dimevulture1972

Acting: Why is Patrick Stewart in this movie? First off, do I even have to comment on the alumni of this film? Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. Patrick Stewart is Professor X. Ian McKellen is Magneto. Got it? Okay. The acting in this film is solid for the most part. James McAvoy does a good job at portraying young Xavier as an intelligent and sympathetic character that, while not endowed with his future self's wisdom and virtue, doesn't succumb to the unbearable immaturity that we so often find with younger versions of characters. I'm aware that he was in First Class, but I never watched it. It honestly took a while for me to buy Michael Fassbender as Magneto, but he eventually settled right with me. I'm also aware that he was in First Class, but, like I said, I never watched it. Up next, and probably the one who stole the show, was Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. Okay, Mystique was awesome in the cartoons, but that hasn't been so well represented as it is here. Mystique pretty much serves as the McGuffin of the film, which in turn puts more focus on Lawrence's performance. She's gorgeous, she's brutal, she's caring, she won't listen to what you have to say, she's vulnerable and she's deadly as. All of this and more is shown in her performance. I don't know what she's doing with that Hunger Games series, but she needs to be in more X-Men films. Does she personify Mystique completely? Eh... not quite. I recall Mystique having a definite maternal quality in the cartoons, which may very well develop with more films, but she doesn't quite have that as of yet. From her portrayal here, though, I could easily make the mental connection through time. Last I'm gonna touch on is Nicholas Hoult as Beast. Not the greatest, really. Not terrible, but not all that good. Acting: 8/10

Writing: Why is Professor X in this movie? I know, I already mentioned that, but Singer made it a point to legitimize TLS as canon. Plot holes be damned, let's move on. As the name suggests, this is a time travel film. As with any time-based film, the science of how time travel works is a bit fuzzy, but it manages to make enough sense in the context of the film. I mean, if Catwoman can control the weather, I think we can accept the transferring of consciousness through time as a thing. The plot of the film is competent and doesn't linger too much, but I would've liked a couple sequences to go on a little longer. An example would be the subplot with Xavier's mutant power suppressant. We have two scenes on it, but that's pretty much it. It's somewhat referenced in a later scene involving Cerebro, but it's still fairly inconsequential. Most of the dialog was solid, so I have no real complaints there. The plot itself, as I said, is competent and easy to understand. It's a well-written story that I feel serves the purpose of being accessible to Marvel fans that want to see X-Men characters do X-Men character things and casual moviegoers that may just want to be entertained. The story doesn't take too many twists and turns, but I really liked it for what it was. Writing: 7.5/10

Aesthetics: The effects in this film were pretty much what you'd expect from a big budget film brought to you by 20th Century Fox. They were good, but that's par for the course. If they were bad, it would be criminal. Something I feel I should give a nod to is the music, though. Days Of Future Past is solid in the sound department and features the score from the previous X-Men films. It's nostalgic and adds more to the aesthetic of the film. Short and sweet, it's nice to look at and the quality visuals are enhanced by proficient sound design. Aesthetics: 7/10

Action: The action in Days Of Future Past isn't what I'd call remarkable, but it's definitely enhanced by the film's pacing. It's no rare occurrence for there to be ten to fifteen minutes without a noteworthy battle, but those that happen just serve to have more of an impact. I'd call this more of a skirmish film. While there may be several "action" scenes interspersed throughout, they're relatively low-key and based more on tension than outright frantic testosterone. A decent amount of focus is given to stealth, so the bigger events are that much more satisfying. One that comes to mind is the occasional cut to the future where the last of the X-Men try desperately to defend their fortification from Sentinels. We are treated to some awesome fights there. Magneto shows us why he's the coolest comic book villain Marvel has to offer, Bishop blasts away everything in his path and Colossus does battle like a boss. All that's cool, but I was most impressed by the girl with the gateway powers. She was hardcore and made many of the action scenes as special as they were. When she did her thing, I was like "yeah! You go, Portal chick!" I think her name's Blink, but I'm not sure. Action: 8

Appeal To Marvel Fans: Pretty much the most important part for any film is its appeal to its target demographic. As I've said, we have a decent amount of X-Men characters on display. Some better than others, but we are given at least a glimpse at most of our favorites. My only real complaint is that there was no Gambit. That's a downer, as he's my favorite. The presentation and tone of the film looks and feels like an X-Men movie, which is a definite plus. I feel this will please most X-Men fans, so I'd call it a successful film to say the least. It's nice to see Bryan Singer back at the helm of the franchise, as he's done wonders so far. Appeal: 8.5

The setup for the plot is pretty ambiguous here, but I feel it works with the intended tone of the first chapter. Acting thus far is noticeably novice. With the dialog being underacted by what I'm assuming is the main character and being overacted by a male friend that's yet to really make himself known, the budget is shown through lack of acting experience. Camera work is surprisingly good, able to pull off some neat shots that are crisp clean and low on shake or signs of poor filming gear. Probably the biggest detractor here would be the music. The dramatic "horror" soundtrack lurches along in attempts to build tension, but just seems to build the drama up to being more than it really is. With cheesy sound signatures coupled with the booming crescendos of operatic vocals we hear way too much of in the genre, the sound is the biggest indicator of the budget. There are also moments with no music at all that seem to work, but the dialog in the silence is still delivered awkwardly. This is a solid student film, but it's bogged down by its actors and sound design.