Nerds That Geek Movie Review - 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'

​Written by Scotty

Well, the time is finally upon us, the end of my reviews for the existing X-Men movies and now I anxiously wait for Apocalypse to take the screen. One thing that I must say about this franchise is, thank goodness for Wolverine. He has singlehandedly, or maybe single-clawed the X-Men out of the abyss that they were quickly falling into. Now with the original cast coming back and teaming up with the new members, we have a movie that both sets of fans can enjoy. So let’s get this show on the road, since there will be plenty of death and destruction on the horizon.
​
The X-Men, along with all of the other mutants on the planet are fighting a losing battle. With the birth of the Sentinels, their powers only work momentarily as the new machines are able to adapt to any force they are hit with.  Kitty Pryde has become an essential member of the team and being able to send someone’s mind back in time before the attacks take place, the X-Men have time to prepare for their next battle.  But time is running out and their tricks are not proving to be as effective as they were before, so something more drastic much take place to save them. Knowing that this battle was started back in 1973, Xavier and Magneto agree that one of them must go back to their young bodies to try and stop Mystique from starting the war. But neither of them would survive the trip back as their minds could be pulled in half, but Wolverine was alive back then as well and he can heal as fast as he can be torn apart.

Sending Logan back in time, he needs to find the younger version of Charles Xavier, but when he comes upon the school that he remembers from the future, he sees that it has not been kept up at all. Meeting Hank McCoy at the door, Logan is told that there is no professor on the premises anymore, but being Logan he is able to get into the mansion without too much trouble. Finding that Charles is more of a wreck than he could have foreseen, Logan has to prove that he is from the future, but finding that the medication that Charles is taking to battle the pain in his back has impeded his powers, it will be more of a task than expected. But convincing Charles is just one piece of the puzzle, since his counterpart and former pupil Erik has been locked away under the Pentagon for killing the President. Needing more help, Logan calls on an old friend, Peter, who has the ability to move faster than anything on the planet.

As their plan is ready to move forward to stop Mystique from killing the creator of the Sentinels, Dr. Bolivar Trask, the shapeshifter has a plan of her own. Freeing mutants from around the world is an act that Erik would have approved of, but with him being imprisoned, Mystique is on her own. Finding the schematics to the new mutant hunting machines, she is ready to put an end to their design before they can be activated and kill her mutant brothers and sisters. But she does not know what problems this will cause for the future of mutants on the planet. While she is able to infiltrate a World Leaders meeting in Paris, she is shocked to see that her old mentor, along with his new friends are there to stop her. After Erik takes a shot at her, she knows that there is no place she will be safe until her wicked deed is fulfilled. 

The world is starting to take note of what they see as the ever growing mutant threat and the President of the United States has approved the activation of the Sentinels to eradicate the problem before it grows out of hand. Slowly regaining his powers, Charles tries to contact Raven to keep her from doing what she believes needs to be done, but she will not listen to her old teacher, she believes that killing Trask will end all of the world’s problems. As the mutants go their separate ways, Charles has his own team, but Erik has chosen to join Raven’s cause, since it is what they both believe in. While the President is making an address to prove to the nation that he and the Sentinels can keep the citizens safe, he is thrown into a battle with powerful mutants that he, nor Trask can defeat, especially without any help from their machines. While in the future, the few remaining X-Men are in a battle for their own lives and losing. Knowing that the only thing that matters is getting the past changed to stop the construction of the mutant hunting machines, they can only hope and pray that Logan has been able to make a difference in the past.

This movie caught me off-guard when it came out and I am ashamed that I did not get a chance to see it in theaters. Reuniting the original X-Men cast with the new members was pure genius and to whomever thought of it, good job. I am very happy by how this movie changed the rules for the franchise just a bit, and it played out great, even with the time shifts from present day to fifty years earlier. Watching as Charles and Erik are forced to become friends once again and how Raven has chosen her own side, there is a lot of story to cover in such a short time. With the addition of some more mutants in the past and present day, it is great to see more of them getting some screen time, and I was blown away by Blink, who although had little to say, could use her powers to the fullest to try and defeat the Sentinels attacks. This will be a hard movie to follow up and while seeing some of our favorite charters being torn limb from limb could have been traumatizing for most, it should only get worse as one or both generations will face off against Apocalypse.  I can’t wait to see what happens.

---