Summer Review #2 -- X-Men: Days of Future Past

I loved X-Men: First Class. I loved it so much that I saw it twice in theatres. I could have gone to see it every weekend during the summer of 2011, since I would have discovered something new with each viewing. It goes without saying that I held my breath for the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

And it delivers on every level.

This time around, we find Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his protégés fighting a war against the Sentinels, invincible robots that had been designed by genius CEO Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) to exterminate mutants and all those helping them. The mutants are losing fast, so a decision is made to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) into the past and have him change history. Back in 1973, he finds out that Xavier is a changed man and that Trask plans on using a certain mutant's DNA to build the weapon that will eventually exterminate the species...

It is impossible to describe how delightful this film is. The Pentagon scenes are innovative and exciting, while the Paris meeting scene and the stadium sequence took my breath away. Each scene leads to a new visual surprise and each plot point leads to a new revelation. Just like in First Class, the filmmakers intertwine the mutants' adventures with historical events, an element that makes for a unique revisionist science fiction hybrid. Simon Kinberg's screenplay is unafraid of mining depths of emotion to put the beloved characters through the wringer and Bryan Singer's direction is sharp and to the point. The director is so familiar with the terrain that making this film probably felt like a second home. Both the seasoned fans of the comic books and the fans of the trilogy and the 2011 film will enjoy this sequel. 

Once again, the cast is terrific. I loved seeing the original trilogy's actors return to the narrative, as well as the First Class alums and new additions. Dinklage is one of the most charismatic actors working today and Evan Peters has a lot of fun with faster-than-fast Quicksilver. By the way, does anyone else think that Peters would make a great Alex DeLarge if A Clockwork Orange was ever remade? Not that I am condoning classic film remakes, but there is just something ominously humorous about his acting style that makes me see him as the iconic gang leader. Jackman has some incredible moments of levity and has excellent chemistry with the new cast. Michael Fassbender again succeeds in telling us volumes about the tortured and fanatical Magneto through merely a look, while James McAvoy delves into some surprisingly dark places to portray the metamorphosis that Xavier goes through. I also really liked Josh Helman (Animal Kingdom) as the young William Stryker. He possesses an appealing menace that suits the villainous character and I hope to see him in future installments.

A stunning achievement in filmmaking, X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the best sequels that I have ever seen. It is everything that makes a summer blockbuster and more. It is emotional without being melodramatic, grandiose without an ounce of kitsch and, to top it off, gorgeous to look at. Beauty and brains? Now that is a reason to travel back in time and never look back.

10/10