"X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past takes a chapter right out of the Marvel Studio book by re-writing the narrative of all the X-Men films to date so that they all fits neatly into one coherent box. Days of Future Past is littered with callbacks that stretch back to the first of the X-Men films, now over a decade old. Not all of this works and in a few too many instances the web of byzantine mythology is likely hard to parse out or remember for even the most devout comic fans. But it also plays to what gave X-Men: First Class, in part, its strength. By leaning on our memory of and affection for the old trilogy (perhaps minus Last Stand), the film can use that foreknowledge to more greatly create a potential impact. 

Days of Future Past starts in the distant future where a government scientific program gone awry has led to the destruction of not just most mutants but humanity more generally. The ragtag survivors come up with a plan to send Wolverine’s (Hugh Jackman) consciousness back into his body in 1973 prior to the events that caused this apocalyptic nightmare. Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart in the future and James McAvvoy in the past) pinpoints the moment things went wrong to the time where his estranged adoptive sister Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) assassinated the creator (Peter Dinklage) of the Sentinels, giant robots that hunt down mutants. Before Wolverine can prevent this event, though, he has to save Professor X and Magneto (Ian McKellen in the future and Michael Fassbender in the past) from a metaphorical and literal prison, respectively, and get them to overcome significant differences and views on the future for their kind. 

It’s every bit as unwieldy as it sounds and the film is far less deft than its predecessor at keeping up with blockbuster demands while telling an increasingly (and unnecessarily) complicated story. Days of Future Past also gets far less opportunities to rely on soaking up the charm of being a breezy period piece, partly because 1973 was a far more troubled time than First Class’s 1962 and partly because there’s too many flaming hoops of plot contortions to leap through. The film finds its greatest strength when it relies on interesting, sharp character dynamics and a deep bench of talented performers who help manage to ground it all. But it still too often feels like Simon Kinberg, Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn's script has bitten off more than it can chew. 

Having Wolverine as the character sent back makes a fair amount of sense; considering the amount of films he’s starred in, the character has essentially become the very embodiment of the franchise. Jackman’s presence, like Stewart and McKellen’s, brings weight in places that might not necessarily have enough pathos or the intended, overreaching, gravitas. Much of this should have come a few years earlier when the older films were still fresh in the public’s mind; the remove only serves to harm the film and the meanings it hopes to create. 

Still, much like First Class, Days of Future Past has a lot of solid popcorn entertainment, and its story, based on one of the most famous story arcs in the history of the comic book series, is a nifty bit of sci-fi playfulness. 

Grade: B-