X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

[The47th]

I think it's a nice touch (very smart if intentional) that the film feels like an X-Men 4 during its first half, and then, as Wolverine's relevance fades, it becomes a proper sequel to First Class. It represents the concept of passing the torch from the original line-up to the cast of the prequel.

[Jake Gittes]

I thought the speechifying got a bit much by the end, but at the same time I'm glad the movie was committed to its characters and conflict to that extent. I actually felt like there were genuine stakes (which is more and more rare for a blockbuster to achieve these days), the actors all fit their roles perfectly, and John Ottman did a very nice job as an editor, especially in the final 30 minutes. Quicksilver's scene brought down the house. Singer is really at home with this franchise and it shows. I'd rank X2 and First Class higher than this, but it's not far behind at all.

[ddddeeee]

I thought it was pretty good but it's reputation is extremely flattering. McAvoy was great.

Edited June 14, 2014 by ddddeeee

[miketheavenger]

One of the best superhero movies ever IMO. The actors were terrific, Quicksilver was awesome and hilarious, the action set pieces while not that many worked great as well and it was just great to see the old cast back (especially with the ending). John Ottman also did a great job with the score and the teaser for the next entry was pretty good, too. Overall, I just love this film and it's definitely the best X-Men movie to date and in my Top 5 superhero movies of all time.

 

Grade: A or 9/10

[katniss]

Movie made no sense to me. 

 

Individual scenes/moments and great action sequences were the only things good about this movie (A list actors helped).

 

But overall storyline and plot...completely incoherent. 

 

Grade C. 

Edited July 8, 2014 by katniss

[ACCA]

Singer disappointed me yet again, only because I had fairly high expectations for this.

 

The movie to me ended up feeling like it dragged in too many parts, it felt too mundane, and despite the drastic and very important events going on in the film, I just didn't feel as engaged as I should have been, it's hard to explain. The best way I can describe it is that Singer did not do a good job in capturing my attention in terms of the emotion and gravity of the events going on in the film. Many scenes felt too philosophical, when they should have been more emotional and impactful. Other scenes were jarring in that they were emotional at the wrong and awkward times.

 

In many ways to me it just felt like a "filler" film just to move on to the next film in line, Apocalypse.

 

The visuals were good for the most part, some solid acting performances around. However with the strong supporting cast, a lot of cast members were woefully underused. Again I blame Singer for this.

 

Even the score was fairly mundane to me. The story was good, but let down by Singer's direction. I also hated what Singer did with Mystique's visual look. I never quite liked Mystique's look in earlier films, I absolutely LOVED Mystique's look in First Class and how Vaughn handled that. Instead of continuing on with Vaughn's look, Singer returned to the "old" Mystique look which to me makes her look almost campy and just plain awkward. That and Singer couldn't help but show his fondness for goofy moves by throwing in that weird "sliding" move that Mystique did in Singer's earlier X-Men films.

 

One thing Singer did do well at least were the Sentinels. Overall I enjoyed their depiction, and they were pretty bad ass. Also some of the Sentinel future fight scenes were innovative with the teleporting, but there weren't enough of those scenes.

 

This didn't engage me or impress me anywhere near the same level as First Class did.

 

At the end of it, it just felt pretty forgettable to me sadly, and I had no real urge to rewatch this film.

 

I give it a B-, only because of the good visuals, some strong main acting performances, and the Sentinels kept it from being a complete disappointment in my eyes.

 

All in all, it's a shame Vaughn didn't direct this one too, because I feel it would have been a better movie had he directed instead of Singer.

[ChD]

Well, I'm not that much into X-men but I was extremely bored today so I thought I'd give it a shot. I only watched the first X-men and stopped afterwards, having not liked it. I'm familiar with the mess that X-men: The Last Stand was so, I'm somewhat glad the ending made sure the story didn't have to keep going with that mess in them. I liked it a lot. It was quite underwhelming at some points, but overall it was really entertaining. Not the biggest fan of Mystique, but I loved Charles. Not to mention Wolverine.

A-

[John Marston]

easily the best superhero movie of the year and also the first X-Men movie I have really liked. I though X1 and 2 were decent but nothing special and the rest all mediocre and forgettable but this just had me gripped from beginning to end.  Felt kind of like a superhero version of Terminator. I can't wait for the next one. 

[Charism]

7/10

Nothing really 'wow', few times very poor cinematography, but still - enjoyable movie.

[The47th]

Just watched the Rogue Cut. It serves as an extended cut, with the addition of a few irrelevant scenes and very slight changes to the original cut.

 

I liked the addition of Rogue. We know the story can sustain itself perfectly without her, but I think it doesn't slow down the pace and the changes will be enjoyed especially by the people who wanted more prominence for the original cast. Plus, I liked that they put the work to provide good VFX to the new scenes. I was fearing there would be barely any action during Rogue's rescue, but thankfully they took their time to introduce more action and make it look as good as the rest of the film.

 

There will be SPOILERS from this point onwards.

 

 

I liked that Bobby is killed earlier in this version. It raises the stakes of the future timeline and it adds to the drama of that devastated future where everything has gone wrong. I think it works very well with the story.

