X-Men: Days of Future Past - Review

In the future, mutant exterminating machines called Sentinels are sent to destroy the mutant race. A small group of survivors send one of their own back into the past to help destroy the future in X-Men: Days of Future Past.



I'm going to just go right into this and say this movie disappointed the hell out of me. I had very high expectations given how great X-Men: First Class was. I have to say I enjoyed First Class a lot more than Days of Future Past.
It has a great start bringing us into the future and re-introducing us to mutants we already know and it brought us into the past very well, but it soon became really jumbled together and it flipped back and forth way too freely. I have quite a few problems with this movie...

1. Character development was seriously lacking in this installment. There were way too many mutants that needed explanation and way too many with explanation of things we already knew. For example, there was no need to constantly explain what happened to Wolverine. He is probably the most developed and most utilized character of the X-Men franchise so far. He was a main character in the first three films and has two solo films. We know what happens to him and we don't need it explained to us all the fucking time.

2. Overhyped characters that were fairly irrelevant at the end of the day. The biggest offenders here were Bishop and Quicksilver. These two characters were hyped up at an alarming rate, especially Quicksilver, and they each failed to bring anything major. Bishop turned out to just be a surviving mutant battling Sentinels in the future. He had no explanation, no character development, and I don't think his name was said more than once.
Quicksilver was approached in the past simply because Wolverine said he knew him in the future. Again, no explanation other than the fact that he was fast. He has like 10min of total screentime and was one of the most hyped characters in the promos. Not to mention the Carl's Jr. commercial.

3. Despite being the main villain, Mystique was overshadowed heavily by both Trask and Magneto. Simple as that.

4. Not enough Sentinel action in the 70's. Actually, there wasn't enough action in the 70's at all. It was mostly Charles complaining and Wolverine struggling.

5. The time jumping got to be confusing. In the end, they focused more on the future than in the past and that was a huge mistake. The storyline we were invested in was not the mutants in the future. It was in the attempt to stop the Sentinels from being created. That was why Wolverine was sent back to begin with!

6. The way the mutants from First Class were utilized was stupid. Angel, Azazel, and Havok were completely wasted and would have been better off not being mentioned at all.



I think I just have to stop now. I am not saying I hated Days of Future Past because I didn't, but I did not love it like I thought I was going to. Definitely not the way I love First Class. There were things I enjoyed, but unfortunately they are a bit overshadowed by the bad. Nice try Bryan Singer, but Matthew Vaughn did a better job.

Hugh Jackman still wants Wolverine in The Avengers

I am pretty sure I talked about this before, but it has come up once again.

Hugh Jackman has previously expressed his interest in joining the expanded Marvel Cinematic Universe by bringing his X-Men character to The Avengers. If I recall correctly, he was bashing the studios for their rights protection and said they could easily work out a deal so the characters could cross studio lines.
Well, Jackman is at is again. In recent interviews for X-Men: Days of Future Past he expressed his interest and desire in Wolverine joining The Avengers once again. He stated:

"I would love to see him as part of The Avengers because there’s a great dysfunction among that team, and I think Wolverine would fit right into that. He’d like that.”

Another thing he hopes for? A battle between Wolverine and the Hulk.

“There’s no doubt he’d get in a fight with Hulk at some point. Those two bad, rage-filled characters are going to square off at some point. It would be quite fun. I don’t know how much fun to shoot it would be, because I’m sure I’d be on the worst end of it, but hey, he can heal.”

Last time this happened it seemed that Jackman's suggestions fell on deaf ears, but if he keeps badgering the studios you never know what will happen. Hell, he has enough money that maybe he will offer to pay some of the royalties if he wants it this bad. 
Personally, I would love to see a full Marvel crossover film that would include The Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four but I am doubting that will ever happen. They have a hard enough time agreeing on anything. We can't even get a Spider-Man cameo for The Avengers.

So what about you guys? Do you want Wolverine to appear in The Avengers?



Source, IGN. 

X-Men: Apocalypse brings in X2 writers

Bryan Singer is busy developing the next X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, despite X-Men: Days of Future Past not coming out until 2014. Singer has brought in X2 writers Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris to join Days of Future Past writer Simon Kinberg to develop the Apocalypse story.

We still have no details on what exactly this movie will focus on, but there is a lot of speculation the movie will focus on the Apocalypse storyline of En Sabah Nur's origin in Egypt. If you are unfamiliar with the Age of Apocalypse arc, basically it is another time traveling story where Professor X is killed before forming the X-Men. Apocalypse conquers the world and mutants become the superior and dominant species. Magneto brings the X-Men together to defeat Apocalypse and restores the original timeline. In a way I think this new movie could be a direct continuation to Days of Future Past seeing that both ideas are related to time travel.

We shall see! 

