As a sequel to both “X-Men: The Last Stand" and the 2011 reboot "First Class," director Bryan Singer’s film brings the two casts together for "X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Starting in a dystopian future, what’s left of the team (plus a few newcomers) is being hunted down by unstoppable mutant-killing robots called Sentinels.
As far as they can tell, the nightmare was all set into motion back in 1973, thanks to Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique (no spoilers here, but she did something even worse than putting metal in the science oven). That means the ageless Logan (played by the equally ageless Hugh Jackman, as always), or at least his consciousness, must be transported back in time to warn a young Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) before it’s too late to stop her.
Granted, it’s a lot to process, but by now, we’ve learned better than to think too hard about movie time travel. And actually, “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is pretty darn good, especially when you stack it up against some of the other entries in the franchise (ahem, “The Last Stand”). But even though it does its best to answer most of the questions you could possibly have about the retconning time travel plot — like “Is the future truly set?” and “Hey, wait, shouldn’t Xavier be dead and/or paralyzed?” — there’s still a few questions it leaves unanswered.
Why does everyone love Mystique so much?
Everybody loves Jennifer Lawrence (and rightly so); there’s no questioning that. But “Days of Future Past” is downright obsessed with Mystique, and it’s a little strange. She’s everything every single character, from mutant to human, ever seems to want to talk about. Even our main antagonist Bolivar Trask (an underused Peter Dinklage) gets a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes at the thought of her. You can’t blame the filmmakers for wanting to capitalize on the fact that Lawrence has turned into one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood since the pre-“Hunger Games” “First Class,” but “Days of Future Past” is overflowing with great actors. At times, it feels like the entire movie was written around Mystique just because it’s Lawrence underneath all that blue makeup, not because it’s an especially compelling character.
Why would anyone ever (willingly) take part in Beast’s medical trials?
You have to give the movie credit: when Logan first sees McAvoy’s Professor X stroll down the stairs in 1973, he’s just as incredulous as the rest of us (and he didn’t even see “First Class”). But as Xavier explains, it’s all thanks to the work of Nicholas Hoult's Hank. Just to recap for a second, in the last movie, Hank created a drug meant to “cure” his mutant feet and ended up accidentally turning himself into a blue cat person (now it's more of a Jekyll and Hyde thing). And that's the guy the Professor put in charge of curing his paralysis? It's no surprise, then, when the treatment comes with side effects, like that regaining the use of his legs means losing his telepathic powers — which makes zero sense, but then again, this is a movie about time traveling mutants fighting giant robots, so it's kind of a sliding scale.
Who gets custody of Quicksilver?
Hands down, one of the most entertaining sequences in “Days of Future Past” is the introduction of Peter Maximoff, aka Quicksilver (played here by Evan Peters), a speedy mutant who makes a brief but memorable appearance. Problem is, Marvel’s “Avengers” sequel also plans to feature the character (along with his sister Scarlet Witch), as played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Confusing? You bet. Turns out, after some negotiation, both franchises share the rights to Quicksilver (who, in the comics, is an early member of the Avengers, as well as Magneto’s son). Ultimately though, Singer’s treatment of Quicksilver is emblematic of a large issue — unlike with Marvel, there’s no grand plan in place; he’s not especially integral to the plot here, it just seemed cool to include him (and it is). But really, that’s exactly how they painted themselves into this corner in the first place, by tossing out characters and storylines with no apparent regard for the future.
What was that groundskeeper doing at RFK Stadium?
There’s no shortage of continuity questions as a result of Singer smashing together the two casts, but for the most part, those can be explained away by the “alternate timeline” catch-all. (Or, you know, the fact that this is a summer blockbuster based on a comic book.) But there is one glaring problem: when Magneto rips D.C.’s RFK Stadium straight out of the ground in 1973, he does so while a confused groundskeeper is busy putting down foul lines on the baseball diamond. Considering the Washington Senators had already left for Texas by 1971, apparently even the MLB’s history isn’t immune from rewrites.
When will they let Hugh Jackman retire?
“Days of Future Past” marks Jackman’s record seventh time playing Wolverine, and while he’s just as fun to watch in the role now as he was some 14 years ago (and he’s somehow even more ripped), it seemed like the whole point of the “First Class” reboot was to infuse new blood into the series and take it in a different direction. Thanks to his character’s immortality, Jackman is the only actor currently in the middle of the old and new cast Venn diagram, but eventually, they’re going to need to find someone else capable of carrying the franchise, instead of just relying on what’s worked in the past.
What happens now?
In what has to make “Days of Future Past” the most ambitious reboot ever, Singer’s film doesn’t just successfully alter world history, it rewrites the entire franchise, correcting a lot of issues fans had with “The Last Stand.” Of course, that comes at the expensive of turning the original trilogy into the product of an alternate universe. And while it’s always fun to see old favorites like Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen again, it’s hard to care about their characters’ future (or their pasts) when they can be changed at any point. The obligatory post-credits scene holds some clues to the plot of the next sequel, “X-Men: Apocalypse” (although you’ll need a comic fan to explain them to you), but thanks to Singer, the franchise is now capable of calling on either cast, new or old, moving forward. Problem is, that trick only works once.
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" is now playing in theatres.
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