I finally got my copy of X-Men: Days of Future Past from the Library and I was able to avoid all spoilers for the movie, which is no small feat given how EVERYONE was raving about how good the final product was. I try to keep my expectations on an even keel, but even I wasn't immune to that and needless to say, I went into this with expectations that couldn't possibly be met. I was wrong. The movie exceeded my expectations. Giving this one 5 Stars was a no-brainer. Who doesn't love time travel stories? Who doesn't love seeing two different cast (stars in their own films) coming together in one? It definitely feels like an Avengers flick with so many characters joining forces for a common goal. I love Future Past for the same reasons I dug X-Men: First Class. Everything is retro. One thing I came away from while watching this, is that no matter how bad-ass you are, and how many times you save humanity, and how invincible you are, you can't escape 70's fashion! 

The story itself was great. I really enjoyed the new characters, especially Bishop, who was a favorite of mine back in the 90's when I was big on X-Men and reading any and all their comics. Also cool to see Quicksilver make an appearance in grand spectacle. Nice bit of casting in getting Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels. The thing that makes the story really work for me is that everything that happens in the 70's has a direct consequence for the future, which of course the whole purpose. But with that comes an alternate reality, giving life to those that perished. So, I was giddy to see that Jean Grey is back. The other cameos were great too (Scott, Beast and Rogue). Kinda bummed that we didn't get one from Rebecca Romijn as Mystique in present day. Just have to be content with her cameo in First Class. As always, Hugh Jackman steals the movie as Logan / Wolverine and it was kick ass to see them bring back a lot of specific moments from the other X-Men flicks into this one, especially those involving Stryker. Highly recommend this as a Rent for sure, but this is a Buy for me. FYI, Jennifer Lawrence rocks in this!

So many thoughts:

* Did anyone else dig the Sentinel Towers?  You know, we keep thinking of the Nolan Batman films as being very stark, but the old X-Men movies were very straightforward in the design, the blue corridor (I love the blue corridor), Cerebro, etc... and I thought that the future Sentinels were wonderfully sleek.  The 70s ones didn't really float my boat, but what they became... love that.

* Didn't the first action sequence feel like you were reading the comics?  It was straight outta the old books, the kind of amazing sequence I've been waiting to see since the first flick, especially Bobby surfing on a wave of ice, oh my god.  And Blink's portals?  Loved those.

* I kinda had tears in my eyes at the end, seeing everyone back together again... it felt like home.  BTW, is anyone else wondering if Wolverine now still has bone claws in the future?  (And Chip, were you talking about seeing Rebecca Romijn in the future in the ending?  She's dead in the first future.  But I kinda like how they left that up in the air as well, because you know she'll factor in to the next movie's plot in a big way... because it's Jennifer freakin' Lawrence and all).


You know, Days Of Future Past is the rare sequel that fixes all the problems I had with the previous movie, that's kind of impressive.  The last one didn't feel like a proper X-Men movie, well now the original director's come back!  I didn't really care about the 60s X-Men because they felt crammed in there.  Well, now we'll just have a few characters and let them shine.  Xavier lost his legs way too quickly.  Well, now he can walk-- but at a great price.  And so on and so on.