July 8 2014: Trying to find descent seats to screen Bryan Singer’s latest installment of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ six weeks after its release date on a Friday night in Toronto is a testament to the strength of the franchise. Numbers don’t lie. Based on Box Office Mojo’s latest weekend stats (for the weekend ending July 6th, 2014), with a budget cresting in the $200 million range, Singer’s latest epic fight for mutant survival has already corralled $227 million with juggernaut efficiency. And that engine shows no signs of needing a tune-up.
Still, in order to get this level of loyal franchise buy in during the increasingly crowded summer blockbuster season, the product has to be worthy of the sit down and although some instalments may have stumbled along the way – the ‘Wolverine’ installment was not one of Singer’s finer moments – X-Men: Days of Future Past has reset the franchise once again back to more solid footing. By jettisoning the mercurial Logan / Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) via Kitty Pyrde’s (Ellen Page) telekinetic transference through this time shifting narrative back to yesteryear, he becomes the last best hope in saving the mutant race from the unstoppable Sentinel program who are winning the war on mutants. The evil Dr.BolivarTrask, the mastermind behind these robotic behemoths is cleverly played by the diminutive but thoroughly convincing Peter Dinklage who adds a certain gravitas at every turn. That said, Singer has created a new chapter of Sci-Fi satisfaction with a fresh and creative slant to the time travelling altered narrative trope by coiling themes of discrimination, geo-politics and group-think that delving into the cerebral back stories of the X-Men’s younger selves.
What does one do when present day Sentinel robots are systematically hunting down and killing mutants and the humans who protect them? Charles Xavier / Professor X (Patrick Stewart) staring down his own mortality comes to the realization that Sentinel domination can only be solved by changing history. Singer, together with Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel and production designer John Myhre doubles down on the 70’s experience by holding firm to a cool muted palate that captures the free spirit of the times along with beads, beards, bellbottoms and blowouts. This stands in stark contrast to the brooding darkness of present day as the story traverses periods in order to intercept the Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) / Trask union where it all began in hopes of aborting the 1973 Sentinel program.
Dealing with the youthful unbridled selves of Charles Xavier and Magneto / Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) circa 1973 is what Logan was up against and convincing these two arch enemies to come together for the greater good of their future survival was the task at hand. With his proclivity for confrontational alpha male encounters and a complete lack of empathy, even Logan realizes his skill sets are not particularly suited to quarterbacking this mission. And yet here he is in the eye of the storm undertaking the challenge that requires him to finesse the finer qualities of his personality in order to save his species. The contrasting storylines of young versus old, good versus evil and hope versus fear continue to resonate throughout these divergent timelines.
Beautifully crafted action sequences have always been part of Bryan Singer M.O. and he continues that visceral splendour unabated. With Magneto holed up deep below the magma of the Pentagon, the group employs the smarmy wonder kid Peter Maximoff, aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who’s fleet feet makes the world around him move in super slow mo. During a breathtakingly staged kitchen breakout sequence set to the time honoured Jim Croce classic, “Time in a Bottle”, this silver shagged mod with a biting sense of whimsy, playfully resets the stage by redirecting bullets, punches and body positions into an amalgam of safely maneuvered confusion when his masterpiece eventually goes live. This sequence is a stand-alone thing of beauty. As the franchise expands in storylines and depth, so does the introduction on new action friendly mutant characters and X-Men: Days of Future Past is no exception. Blink (Bingbing Fan), Warpath (Booboo Stewart), Sunspot (Adam Canto) and Ink (Gregg Lowe) all display their special brand of abilities to the mutant family which gives added resonance to the narrative as a whole.
So why after 5 installments of X-Men franchise does it still continuing to strike a chord with its multitude of fanboys and fangirls? In some respects Singer’s depiction of the X-Men diaspora holds up a mirror to contemporary societal prejudices, entrenched biases and systemic racism that is currently suffocating our world today. In a way the X-Men struggles aren’t far removed from the daily struggles of people living on the margin or even successful members of society with non-conformist lifestyles. This immutable narrative is the foundation that Singer has crafted into the never-ending struggle to bridge the concept of acceptance of others whether you’re a mutant, a man or a martyr.
Verdict 4 out of 5: Linear narratives, cinematic safety nets, antiquated central characters and an underwhelming final acts will not be found here or anywhere within this franchise and for good reason. Bucking convention has always been Singer’s trademark. Since the inception of X-Men in 2000, Singer has been mining iconic outsider themes mashed up against story obstacles of geo-politics and human rights with a cinematic thought-provoking flourish. X-Men: Days of Future Past continues to deliver poignant social commentary on tenets human folly, discrimination and acceptance of self. With comfortable pacing, strong stylistic touches and the requisite character develop to keep the franchise moving forward, Singer has insured the future of the mutant struggle for years to come.
Singer’s latest epic fight for mutant survival continues to break new cinematic territory.
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK
Language: English, Vietnamese, French
Release Date: May 23, 2014
Director: Brian Singer
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Simon Kinberg
Producers: Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker
Executive Producers: Stan Lee, Todd Hallowell, Josh McLaglen
Director of Photography: Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC
Production Designer: John Myhre
Runtime: 131 minutes
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Bassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult, Ian McKellen, Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, Peter Dinklage, Shawn Ashmore, Omar Sy, Evan Peters, Josh Helman. Daniel Cudmore, Bingbing Fan, Adam Cato, Booboo Stewart.
X-Men Days of Future Past review
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