X-Men Days of Future Past

Entertaining masses with heavily altered stories.

Hello, fellow connoisseurs, today's entry, as our blog follows all sorts of exploitation films everywhere,  will  be about the recently premiered X-Men Days of Future Past Which would be the immediate sequel to 2011's X-Men First Class making it the fifth installment in the mutant franchise (that is without considering the two solo movies about Wolverine) but, before we get into the film review we'll start by posting the original Days of Future Past comic book story arc. The following list of facts is essentially a list of differences the film has with the original source and its intended to be a statement against film makers who are always trying to improve what's already perfect enough the way it is so, if you have read the comic book like me, you will find that the film is both entertaining and disappointing at the same time.

What really happened in Days of Future Past (The Uncanny X-Men #141, #142)

The original story arc.

The only hero in the movie.

Changing dates.

The Uncanny X-Men #141 shows the future as 2013 and they send Kitty Pryde back to the (then) present year of 1980 which is one year before the comic book was originally published.

Kitty Pryde is the Main Character.

Kitty Pryde, AKA, Katherine “Kitty” Pryde-Rasputin is the one whose mind travels back in time and into her younger body and boy that's the big main difference between comic book and movie.

Kitty Pryde never had Time-Travel Powers!

In the comic books, Rachel Summers, is the one who sends Kitty Pryde’s mind into the past.  And if that name sounds familiar, you’re right.  She is the future daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers whose mental powers run strong in the family.

Kitty Pryde is no longer a kid, she's a married woman.

I already gave this little factoid away.  In the comic books, the future Kitty Pryde is married to Piotr "Peter" Rasputin who saves the day under the alias of Colossus. 

X-men from the past and the future united!

Character who did make it out alive in the future.

  

Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Magneto, Franklin Richards, Rachel Summers (both absent from the film)

Characters who are dead in the comic book.

Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, The Thing, Jeremy Storm, Angel, Mr. Fantastic, Beast, The Scarlet Witch, Iceman, Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Panther, The Human Torch, The Invisible Woman; in other words, lots of people are dead and the film obviously decided not to kill the underlined character and not to mess with other copyrighted characters (LOL)

Characters helping Kitty in 1980's original comic book story arc.

Charles Xavier, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, Angel (Obviously, the underlined characters are not in the film to give the cinematic X-Men universe continuity)

Characters trying to get rid of Kitty in 1980's original comic book story arc.

Mystique, Pyro, Avalanche, Destiny, The Blob (not seen in the movie) In addition, the film has Magneto and the US government as the only people standing in the way of the X-Men.

X-Men, second or third class, who cares about them anyways?

Sentinels on fire in the future!

Who Killed Senator Kelly?

Kitty Pryde is sent back to prevent the assassination of Senator Kelly (not on this film but seen on X-Men & X-Men 2).  It’s also not known which of the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants kills Senator Kelly. However, in the film Wolverine is sent back in time to prevent Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask.

There is No Bolivar Trask

The one in control of the Sentinels is an industrialist named Sebastian Shaw, a mutant, who also doesn’t make much of an appearance until the end.

Magneto is Not an Antagonist

In the comic story arc, Magneto, in a wheelchair, is only seen in 2013 assisting the X-Men.  He doesn’t play a part in the past.

70's Dress code.

The Sentinels Talk!

Anyone who's read a storyline involving these giant mayhem of anti mutant robots knows for sure that Sentinels speak! and they do it very often. However, their movie edition don't utter a single sound.

An Impending Nuclear Strike

Kitty Pryde is sent back to prevent this timeline from ever happening.  The motivation is that this timeline leads to a nuclear strike which is neither seen nor mentioned in the film adaptation.

Mutants are Put in Concentration Camps

Mutants aren’t necessarily killed right off the bat.  They are classified and placed into concentration camps.  Mutants also wear a sort of governor around their necks to prevent them from using their abilities. This also is not happening in the movie, what a let down!

The end is near.

Nude Mystique my oh my.

No Sentinels in the Past

There are no Sentinels to fight in the past.  They were yet to be created in the future, yep this is like taking a shit and wiping your ass with the bible being Christian.

The Story is on a Smaller Scale

The story arc is contained in New York and Washington D.C. for both the future and past.  The fight between the X-Men and the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is contained on the Great Mall while on the movie the world is somehow under a black sky and every city of the world is under the Sentinels control.

The Ending is Unsure

When Kitty Pryde’s younger mind returns, we are unsure if the timeline has actually changed. Predictably, this is not seen in the film as we're expected to crave for more X-Men movies following the already established cinematic universe for our favorite mutants.

We Meet Sebastian Shaw

At the end of the comic (You can pretty much call this the post-credits scene.) we meet Sebastian Shaw and he meets is destiny.

The Sentinels live in the 70's.

Mystique steals the show.

The X-Men cinematic universe was born in the year 2000, that is 14 years ago with a lot of water under the bridge. First of all, the movies are only based in certain story arcs from the comic books, they're in no way faithful to the original source. Secondly, Bryan Singer returned to directing an X-Men movie because he wanted to re-organize what he had originally started. X-men (2000) only told us half the story, that is why it had a sequel X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003) 

By the time Singer chose to direct Superman Returns (what the fuck was he thinking about!) instead of another X-Men film things got a little out of hand. 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, was heavily criticized despite the fact it was based on the popular Dark Phoenix Saga. Anyways, time went by and we had 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, another big let down. Finally, in 2011 an excellent sequel was made: X-Men First Class, and today's entry is the direct sequel. In addition 2013's The Wolverine, had an after credit scene which lead directly into the events of X-Men Days of Future Past... 

