The film begins in the present day as a group of robots known as Sentinels are hunting down and killing every mutant and human who carries the mutant gene. With their race at the brink of extinction, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellan), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and a small band of other mutants are hiding out at a Chinese monastery hoping to find a solution to this crisis. Left with no other option as the Sentinels will soon become aware of their location, the mutants use Kitty Pride's (Ellen Page) ability to send someone's consciousness back in time to prevent the murder of Dr. Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage)-who created the Sentinels- by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) in 1973. The Sentinels are seen as essential security measure after Trask's murder because they prove his theroy of mutants being a major threat to mankind's well-being correct. Wolverine's ability to rapidly heal and not age makes him the only person fit to travel back to 1973 to attempt to complete the mission. In order to stop Mystique, Wolverine has to track down the younger versions of Xavier and Magneto (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) and convince them to work together at a time where they were fierce adversaries to try and stop the Sentinels from being conceived in the past before they wipe out all life both mutant and human in the present.
Days of Future Past is a massive success on every possible level. With the grand scope of the time-jumping narrative and sheer number of characters involved, this could've been an absolute disaster, but the execution here is pretty much flawless. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg is able to balance all the events past and present with a sharp attention to detail that ensures none of the film's many plot developments are left unexplained. Clearly not every character is fully fleshed out in order to streamline the complex plot, but the main character (Charles Xavier, Wolverine, Magneto) development and the intertwining of the story arc of First Class with the original trilogy is expertly crafted.
Kinberg's script establishes such a strong and compelling story that it really allows the actors to flourish and drive the film. The content of Days of Future Past makes way for a lot more emotional scenes with powerful acting than normal for the genre. Hugh Jackman has never been more charismatic in his sixth (!) go-round as Wolverine and Michael Fassbender gives an even more commanding performance than he did in First Class. However, the film really belongs to James McAvoy. Days of Future Past is ultimately Charles Xavier's story, and McAvoy makes sure the audience knows that with a deep, nuanced portrayal of a broken man that needs to pick up the pieces of his life and use his wisdom to give misunderstood mutants the leader they need to inspire them to come together as one.
The story and characters first approach of Days of Future Past makes the handful of action sequences really stand out. Director Bryan Singer got creative with the set pieces since there wasn't a barrage of balls-out action throughout. Both scenes with Quicksilver- played with wild energy by American Horror Story's Evan Peters- and the climax set a new bar for superhero fight scenes. There's lot of filmmakers in this genre that could learn a thing or two from Singer's approach of originality and craftsmanship of action sequences over sheer volume. Days of Future Past is a daring and bold standout in this increasingly crowded genre and upon further reflection, this could very well be the finest film to-date in this stellar franchise.
4.5/5 Stars
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