 

It's also nice that they used the rescue scene to give a further explanation of why do the Sentinels find them in the end. Again, it was perfectly explained in the original cut ("the Sentinels will find us, they always do") but it's always nice when they try to leave as few plot holes as possible. I didn't think it was necessary to suggest that they were being tracked through the arm of the Sentinel, it was enough knowing that they had exposed themselves with the operation on the mansion and, of course, they would be followed.

 

That's pretty much it. This version is a nice gift because it goes beyond simply adding the Rogue scenes, and it introduces little changes that Singer probably just made out of perfectionism and love for her piece of work, because he didn't need to spend time and money on them. Example: old Magneto now goes back to the chamber thanks to Kitty and not Blink. It's irrelevant, but they took the time to revise it and work on the (minimal) VFX.

 

 

This new viewing has renewed my love for the film. It's a very solid scifi movie that elevates the franchise by cutting loose ends, preserving the emotional conflicts that identify the series, and presenting a promising future. It's a dignified farewell to the original timeline (that last conversation between Stewart and McKellen is very emotional), and a very solid new entry for the current one.

[RobinHood26]

Yeah I really liked the rogue cut, I agree with everything you said about the Masnion escape. Some good imgary there and it upped the stakes over all. The added JLaw scenes are fine, you get one more F bomb, 2 more good one liners, some of the fights have a couple added shots or hold on things a tad longer. They also argue a bit and discuss if Wolverine should go back in time. Storm get a good 6 more lines. Overall while I see why all this was trimmmed. I enjoyed this cut more. Over all it makes the movie just a hair more epic and I approve.

 

B+ (88)

[KGator]

I give this a borderline A / A-.  I also thought it was the best superhero movie of the year (though GOTG was more fun).  Although I like the character, I wish there had been less Wolverine and more time spent on the other characters.  McAvoy and Fassbender are on top of their game as usual.  I really enjoyed the future flashes with the older X-Men fighting to the end to buy time (though yeah . . . the time-physics of it don't necessarily make sense).  I thought those scenes had a great dark tension and sorrow in them as well as great action.

 

Hopefully this will pave the way to an even better series of films for this franchise in the future.

[Goffe]

A superhero film with brains and heart that ends in an extremely high note (the best third act of its genre I would say), what else could anyone want?

 

It's not flawless though, some plot points are sloppily executed (like that JFK thing) and some of the jokes fall terribly flat (Xavier asking if Wolverine was on acid anyone?), but that's about it.

 

95/100

 

It's a real unfortunate that this kind of superhero movie is becoming extinct.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Goffe

[angeldelmito]

A- (90%)

[Blankments]

The masterpiece of the X-Men franchise so far, Days of Future Past is the first X-Men movie to really organically grow and utilize elements of the franchise's past while reinvigorating the property for the future. All the best elements of Singer's previous films are on display, from the tight editing (the cutting between past and future is always perfectly done) to the strong character work despite a huge cast. Despite a few continuity hiccups here and there, Logan, Xavier, and Erik's arcs all come naturally from logical character progression of previous films, and yet is also perfectly enjoyable without context. McAvoy's Xavier is something truly special, and he really gets to run the show in this film, although Fassbender, Jackman, and Stewart all also give memorable performances. The future action is off-the-charts, and those scenes are stolen by Fan Bingbing's Blink, whose portal powers are always a thrill to watch. The same can be said for Evan Peters' Quicksilver in the past, although he's unfortunately underutilized after a quick sequence. Lawrence's Mystique is a tad disappointing and unengaged, but ultimately is the one flaw of a really great popcorn movie. By the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, it achieves the near-impossible: it makes sticking through this inconsistent franchise all worthwhile, because when gems like this are released, forgiving the bad X-Men films becomes easy. A

[filmlover]

My thoughts from opening night two years ago:

 

Compelling, exciting, funny (the Quicksilver slo-mo scene: dead!), and even emotionally rewarding, Bryan Singer returns to the universe he introduced to us 14 summers ago to deliver what is easily the best X-Men movie of them all. Just a wonderful time at the movies. A-

 

[Lordmandeep]

DOFP likely be the X2 to the new crop of Xmen Fans. 

[Blankments]

Finally decided to check out the Rogue Cut, the 4.5 rating isn't for it. After all, the pacing is completely thrown off with silly asides or useless scenes. The Rogue stuff is interesting and entertaining, but unfortunately, this is more an extended cut than an actual Rogue cut. Worth checking out once, but I'll stick with the superior theatrical cut, which is still one of the best superhero films ever made.

[Daxtreme]

33 minutes ago, Blankments said:

Finally decided to check out the Rogue Cut, the 4.5 rating isn't for it. After all, the pacing is completely thrown off with silly asides or useless scenes. The Rogue stuff is interesting and entertaining, but unfortunately, this is more an extended cut than an actual Rogue cut. Worth checking out once, but I'll stick with the superior theatrical cut, which is still one of the best superhero films ever made.

 

 

 

[Hatebox]

Been on a bit of an X-Men binge after Logan, and watched this yesterday. It was pretty good, though I think I made a mistake watching the Rogue cut — it felt about 20 minutes too long, which is how much I gather was added on. Singer's good at incorporating emotion into his action scenes, and I liked that it was really about Xavier rather than Wolverine. That said, I don't feel compelled to watch Apocalypse anytime soon.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by Hatebox