Film Review - X-Men: Days Of Future Past

 Having been a fan of X-Men since I was 10 years old, I really wanted to see the new one in theaters. I kept saying to my husband, "But, but, it has Sentinels! We have to see it on the big screen!" But our schedule kept getting in the way, until I finally accepted that we would have to wait until it came to TV. But then, this past Saturday (5/31/2014) my sweet hubby surprised me with a visit to our old haunt, the movie theater in a nearby town, which is apparently going out of business because it looks and feels so abandoned now, but hey, as long as it plays movies, we don't mind. 

The Dying Theater.

We got there early, so we waited around for a while, taking pictures to kill time, and the closer the time came for the movie to start, the more people started filling in to see it (again), and the more we got excited. 

A happy Kylie with her sweet & thoughtful hubby.

 Okay, so, let's get to it shall we? Below is my review of the film. I've split it into 2 parts. The first part is spoiler free for those who haven't seen it yet, and the second part contains spoilers so don't read that part unless you've seen it. Enjoy!

Part One - Spoiler Free:

We finally saw X-Men: Days Of Future Past, and loved it. It was great to see the original cast again, and with the time travel aspect of this film, we got to see the original cast of characters teaming up with the younger generation that we saw in X-Men: First Class. This was a real treat, especially for long-time fans of the movies and comic books like myself. 

I loved how the beginning of the film (and throughout) showed how the future X-Men worked together when fighting the Sentinels. The strategy they used, with a couple characters in the background as support and a couple characters fighting on the front lines was brilliant, reminding us that everyone has a special role to play in a team. It can almost be compared to filmmaking in that the actors and director are on the front lines and are recognized, but you also have the writers, editors, composers, etc - those who work behind the scenes, and are just as important. 

One thing that bothered both my husband and me was that they didn't refresh our memories about how Xavier was still alive in the future X-Men. So, that ended up being a little confusing for those of us that hadn't done an X-Men marathon before seeing this one, but after reading up on the previous films and refreshing our memories later, it makes more sense. It would have been nice to have a reminder though. Still, loved the effects, acting, and storyline. A great one to see on the big screen if you can.

Part Two - Contains Spoilers:

While it was nice to see some old faces, I kept wondering why we hadn't seen Rogue (Anna Paquin) or Cyclops (James Marsden). Obviously I knew Jean (Famke Janssen) wouldn't be in it, as Wolverine killed her in X-Men: The Last Stand, but as the movie went on, I just started assuming we wouldn't see Rogue or Cyclops at all. Until the end, after they went back in time and changed things. We then got to see all three of them for a moment, and although it was brief, I was glad that they were included a little bit. One character that didn't resurface was Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), as well as a couple others, but it was still nice to see some favorites, and the present cast did an awesome job.

I only teared up one time in the entire movie, and that was when young Xavier (James McAvoy) met with old Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in his mind. The acting in that scene was particularly believable, and you really felt the struggle of young Xavier. And when old Xavier gave him words of advice about dealing with pain, and embracing it, I immediately related. I live with chronic pain every day, and I am also empathic (which means I pick up on the pain and emotions of other people), so when old Xavier said that bit about embracing the pain and how it will make you stronger, it hit home for me. It was a lesson I had already learned, but it was a good reminder. I tried hard to remember those words throughout the rest of the movie, as the pain of sitting for so long grew sharper and sharper in my back and legs, but by the end of the movie, I was so entranced that I'd almost forgotten about the pain.

We sat all the way through the credits (as everyone should, especially with Marvel movies), and when the post-credit sequence played, showing that epic scene of Apocalypse rising to power as a child, and building the great pyramids with his mind, I was blown away. It made me excited to see the next X-Men movie, which is currently titled (appropriately) X-Men: Apocalypse. I hope we get to see more of the Egypt story, at least in flashbacks.

There were a few small details in this movie that were similar to some things in my upcoming novels, and there were a couple inconsistencies here and there, but overall I enjoyed the movie. Great effects, tons of emotion, and as usual, some really good messages about the character of people, the importance of acceptance,  and the persistence of hope.

My fancy new Photoshopped 5 star rating system.

Hope you enjoyed my allovertheplace review!

Until next time...

Be the lightning, 

Kylie Kerosene (Jude).

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