Quicksilver, the coolest character of the film.

Confused? Well, in that case you can watch this illustrative video that explains the history of Wolverine (the main character of the franchise, c'mon!) 

 

Now, let's get down to business and see what the movie adaptation has to offer. 

Wolverine gets sent back to the 70's to prevent Trask from being assassinated so the future won't turn out so bleak for mutants and mutant supporters alike. In the immortal words of David Tennant's Doctor: it's a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey...stuff. Original director of the first two X-movies, Bryan Singer, knows what this franchise is all about. It's not only nice to welcome back the original X-movie theme/DNA strand opening credits/Cerebro door closing bit, but also he who kick-started all this. Oh, what could have been if he had done the third movie. Speaking of, this film (to the gratefulness of many) remedies a good chunk of what transpired in The Last Stand and made so many unhappy. But don't fret, Singer has said he's not erasing the past movies and he believes in "multiverses" (let every film maker make money!)

After a beginning, where a handful of new X-Men characters who we don't give a fig about die, we learn it's a total "psyche!" moment and they're all good. This happens again near the end of the movie. It really doesn't have much effect, as all the new mutants are forgettable and the only ones we care about are from the previous films. Stewart and McKellen are what really grounds these future scenes. More of Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, complete with potty mouth, is welcome after she was underutilized in Last Stand, but she's more just a means to an end here. It's Logan who gets to do all the time travel. His visit to the 70's allows for some nice/funny moments acknowledging the era he's in (lava lamps, water beds, the music!). Things are much more interesting in the past, with McAvoy as young Charles, Fassbender as young Erik and Jennifer Lawrence as young Mystique (sadly, she only really shares one moment with Hank/Beast). These actors are what made X-Men First Class so enjoyable/successful, so it's a good thing we spend the bulk of the movie with them. 

Hello Mystique!

Friend or foe?

McAvoy brings so many depths to Charles (who has found a serum that allows him to walk, but doing so takes away his abilities). He and Jackman play well off each other, and Charles gets to repay Logan for his telling him to fuck off in the last movie. Michael Fassbender, meanwhile, plays a much more angrier Magneto here. So much so that he's willing to kill Mystique, the one whom he brought over to his side last movie. What scenes the two of them share are really good, it's just a shame they were opposing each other. No disrespect to Rebecca Romijn, who was a welcome cameo in First Class and did a decent in the previous movies, but Jennifer Lawrence imbues her character with so much more nuance. One can understand her motivations/conflict, and the big moment between her and Trask has suitable weight to it, given what's at stake. Not to mention she's picked up a slew of kick-arse moves that she uses to take down large numbers of enemies all at once. Her fight scenes are some of the stand-outs in the film - they're so imaginative/creative and never boring. Describing her as quite flexible/bendy is an understatement.

Awesomeness! the past meets the future!

Hugh Jackman, as always, is easily likable in his most recognized role. He's gotten playing Logan down to an art by now. Despite the lack of 'snikt!' (as his past self's bone claws are adamantium-less), he still kicks a fair amount of arse. He shares some good scenes with Xavier, Lehnsherr and Hank. The past cast certainly elevates the movie. New character Peter/Quicksilver is mostly played for some funny visuals, though he does come in handy with his super speed. However, the scene in X2 when Nightcrawler attacks the White House remains the better of the two. Judging by my audience's reaction, this Quicksilver may indeed prove a hit with film goers, though I personally am more looking forward to seeing what Whedon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson do with the character in Avengers 2. I imagine/am hoping he'll have more character depth. Dinklage, who we all love, naturally makes the most of his role and does not feel like some cartoonish villain or anything. 

I'm here to end fear.

Stop doing drugs Charles, for god's sake!

The most note-worthy thing, cast-wise, is all the cameos we get of characters long-thought lost. It's an emotional/highly effective moment when we see Famke Janssen's Jean Grey again (Apparently, no longer the Phoenix but wearing a red dress that reminds of her), James Marsden's Cyclops (who's still got that great dynamic with Logan) and Anna Paquin's Rogue. While the first two prove that the events which made so many mad in The Last Stand have been corrected, the last one is a bit of a shame only because of how minuscule her screen time is. Sadly, Paquin's Rogue has always been criminally underused and (especially in Last Stand) done a disservice by the writing, but at least she and Bobby/Iceman (who finally does some ice-ramp forming/surfing in this film) get a happy ending. Actually, it seems almost everyone gets one, more or less (except for the poor X-Jet, which gets destroyed every movie), while the very end promises interesting things to come. While it's a shame Matthew Vaughn, who directed First Class (which I thought rejuvenated the series after it had gone stale), declined directing this one, Singer does a good job of bringing back the positive memories of the first two films. While I do prefer First Class and feel this film had some unnecessary characters/got a bit muddled, the good mostly outweighs the bad. This is an X-Men sequel right up there with X2 on the successful scale and should make most X-fans happy enough to crave for a sequel.Nevertheless, the X-Men from movies are very different from the ones in the comic books so I strongly, encourage you to read the comic book before watching the movie to have a more educated experience when watching this adaptations. Also, I'm thinking of calling all these superhero movies a part of a new exploitation sub-genre: Comixploitation!

Here's the movie trailer: