Girls of Geek Movie Review - X-Men: Days of Future Past

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As a friend recently said to me, hindsight is twenty-twenty.  The mistakes we make today, the foolish decisions we think are right at the time are almost guaranteed to come back and haunt us in many ways. Yet while there will be decisions we can look back on with pride, it is the ones we regret that we hold onto the most.

You know which ones I'm talking about. The ones where we didn't try hard enough or the ones where we let other people down are the ones that we wish we could go back and change.  It is that hindsight, and that battle for a second chance that is at the core of the best X-Men film in a long time, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

The end is near for mutants.  A war they have fought for ages, and continue to lose has seen their numbers dwindle to near extinction. At the edge of the world, the remnants of the X-Men have discovered a way to go back and correct all of the mistakes of the past, and it is up to Wolverine to help a broken leader believe in hope again and save the future.  

Let's just get the ugly out of the way, it's been tough times for the X-Men franchise. Fans have long held onto their anger over The Last Stand and while First Class was an entertaining ride, something seemed to be missing, it needed a wow factor if you will, which means good news when it comes to Days of Future Past...the wow factor and the X-Men are back and better than ever.  

This is the big one we've waited for when it comes to this franchise, since this film finally provides us with the biggest stakes yet, something the X-Men often face in the comics but not on film.  However, what makes it work, are the grand performances since well...everyone who ever played on Xavier's team is back in some form or fashion, with a few new heroes along the way, well, one in particular that steals the show.  Seriously, Quicksilver's cameo in this motion picture will leave you in tears from laughter.  But we cannot forget that two of the most iconic names in the franchise have come home in Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. 

We are treated to a rich story that gives us an uncertain past and a terrifying future.  I mean wow...some of the scenes in the future, are incredibly dark and ugly and what happens to many of the X-Men in the last forty minutes...well you could hear the gasps of shock from the audience because this is a film that simply doesn't hold back. Not to mention, after getting a hint of it in The Last Stand we finally get to see Sentinels and they are just spectacular.  

Either way, the irony to be found here is that this is a film about redemption and how the right decisions can truly make a difference. That's what makes this X-Men movie so refreshing after this long and tough road, because it was always the finest parts of humanity that this intrepid team stood for, to inspire the rest of us and perhaps that's the irony here.  Not only does the film have a message of hope and redemption on a philosophical level, but it also provides hope and redemption for the franchise as well.  Make sure you catch this one, you won't be disappointed.  

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