Where to begin? Perhaps with “X-Men” and “X2,” through which director Bryan Singer defined the modern comic book movie: the action should mean something; the characters should have gravitas; and the special effects should be spectacular.
Then on to “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” two films better left forgotten. Unfortunately, while we can ignore the wretched “Wolverine,” we cannot overlook “The Last Stand,” which unceremoniously dispatched of several major characters.
Finally, to “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which hit theaters last weekend. The movie, which saw Singer back at the helm for the first time since “X2,” seems to be an apology. While there was nothing wrong with “X-Men: First Class,” released three years ago, it didn’t scale the heights “Days of Future Past” does, nor does it go to the same lengths to right past wrongs. In fact, “Days of Future Past” all but renders “The Last Stand” null and void, and resets the “X-Men” franchise with every character intact.
The story: It’s 2023. Sentinels – robotic creatures that use the DNA of Mystique to mutate during battle and kill mutants – have all but wiped out the mutant population. But there’s hope. A mutant named Kitty Pride is able to project an individual’s consciousness back in time, allowing her to send Wolverine to 1973 – when Mystique assassinated the man responsible for the creation of the Sentinels and cemented the U.S. government’s resolve to end the so-called mutant threat. Their plan: Once Wolverine is transported into his younger self, he’s to find and stop Mystique, leading the creation of an alternate future that’s hopefully better than the one in which they find themselves.
Based on a two-part “Uncanny X-Men” storyline published in 1981, “Days of Future Past” incorporate the casts of every X-Men movie to date, including past and present versions of the same characters, to create a story truly epic in scope. And it does this brilliantly. One of the problems with the last few Spider-Man movies is how the filmmakers have tried to cram too many villains into the mix. “Days of Future Past” shoves so many characters into its running time, I left like I was watching a parade of clowns march into a phone booth. But the number of characters never weighs, or slows, the movie down. Rather, the story plays remarkably well, thanks to a clever script that makes good use of each moment.
Credit for the creative success of “Days of Future Past” must also be given to Singer. Like Spielberg with the Indiana Jones movies or James Cameron with “The Terminator” films, the “X-Men” movies are his baby, and the franchise is at its best when its in his hands. In “Days of Future Past,” the action once again means something, and the characters enjoy a revival of their former gravitas.
Take, for example, the battles against the Sentinels that bookend the movie, in which the mutants desperately fight for their lives, using and combining their powers strategically. Not only are the special effects spectacular, there’s a lot at stake. And consider how the 1973 versions of Professor X and Magneto – famous friends who became bitter enemies – deal with the kink Wolverine throws into their mutual animosity and become allies in the fight against the Sentinels. Singer knows this world, and hit all the right notes.
He also made a hugely entertaining movie. I need only to point to the scene in which Quicksilver, a mutant who moves blindingly fast, takes care of a sticky situation while breaking Magneto out of the Pentagon. Ingeniously choreographed and massively hugely funny, this sequence was a huge hit with the crowd with which I saw the film.
I wouldn’t call “Days of Future Past” perfect. There’s the matter of how Professor X, who died in “The Last Stand,” is alive. Hello? He was dead! How is he there, in the future? And how did Magneto get his powers back? I’m not a comic book geek, but I’m itching for answers.
Regardless, “Days of Future Past” does for the X-Men movies what the 2009 “Star Trek” film did for that franchise: it atones for past sins and sets the franchise on a exciting course for the future. Bring on “X-Men: Apocalypse!”
Three-and-a-half stars out of four. Rated PG- 13 for intense sci-fi violence and action, some suggestive material, nudity, and language.