X-Men: Days of Future Past Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Year: 2014
Director: Bryan Singer
Country: US
Language: English

Firstly, I have hated the X-Men movies. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM. I have never read the comic books, infact the only comic book I've ever read was the one where Superman dies. That's right, I read a Superman comic just to watch him die. When I heard that Days of Future Past was being released in theaters my first thought was "What am I going to have for supper today?" However my former film teacher, Michael Boyce, said that it was fantastic because it brought him back to his childhood. I respect his opinion, so...crap...this has to be good right?

The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.

I have no clue of where in the X-Men timeline Days of the Future Past is, though I'm pretty sure it's after X3: The Last Stand because of spoiler reasons. Going in to this picture with absolutely no expectations, I was absolutely amazed by how not-awful it was. I mean, it's not what I would consider "good", but it's still the holy-grail of superhero movies. It's surprisingly funny, the action never gets boring and HOLY FUCK, WHAT ARE THOSE? SENTINELS???

Pardon my french, but the villains of the story are impressive death machines. They are sentinels, robots that were created for the purpose of hunting down mutants. They can adapt to a mutant's abilities and deal with the threat accordingly. They essentially drive the story, because if Logan doesn't do A, B & C quick enough everyone is doomed. It gives a great sense of urgency and fills many scenes up with suspense. 

Is Days of Future Past faithful to the comic books? Who cares! The doomed atmosphere within the picture certainly makes up for it. Of course the film is riddled with plotholes and inconsistencies, because it's essentially about time-travel. Why not let Magneto kill Mystique? Why do they use the super-fast kid in the beginning, but never use him again? If Logan changed history did he also change himself? It's not a perfect picture by any means, especially since Xavier is a completely useless character, but it is entertaining.

In conclusion, though I have always respected X-Men's allegory regarding the discrimination of left handed folk, I have never enjoyed one until now. Days of Future Past was a decent film that kept me on the edge of my seat and will certainly do the same for audiences worldwide. Will it entice me to watch another superhero film? No, but at least I can say I saw one that didn't make me cringe. 3/5