessities. But hearing characters diagnose and cure each other through the power of motivational speechifying gets boring fast.
Xavier is the worst character-shaped plot device in this regard. Because he's a telepath who has an established partnership with both Erik and Raven, Xavier already knows what ails Raven, Erik, and even himself. He eventually pumps everyone up slowly, empathetically, boringly. He even gives himself a boost thanks to the power of time travel, communicating from the future to his past self (this scene sadly contains Patrick Stewart's biggest chunk of dialogue). Xavier's speeches stink because they serve to remind you how much meat is missing from the rest of the film.
Still, on a moment-by-moment basis, "Days of Future Past" is a fun popcorn movie. While the film's uncanny cast doesn't get enough time to show off, they are at least charming enough to make you want more. Singer's assured grip on his characters is what makes his X-Men movies the best of the bunch. He's exceptionally good at pacing and realizing set pieces like Magneto's prison break or the first fight between the Sentinels and the future X-Men. The film also takes time out to wink at viewers, as when Wolverine, now without a metal skeleton, lets out a confused sigh of relief as he quietly passes through a metal detector. That kind of confident, knowing approach to established characters goes a long way in a story that often feels like a merciless treadmill.
In a dystopian 2023, robot Sentinels hunt and kill mutants and humans who either possess the genetic potential to have mutant offspring or try to protect them. In Moscow, they attack X-Men survivors: Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Blink, Warpath, Bishop, Iceman, and Sunspot. The mutants sacrifice themselves to buy Kitty enough time to send Bishop's consciousness a few days into the past to warn the others of the coming attack and ensure their survival.
Having averted the attack, the group retreats to a remote Chinese temple and are joined by Storm, Wolverine, Charles Xavier, and Magneto. Xavier explains that the Sentinels were originally conceived by Bolivar Trask, a weapons designer whom Raven Darkhlme assassinated in 1973. In response, the government captured Raven and experimented on her, using her DNA to create Sentinels capable of adapting to any mutant power. Xavier plans to go back in time to 1973 and prevent Trask's assassination in the hopes of altering the future. However, upon learning time-traveling that far would kill Charles, Wolverine volunteers instead, as his regenerative abilities would allow him to survive.
Awakening in 1973, Wolverine goes to the X-Mansion, learning from Hank McCoy that the school has been closed for years due to the Vietnam War, and Erik Lehnsherr has been imprisoned for assassinating JFK. A young, broken Xavier turned to alcoholism and frequently uses a serum that allows him to walk, but at the cost of his telepathic abilities. Hoping to reunite with Raven, Xavier agrees to help Wolverine. They recruit Quicksilver, a mutant with superhuman speeds, and break Lehnsherr out of The Pentagon.
Raven discovers Trask has been experimenting on mutants and plots to assassinate him at the Paris Peace Accords, but Xavier, McCoy, and Logan foil her attempt. Lehnsherr attempts to kill Raven, believing this would change the future. McCoy fights him, allowing Raven to escape but publicly exposing the three as mutants. Trask takes advantage of this and convinces President Nixon to authorize the Sentinel program.
Lehnsherr retrieves his helmet and secretly takes control of Trask's Sentinel prototypes by infusing them with steel. Returning to the X-Mansion, Xavier abandons the serum and by reading Logan's mind, can communicate with his future self, who inspires him to protect the relationship between mutants and humans. After Xavier uses his mutant-tracking computer Cerebro to find Raven, he, McCoy, and Logan travel to Washington, D.C. to stop her from assassinating Trask.
At a ceremony where Nixon unveils the Sentinels, the three search for Raven. Lehnsherr appears, activates the Sentinels, and barricades the White House with the RFK Stadium. During the battle, Lehnsherr impales Logan with a rebar and throws him into the Potomac River. Nixon, Trask, and a disguised Raven retreat to the White House Bunker. However, Lehnsherr rips the bunker out of the building to kill everyone inside. In 2023, the X-Men make their last stand as an onslaught of Sentinels attacks the temple. Many mutants perish while trying to buy more time. In 1973, Raven reveals herself and subdues Lehnsherr with a plastic gun, saving Nixon and his cabinet. She attempts to kill Trask but Xavier telepathically convinces her to spare him, leading the public to realize that a mutant saved the president. As a result, the Sentinel program is decommissioned, altering the timeline and erasing the dark future of 2023 from history. The mutants in the past depart separately; Trask is later arrested for selling military secrets to foreign governments.
Wolverine reawakens in 2023 at the X-Mansion to find that Xavier's school is thriving and the X-Men are all alive, including Rogue, Jean Grey, and Scott Summers. Logan asks Xavier for information about modern history from 1973 to the present. Upon realizing that the Wolverine from the original timeline has returned, Charles assents. Back in 1973, Logan is rescued by Raven, having disguised herself as Major William Stryker. In a post-credits scene set in ancient Egypt, a crowd chants to En Sabah Nur, who telekinetically elevates rocks to build pyramids as his Four Horsemen observe from afar.
Additionally, Famke Janssen and James Marsden reprise their roles as Jean Grey and Scott Summers, respectively, in cameo appearances. Lucas Till reprises his role as Havok. Evan Jonigkeit portrays Toad. Gregg Lowe portrays Ink. X-Men comic book writers Len Wein and Chris Claremont appear as United States congressmen. Michael Lerner plays Senator Brickman. Mark Camacho portrays U.S. President Richard Nixon. Zehra Leverman portrays Quicksilver's mother Ms. Maximoff. Singer cameos as a man with a small film camera as Magneto walks away after Mystique's escape in Paris. In a post-credits scene, Brendan Pedder portrays the ancient mutant, En Sabah Nur.[41]
Producer Lauren Shuler Donner stated in August 2006 that a continuation of the X-Men main film series would require a renegotiation. New cast members of X-Men: The Last Stand were signed, while the older cast members were not.[42] Donner said, "There is forty years worth of stories. I've always wanted to do Days of Future Past and there are just really a lot of stories yet to be told".[43] She later pitched the idea of a fourth installment of the X-Men franchise to director Bryan Singer, following the completion of the 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class.[44] In March 2011, Donner said the film was in "active development at Fox"; she said, "We took the treatment to Fox and they love it ... And X4 leads into X5".[45]
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