X-Men: Apocalypse coming in 2016

They aren't wasting any time with the X-Men franchise, that's for sure. Director Bryan Singer tweeted today that the follow up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, to be released in 2014, will be titled X-Men: Apocalypse and will hit theaters on May 27, 2016. Well, it's the assumed sequel to Days of Future Past.

If you aren't aware, Apocalypse is the name of an immortal mutant with ancient Egyptian roots. Apocalypse possesses superhuman strength, the ability to teleport, a genius intellect, and the ability to control energy. The fact that Bishop is being introduced in Days of Future Past could possibly lead to Apocalypse because of the alternate universe. Only time will tell.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - First Trailer

X-Men: Days of Future Past is set for theaters on May 23, 2014.

I personally think this trailer looks fantastic. I liked X-Men: First Class, but I think Days of Future Past already looks a lot better and more intriguing. I think the darker tone is very present and will work throughout the film. The plot follows Wolverine as his consciousness is sent back to 1973 to recruit the scattered X-Men to help fight the rise of The Sentinels, robots programmed to exterminate mutants. 

Days of Future Past trailer to premiere October 29th

We now have word, along with some first footage, that the first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past will premiere next week on October 29th. This comes the same day we received a first trailer for fellow Marvel film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (you can view it here).

X-Men: Days of Future Past follows Wolverine as his consciousness is sent back to 1973 to help Professor X, Magneto, and the rest of the X-Men stop the rise of the Sentinels, giant robots who are programmed to eliminate mutants.
Seeing that this serves as both a sequel and prequel to an extent, we will be seeing a lot of familiar characters portrayed by the same actors we have seen before. Returning actors for Days of Future Past include Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Shawn Ashmore, and Ellen Page along with those returning from X-Men: First Class. We also have new cast members like Peter Dinklage and Omar Sy. Basically, Days of Future Past is sure to be interesting.

And like I said, there is some minor footage you can watch right now. Apparently it is the small amount that was shown at Comic-Con in July. You can watch it at the X-Men Movies Instagram.

Sentinel blueprints revealed

Bryan Singer seems to be loyal to using the Sentinels in the viral marketing for X-Men: Days of Future Past as we have yet another image of a Sentinel. This time it is a blueprint of a Sentinel helmet.

If you aren't aware of what a Sentinel is, they are basically big mutant killing robots created by Bolivar Trask (played by Peter Dinklage). We have already had a couple images of the machines in the form of a poster and a set photo of Singer next to one. There is no real word on exactly how much inclusion the Sentinels will have yet, but they are sure to be relevant.

SDCC: X-Men: Days of Future Past wows at Comic-Con

Apparently this is the panel that got the first standing ovation in Hall H.

Along with The Wolverine and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox brought X-Men: Days of Future Past to Comic-Con and had a gigantic panel consisting of old and new X-Men actors. In attendance was Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Hugh Jackman, Peter Dinklage, Nicholas Hoult, Omar Sy, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, writer Simon Kinberg, and producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker. Also joining was director Bryan Singer.

Here is a nice group shot of everyone:

What we learned from the panel is limited but enough:

1. Days of Future Past is in 3D.
2. A majority of the effects are still unfinished, but there was some footage screened. A description is listed below.
3. Omar Sy is indeed playing Bishop.
4. Deadpool is not in Days of Future Past at all, so we can all hang our heads in disappointment.


Here is a description of the footage screened from Collider:

"So many mutants but the core is that we see Xavier, Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine in the future.  Xavier says they need to send Logan’s mind back to his younger body and convince young Xavier and young Magneto to avert the disastrous future.  In the future, we see the cast members from the first three movies in dark, futuristic-looking clothing but not cheesy.  It’s austere, and so is the landscape, not the ragged, post-apocalypse from the comics.

When Wolverine goes back, we see the First Class members, and young Xavier looks absolutely beaten and tired.  We then go through a big montage of almost all the characters.  Memorable moments include Beast trying to drown young Magneto, and a young Magneto using his power to drag a helpless Mystique towards him.  The trailer finishes out with young Xavier shouting, 'I don’t want your future!'  We then go to a two-shot with young Xavier and old Xavier facing each other.  Old Xavier tells his younger self, 'Please.  We need you to hope again.'"



In other words... X-Men: Days of Future Past looks like it will surpass First Class and be pretty damn cool. 

Omar Sy joins X-Men: Days of Future Past

Omar Sy (The Intouchables) has joined the cast of X-Men in an unspecified role. Rumors are already circulating, of course, about which role Sy has been cast in. Some suggest he will play Bishop, the son of Aborigine mutant refugees with a distinctive "M" brand on their foreheads. Bishop also was present in the Days of Future Past comic arc and was intertwined with Storm. Since Halle Berry has pretty much been mentioned as returning as Storm it is plausible that Bishop will be a part of the movie.

The French born actor has a pretty extensive resume but a majority of his work is in French film and television. I haven't ever seen or heard of him before, so it's always nice to have a fresh face.